Labrador Hip Score - confuses

[4forkssake]

Searching for a reputable Labrador breeder & having had a lab when I was younger who had hip problems, wanting to make sure the hip scores of any parents are as low as possible.

Wondered if someone could answer a question about the hip score. Do the parent scores get taken into account on their own or do you add the 2 up from both the parents.

So if the mums score is 4:3 & the dads is 4:4 do you add the 7 & 8 up to make 15 (which is obv higher than the current recommended median of 12) or do you look at the individual scores & cos both scores are under 12, they're fine? Hope that makes sense.

I've found some KC assured breeders but when I combine the score, they're all over 12, which is why I'm wondering if I'm calculating it wrong & I should be making sure the individual scores are under 12.

Hoping someone can help (I know I also need to take other scores into consideration & there's more to the hip score)

You don’t need to add both the parent’s hip scores together, you just want each to be under the breed average.

The breed council has quite a good guide to recommended health tests here.

Thank you. That makes more sense. I've been wondering why some of the KC Assured breeders have a combined score of over 12 & thinking it's nigh on impossible to find that score. Now I know why 🙄😀

It’s also worth knowing that a 1:11 for example is much more likely to lead to issues than a 6:6. You want them to be close together if possible.

Thanks, I had read that the scores should be balanced & also about the elbow scores & eye checks. Not sure why I didn't compute that the hip scores are per dog rather than combined. Wondered why such dogs seemed to be elusive!

I am not certain where your median values are from, but in the UK the Labrador retriever median score ( both 5 and 15 year) is 9 from the Kennel club/British veterinary association list. As I regularly x-ray labradors who get scores of less than 4 (2:2 max) and I often see 0 scores I would be looking much, much lower than 7 or 8.

Apologies, the last score I'd seen were 10 (not sure why I added 12) & the examples I'd given were just for explanation purpose. The lowest I've seen through all my research are a potential future litter with parents at 4:3 & 3:3. I'd love to know where to find the breeders with scores of 2:2 & 0:0.

West Berkshire/North Hampshire lots of dogs with really low scores. Sadly none currently pregnant.

Ok thanks. I'll keep an look out for litters from those areas.