# Breeding fair hips



## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

KPoos said:


> Would breeding up to a good or excellent as long as the fair has good or excellent behind the pedigree be a good thing? I'm asking because the information I read on OFA says that it's fine but I had a breeder tell me not to get the puppy that shall not be named because his dam was OFA fair on her hips. I did it anyway because when I researched the pedigree there was nothing but good and excellent in her lineage except for one Dassin dog that was fair. On the sire's side he was good and everything behind him for 3 generations was also good or excellent. I thought that was acceptable. Is it not? Now I'm reading on here that some people are coming down on breeders that have used dogs with fair hips. Is that because it's a prelim hip result?


I would breed a bitch who had OFA certified Fair hips but only to an Excellent or a Good with no history behind of HD. 

I might breed to a stud who had Fair hips but he would have to be AMAZING: finished Champion or high level performance titles AND he would have to be known to specifically fix exactly what I needed correcting in my bitch. Otherwise, why wouldn't I go to a stud who had better hips?

I would NEVER EVER EVER breed to a stud who prelimed OFA Fair. Hips change as a dog ages. This is why OFA will not certify hips until after 2 yrs. Hips may stay the same or even change for the better. However, if they change for the worse (and they often do!) then you suddenly have entire litters sired by a dysplastic stud. This puts all of those puppies at a higher risk of being dysplastic too. 

Remember, long after the stud fee is paid and the puppies are bought, it is the dogs and new owners who suffer the consequences of poor breeding choices!


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## KPoos (Aug 29, 2009)

cbrand said:


> I would breed a bitch who had OFA certified Fair hips but only to an Excellent or a Good with no history behind of HD.
> 
> I might breed to a stud who had Fair hips but he would have to be AMAZING: finished Champion or high level performance titles AND he would have to be known to specifically fix exactly what I needed correcting in my bitch. Otherwise, why wouldn't I go to a stud who had better hips?
> 
> ...


Great, this is the answer I was looking for because I was confused about why that was such a big deal if it's listed on OFA that fair to good or better breedings are fine. I don't understand why someone would breed a dog with prelims only anyway. Wouldn't that make the dog under 2 years of age or mean that they didn't go back and redo the x-rays for hip testing?


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## dagnyreis (Nov 25, 2009)

*Hips*



KPoos said:


> Great, this is the answer I was looking for because I was confused about why that was such a big deal if it's listed on OFA that fair to good or better breedings are fine. I don't understand why someone would breed a dog with prelims only anyway. Wouldn't that make the dog under 2 years of age or mean that they didn't go back and redo the x-rays for hip testing?


I have heard from honest breeders about cases of breeding a bitch with Good hips to a stud dog with Excellent hips, both surrounded in their pedigrees with Good or Excellent and getting one or more Fair. I personally know of a most gorgeous Champion (now neutered) who has one bad hip yet nothing in the pedigree to predict it. I think the owner cried. Anyway, that's why I won't touch anything below Good. My bitch is Excellent and I bred her to a stud dog that's Good.


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