Pennhip Question

[northernmastiff]

Just a question on how reliable do you feel pennhip is? Went to book Daisy in for her OVC certification and it turns out that OVC is no longer done. It was cancelled in May of 2012. Anyway, the alternatives are Pennhip or OFFA (the later of whom I will be going to for some DNA screening). My thought is to choose Pennhip as there is a vet in my area that does pennhip but I have always viewed pennhip as prescreening and not official clearances. We did pennhip and then OVC with the labs when they were 18 months of age.

So for any breeders out there or knowledgeable dog owners, what would you prefer on a parent? Pennhip or OFA or both?

On a side note, Daisy is scheduled in for February 5th for her eye clearance. Wish me luck that she passes with flying colors. Thankfully the veterinarian eye specialist that I used for Petey is still available so she is going to him. I absolutely love him as he is amazing with the dogs and I think (if we ever produce a litter) I will have him do an eye exam on the puppies before they go off to their new homes. A friend of mine who taught me a lot (she passed away several years ago) used to have him examine her lab puppies to make sure that there were no signs of eye problems in the pups.

Anyway, kind of rambling, sorry. I just find this very exciting. Webpage is underway, paperwork is in with CKC for kennel name, clearances are underway with Daisy and she is back in conformation classes as this last year has been difficult to get her out to them. She is also enrolling in Therapy training so we have been busy. Even if her tests come back negative, it is still a great journey towards a goal I have had for over 10 years (probably closer to 25 years when I delivered my first litter of puppies at the age of 11).

 

[mkj878]

I don't know much about Pennhip but I do want to wish you the best of luck with everything!

 

[ruthcatrin]

I think my only issue with Pennhip is that, for now, the results aren't publically availible, though they are supposedly working on fixing that.

I know Apollo's breeder has done both Pennhip and OFFA on her dogs previously, and in discussion with us has highly recommended Pennhip (as does my vet), though she stated she didn't care which we picked as long as we did one or the other. From my, admittedly limited, understanding of the processes I personally feel Pennhip to be more accurate and OFFA to be more subjective. Having said that we're doing OFFA on Apollo because my understanding is that I can't do his elbows via Pennhip and its cheaper/easier to just do both hips and elbows via OFFA.

 

[Duetsche_Doggen]

Personally I felt PennHip was more "accurate" than OFA. However as long as the testing is being done and I can back track decent results in the pedigree I'm content.

 

[TN Dogues]

With Pennhip the vets are usually familar with positioning and certified to do the x-rays. With OFA they don't have to be - any x-ray tech can do it and it is sent out to be evaluated. We have used both and I prefer Pennhip now. We had problems with the quality of the x-rays done by one vet and had to have them re-done.

But I would accept either one if I was purchasing a puppy.

 

[Robtouw]

I prefer Pennhip and relied on it for my Rotti's regular exams because of his displaysia. The innitial Pennhip set was invaluable to his treatment later in life. We had Rollie's hips done every 6 months to ensure his treatments were right on course. I accept either upon puppy purchase, but do not trust the results of OFA as much because of the limited qualifications of the xray tech. Rollie was penned at age 2 initially, with clear results. After our accident and the severing of his left rear leg, we had to have a joint replacement in his hip. The impact of the collision caused damage to his rt hip joint area as well causing the ball to be displaced. My vet in Alabama utilized OFA techs for xrays but was never fully satisfied with the imaging and was not impressed with the techniques used by the xray technicians. He ended up sending Rollie to another facility to have him penned before clearing him for travel.

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

We prefer Pennhip as we think it is more accurate. It can be done earlier with little to no change (although I still think needs to be done when the dog is mature and not rely on results from a young age) but I agree it is irritating that the results aren't posted although like said above I think they are working on a database to fix that.

 

[northernmastiff]

Thanks everyone. I was a little thrown off by the decision from the OVC so having a few view points on it is very helpful.

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

Someone sent this to me a while ago but don't remember who...

http://workingdogs.com/ofa_penn.htm

 

[Cody]

I prefer PENNHIP. As stated above the vets have to be certified to do the test by PENNHIP.
It is difficult for many techs to get the placement right.
PENNHIP besides giving you a score also gives you a yes or no on DJD and cavitation.
Here is a great article on placement for OFA
http://leerburg.com/hipart.htm