14/02/2026
๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฌ? ๐ฌ
Every breed has health challenges that are more common in them, and pre-breeding screening for these conditions shows that a breeder is trying to do the best they can. Sadly, some health conditions do not have tests yet, so honesty and communication within the breed is important.
We then have other conditions that may not be common in some breeds that we still screen for, because those conditions can destroy the quality of life for a dog and be very expensive for the family - an example of this is Hips & Elbows.
Some breeds are affected by Hip & Elbow challenges; the German Shepherd Dog (GSD) is a good example of how screening changed the whole breed for the better.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐:
Hip and elbow scoring isnโt just a vet having a feel of the dogโs legs and saying โyeah, that seems fine.โ Itโs a proper screening process where the dog is sedated, specific X-rays are taken in set positions, and those images are sent to an accredited specialist radiologist who gives an official score based on the structure of the joints. Itโs not about how much range of motion the dog has on the day, itโs about how the hip and elbow joints are actually formed. That score then gives breeders real data to work with so they can reduce the risk and severity of dysplasia over time.
Registered Breeders have a database of all the dogs scored over the previous 5 years, the scores are combined and then divided by how many dogs were screened, this gives us a breed median that we attempt to stay close to but the goal of course is to do better than the median. In breeds with small numbers, these averages aren't always going to be helpful; in these cases, we need to look to results worldwide.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฑ:
GSDs had a high incidence of hip dysplasia mid-20th century. It was visible, debilitating, and affecting working ability. Instead of ignoring it, breed leadership acknowledged it publicly. The parent breed club in Germany made mandatory screening all the way back in the 1960's, however, other Australia like Australia did not get on board until 2017 when they made screening became compulsory for registration. Although, in 2015, Dam and Sire had to have no more than a score of 8 per hip under the GSDCA scheme.
So, whilst the general public can have a poor opinion of the breed, breeders have been actively working hard on this breed for decades - they still have work to do in other areas, but they're not on their own.
๐ซฃ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ-๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด, many of us would be marked "not for breeding"! We, by and large, simply don't care to understand how our health and traits are passed on to our offspring (where that information is available).
๐๐ฒ๐'๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฝ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ - ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐'๐น๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐, ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐.
Golden Retriever โ 3558 | 2185
Labrador Retriever โ 3527 | 2457
Staffordshire Bull Terrier โ 3199 | ๐จ23๐จ
Border Collie โ 1955 | 946
German Shepherd Dog (stock coat) โ 1721 | 865
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel โ 1721 | ๐จ21๐จ
Cocker Spaniel โ 1597 | 212
Australian Shepherd โ 1353 | 891
Rottweiler โ 1260 | 815
Miniature Schnauzer โ 1123 | ๐จ1๐จ
French Bulldog โ 901 | 361
Poodle (Toy) โ 833 | ๐จ5๐จ
German Shorthaired Pointer โ 828 | 103
Whippet โ 738 | ๐จ17๐จ
Welsh Corgi (Pembroke) โ 713 | 41
Jack Russell Terrier โ 668 | ๐จ0๐จ
West Highland White Terrier โ 633 ๐จ1๐จ
German Shepherd Dog (Long Stock Coat) โ 588 | 133
Boxer โ 589 ๐จ6๐จ
Beagle โ 366 ๐จ1๐จ
https://orchid.ankc.org.au/Statistics/HipScores
๐จ๐จ๐จ ๐ง๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐, ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ'๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฝ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐น๐ฎ๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ต๐ต ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ.๐จ๐จ๐จ The OFA, which is an American program recommend this breed has Hip screening.
Small dogs are less likely to experience hip & elbow challenges but there are other orthopedic challenges such as slipping patellas and IVDD that may need to be screened for. BUT, if they're not being tested for hips & elbows then no one can say for sure because not all dysplastic dogs get a diagnosis. Small dogs can still have poorly formed joints.
๐ One thing I hear a lot are reasons for not hip scoring that donโt really hold up. โWeโve never had an issue.โ โTheyโre only small.โ โMy vet said they look fine.โ Or the classic, โNo one else in the breed does it.โ None of those are actually evidence. Not seeing a problem isnโt the same as proving there isnโt one - it just means you havenโt measured it.
One of the most common excuses I hear is that two parents with good hip scores can still produce a pup with issues because itโs polygenic, meaning more than one gene is involved. And that part is true. Hip dysplasia isnโt controlled by a single switch you turn on or off. But that doesnโt mean genetics suddenly stop mattering. It just means risk is layered. What I often see next is the blame shift - โit was the dietโ, โit climbed stairsโ, โit over-exercisedโ, โthe owner let it jump off the couchโ. Yes, environment can influence how a joint develops.
Growth rate, weight and management absolutely play a role. But they donโt create dysplasia out of thin air in a structurally sound dog. Genetics load the gun. Environment might pull the trigger. Using environment as the default explanation every time something goes wrong is convenient, but it avoids the harder question of whether structural risk was there in the first place. Hip scoring isnโt about pretending environment doesnโt matter. Itโs about reducing the genetic risk so environment has less opportunity to tip the scales.
A quick physical check isnโt the same as a properly assessed radiograph. And following the crowd has never been a health strategy. If a screening tool exists that can reduce risk over time, choosing not to use it because it feels unnecessary or inconvenient isnโt logical - itโs comfortable. And comfortable breeding doesnโt move a breed forward.
