@warriorofyahweh Lots to unpack here. So let’s start with what a hip test is.
Hips are a polygenetic trait (controlled by many genes) and thus we do not understand the inheritance of them. There is no such thing as a simple yes or no for hip dysplasia testing like there is for say - PRA, as an example. However, it is still a genetic trait and is heritable. Parents with great hips, very much tend to produce puppies with great hips. Parents with dysplastic hips, are very likely to produce puppies who also have dysplasia. This is fact. Because it’s not as a simple as a yes or no, and there is a range to how good or bad hips can be, responsible breeders try to breed as good of hips as they can. The better hips you breed, the less likely you are to have dysplastic puppies.
Sometimes dogs can develop hip dysplasia without it being caused by genetic - HOWEVER, this requires there be
extreme trauma to the joint during development. Like, hit-by-a-car-as-a-puppy levels of trauma. If this kind of trauma has not happened, then the hips seen today as an adult dog are entirely genetics. This is not true for your dog, therefore her hips are either genetic, or she has some other genetic disorder making her growth funny. Either way, not a thing you want to pass on to another generation.
Her parents results are
within the breed average. How good they are are entirely dependent on the health of the breed overall. Some breeds have large issues with hip dysplasia and you can have a dog be
severely dysplastic and unfortunately that’s within breed average. For other breeds, they are generally so rarely dysplastic that the average falls well into healthy hips. If you say for your breed, a 0.7 is in the high risk category, then it sounds like her parents were mild-moderate risk for hip dysplasia. So, when her parents were bred, there was a mild to mdoerate risk they’d develop degenerative joint disease (djd), and a mild to moderate risk that any puppies they produce, would also have DJD one day. Your dog is one of those puppies. Some of those puppies in that same litter, may have gotten the better hips genes, and you just got unlucky. This is why we test every single breeding candidate dog prior to being bred, to make sure that you didn’t get unlucky, like what happened in your case here. We avoid breeding dogs with too high of a risk for DJD/dysplasia as it is too risky of producing unhealthy puppies.
TLDR on this paragraph, her parents have
passing scores, but they are by no means fabulous outstanding hip scores. They are in the middle of breed average, and no more. Even dogs with outstanding scores have a small risk of producing DJD puppies. But the better the parents, the lesser the risk. Sounds like you got unlucky but this is entirely possible to happen and be still absolutely a genetic cause.
Having puppies months prior would not affect the test as there should be no relaxin in her system. But if you do not like the results, feel free to have them redone. If you get the same results twice, you have your answer. Pennhip is incredibly reputable and I would absolutely trust their report, especially if I had it sent in twice like you sound like you may want to do.
I’d alert all puppy owners. They should get rads done of their puppies once they reach maturity, and you should hope they are all ok. They’re already on the ground and there isn’t much more you can do for them than that as this time. And then I’d book your female in for a spay. Her results are a fail, she is not a breeding quality dog.
We do test dogs prior to breeding. We test
all dogs prior to breeding. The only tests you may be able to skip are DNA-swab tests. Testing that is phenotype based (hips, eyes, thyroid, heart, etc) must be done to every single breeding dog every single generation. There is no such thing as “cleared by parentage” for these tests - and all of those conditions are still known to be heritable. Things can be genetic, and we can still need to test every generation. Those two statements can exist and be true at the same time.
Once your girl is spayed, you can look again for another breeding female. Complete
all of her OFA testing prior to breeding, and hope your efforts will be rewarded with a litter of wonderfully happy puppies that enjoy an improved quality of life thanks to your hard work to ensure their health.
