Info about Roche’s hip-score
Roche’s hip-score is 13/7. This is not excessively high, but it is above breed average.
I thought some people might have questions about this issue, so we’ve put together this page to hopefully answer them.
I hope we can reassure you here.
The BVA process
In the UK, dogs must be 18 months old to be hip-scored.
Once an x-ray is taken and submitted to the BVA for scoring, you cannot resubmit a new x-ray for that dog. (Ever.) (This differs from the US system, where you can resubmit new images.)
If the positioning of the dog is clearly terrible, the BVA can refuse to score the dog. But in borderline cases they will try to score.
If you want to appeal the result, you can (once). But they will not allow new images for the appeal. The exact same image will be resubmitted for any appeal.
Second opinion from an orthopaedic vet
When we received Roche’s hip-score, we sought a second (detailed) opinion. This came back as follows:
“At first glance, this appears an okay-positioned image with symmetrical dorsal spinal processes, straight legs and good exposure - but the errors are subtle yet significant.
The rear legs are hyper-extended, not brought out in line with the pelvis. Instead, the legs were brought in medially and then pushed down to the table. You can tell this because the femurs touch/overlap the tibias without a joint space - which is an ‘artifact’ (doesn’t happen in real life), plus the far distal asymmetrical location of the patellas.
This positioning error tilts the pelvis down with the legs and makes the hips appear to have more shallow acetabulums.
Additionally, the foramen are not symmetrical (L>R slightly) and notice the left hip looks (another artifact) slightly better (deeper) than the right.
These hips are indeed better than this image makes them appear.”
We felt it was pointless to pay another fee to appeal the result because it would use the same image, with this poor positioning. As mentioned above, the BVA does not allow the submission of new x-rays or the re-scoring of dogs after a single appeal using the same image.
Genetics vs environment
Roche comes from many generations of dogs which have been hip-scored with good results.
If you would like to see the results of her parents, grand-parents, great-grandparents - and back further - as well as several of her siblings, please take a look at her pedigree on Weimaraner Pedigrees.
Click on the name of any dog and then look at the information at the top of the page, where you will see the dog’s hip-score results - if someone has uploaded them there.
For example, her dad was scored HD-A. Her mum’s and her sister’s hips are on her breeder’s website and both were scored HD-B. Her maternal grandmother and grandfather were both HD-A. Her paternal grandfather was scored Fair, under the US OFA system. These are all good results.
We are sure that, if you look back at the pedigree, you will see that her lines have been consistently scored acceptably well.
Therefore it is extremely unlikely that genetics is the cause. Even if we discount the opinion of the vet we consulted - who believed the result was due to poor positioning - any issues are much more likely to be environmental and not genetic, given the good results of all her relatives.
This is upheld by the uneven score (13/7). Typically, when hips are genetically bad, they are equally bad. When one side scores considerably worse than the other, it is said to be the result of trauma to one side.
Roche is an incredibly agile, determined and strong dog who lets no obstacle stand in the way of what she wants. Her breeder described her to us as ‘the first puppy in the litter to do everything’(!), which didn’t surprise us at all. We have seen how she is driven to run and find those birds!
Choice of stud
We have ensured that our chosen stud for Roche has good hip-score results.
Obi has been scored as 4/5 under the UK BVA scheme and every dog behind him for 4 generations has been scored either Good or Excellent under the US OFA scheme.
Part of the picture
We hope we have explained why we feel comfortable and confident breeding from Roche.
There is much more to a dog than their hips, which - like any health test - are just part of the whole package that constitutes any dog. The breed has loads of dogs with great hip-scores. It does not have many dogs which can do what Roche does, in the field - and her lines, for the UK, represent a lot of new blood.
It goes without saying that, as with all our litters, we will ensure there is excellent traction in the whelping box for puppies.
If you have any further questions, please let us know.