Hip Testing our Goldendoodle and Bernedoodle Parents
Health testing our Goldendoodles and Bernedoodles is important to us.
As one of the only members of GANA in Oregon, we agree with their emphasis on health-screening our Goldendoodles and submit to their health-screening standards, to the extent that we use their standards on our Oregon Bernedoodle puppy parents as well.
It’s important for us to test the hips of our Goldendoodles and Bernedoodles to screen for the risk of osteoarthritis, which contributes to hip dysplasia, because we want to set up our doodle puppies for success and health as they age. For us, we choose to screen our potential parents at an early age using Pennhip and OFA preliminary testing.
So what is the difference between these two, and what difference does it make for our Goldendoodles and Bernedoodles?
First off, the OFA testing has been the standard testing protocol throughout the past several decades, and is recognized by the AKC when it is done after the age of two. This test gauges how deep the femoral head rests inside of the hip socket. It requires one radiographic image, and is qualitatively judged by three trained veterinarians on a 7 point scale (A preliminary scan before the age of 2 is judged by a single vet).
While a preliminary scoring can be helpful, a final scoring can only happen after the age of two, because a Goldendoodle’s hips can change before that age. GANA requires all Goldendoodle parents’ to score at least “fair”, which is the level above the median point of “borderline”.
Mango’s hips don’t lie.
He ranks in the top 5% of his breed for tight hips, which is a great thing for our Goldendoodle puppies here in Oregon.
Secondly, Pennhip is a newer test - developed in 1993 - which tests the tightness of the hip joint. This requires three images, and where particular measurements are combined to give each hip a number between 0 and 1, which is the Bernedoodle’s “distraction index”. The lower the number, the tighter the hip. This system is quantitative and arguably more objective than the OFA test, which relies on the qualitative assessments of vets. Due to this, a Goldendoodle can receive their final scoring as early as 16 weeks!
Also, this testing result shows you what the median result is for the breed - or hybrid - that’s being tested. In order to pass GANA’s health standards, a Goldendoodle’s Pennhip score must be better than the median scoring point for all Goldendoodle’s tested. That’s because the hope is to improve the breed!
So which one of these is better? Well, that’s up for debate.. However, there is some evidence that Pennhip does seem to better predict osteoarthritis, which in turn contributes to hip dysplasia. As with some other areas of our program such as our Goldendoodle and Bernedoodle feeding protocol, we’ve sought a middle way that combines the strengths of both.
We do both Pennhip and OFA preliminary testing on our doodle parents. We feel that looking at both of these scores together will help give us a more rounded perspective on the hips of our Doodle puppy parents.
While nothing is completely guaranteed with these kinds of health-screenings, we feel that this give us the confidence to breed Goldendoodle and Bernedoodle puppies responsibly, understanding the health profile of our doodle parents.
If you are intrigued about us and would like to know more, check out Goldendoodles and Bernedoodles here at High Desert Family Doodles!
