What is OFA certification?

OFA stands for Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. It is a certifying organization for several health conditions, two of which are hip and elbow dysplasia. Hip and elbow dysplasia are inherited conditions in which the young dogs develop osteoarthritis of the hip and elbow joints before two years of age. Radiographs of the hip and elbow joints taken after a dog is two years of age are submitted to OFA, evaluated by three board certified veterinary radiologists, and assigned an OFA number if the radiographs show no evidence of changes consistent with osteoarthritis.

What is PennHip Evaluation?

PennHIP is a scientific method to evaluate a dog for its susceptibility to develop Hip Dysplasia. The radiographic procedure 

involves a special positioning of the dog so that the dog's "passive hip laxity" can be accurately measured. In simple terms, 

passive hip laxity refers to the degree of looseness of the hip ball in the hip socket when the dog's muscles are completely relaxed. 

This measurement is reported as the Distraction Index (DI)  This measurement is obtained with the aid of a fulcrum so that a radiograph can be taken with the head of the femur as far out of the hip socket as possible.  This distance is then measured.  Hips with DIs on the distraction view that are close to 0 are considered to be tight, while DIs close to 1 are considered to be very loose. The DI is an indication of the "percent out of joint" that the femoral head is displaced from the acetabulum (socket).  The Distraction Index of PennHIP is not subjective, but an accurate quantitative measurement that has been shown to be repeatable and reliable.  A dog with a DI approaching 1 has a very high degree of predictability for developing Canine Hip Dysplasia and subsequent osteoarthritis and should not be considered for breeding purposes.

Research has shown that the degree of passive hip laxity is an important factor in determining susceptibility to develop 

Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) later in life. Radiographic evidence of hip DJD, also known as osteoarthritis, is the universally 

accepted confirmation of canine hip dysplasia.

By monitoring passive hip laxity in dogs as they matured, it was discovered that hip laxity was the primary factor in the development 

of the DJD characteristic of CHD.   That is, the radiographic expression of DJD was statistically significantly correlated with the 

degree of measured passive hip laxity. In addition, the CHD prediction was shown to be acceptably accurate in populations of 

puppies as young as sixteen weeks of age. In the same studies, it was shown that there was no statistically significant correlation 

between laxity and DJD when the standard hip extended position was used. Dogs that are diagnosed as having excellent hips on 

the traditional VD view can actually have a huge amount of laxity. Therefore, It is especially important to perform a PennHIP 

Distraction Index (DI) on dogs that have normal appearing hips on the ventrodorsal extended view.

PennHIP differs in some very fundamental and important ways. First, PennHIP was developed and tested following strict scientific 

protocol and the results of these studies have been published  in peer-reviewed, scientific journals. As with all diagnostic tests, 

PennHIP's accuracy is not 100 percent, but in direct comparisons it is far superior to any other available diagnostic method. Second, 

passive hip laxity is objectively measured and the resulting Hip Evaluation Report is not issued in a pass/fail framework. PennHIP 

specifically measures passive joint laxity and includes the quantitative measurement in its report. Based on the degree of laxity, the 

individual dog is then ranked relative to other members of the same breed. For Example, a dog receiving a ranking in the 80th 

percentile means that twenty percent of its breed members have hips that are tighter. As shown in our studies, dogs with tighter 

hips are less likely to develop CHD and pass that genetic tendency on to future generations. Third, because PennHIP is measuring 

maximal passive hip laxity, the position of the patient is very different from the hip-extended position. The hip-extended position has 

been used for more than thirty years to screen hips for   either DJD, laxity or both. Laboratory studies, however, have indicated wide 

diagnostic variability among radiologists in interpreting this view. Further, through biomechanical testing, the hip-extended view was 

found to mask the underlying true joint laxity and through direct comparison, the predictive value for development of CHD was shown 

to be inferior to the PennHIP procedure.

What is BAER testing?

The English Setter is a basic white coated breed of dog meaning that is essentially born white except for solid patches, and the ticking or small spots develop in the coat after birth. Basic white coated breeds are susceptible to an inherited condition of deafness. The problem can affect one or both ears; unilateral or bilateral hearing abnormality. Affected puppies will show an abnormal BAER test by six weeks of age and can be screened before being sold. While a bilaterally deaf dog is very difficult to raise as a pet, the unilaterally deaf dog can be a very nice pet and live a normal and healthy life.