Checking Your Entlebucher
For Healthy Hips

Dr. Nancy Hample stretching Birken's hips for x-rays to send to PennHIP for evaluation.

To get your Entlebucher screened for healthy hips, it is best to go to a veterinarian that specializes (or is "boarded") in Veterinary Orthopedics. Dr. Nancy Hampel of the Animal Medical Center in El Cajon, CA, is such a specialist. Technically, you can go to any veterinarian. However, specific information is required on the x-ray films submitted to either OFA or PennHIP, and the radiographs need to be clear and precise. A Vet Orthopedics Specialist will be familiar with all the requirements of these two organizations, and will be able to help you through the process of getting your dog's hips evaluated and registered. It is also a good idea to have your dog's elbows radiographed and evaluated.

You should wait until your dog is at least 2 years old to get it's hips evaluated. It is possible to get a preliminary evaluation done at 1-1/2 years or younger, but then the procedure should be repeated at 2 years of age. This is because the older the dog, the more likely a radiograph will show any possible arthritic hip degeneration or "hip dysplasia." The vet will send the radiographs directly to either OFA or PennHIP and you will get the results back in approximately a month. The vet orthopedics specialist will also be able to tell you, just by looking at the radiographs, if your dog's hips are good or not.

What both the OFA and PennHIP organizations look for is bone or joint deformities, and how tightly the ball of the thighbone fits into the hip joint socket. If the joint is too loose, this indicates a higher possibility of developing arthrhitic lesions that cause the hips to be painful. This is what is known as "hip dysplasia." But the results of both the OFA and the PennHIP evaluations are just predictions of likelihood of developing hip dysplasia given characteristics noted in early hip x-rays. Loose hip joints tend to predict that a dog will develop hip dysplasia later in life. Loose hips are, nevertheless, just a predictor of future hip problems. The real test is whether at 5-7 years your dog develops hip problems as the "experts" predicted.

Entlebuchers have looser hips than most other breeds of dogs, so it is normal for an Entle to have only a "Good" or "Fair" rating from the OFA. Rarely will an Entle score "Excellent" because the vets at the OFA are not familiar with this rare breed, so they judge the Entle's hips by the standards of other dogs, like German Shepherds. Many Entles scoring a mere "fair" rating with the OFA actually have excellent hips that never develop any sort of hip problems!

We prefer PennHip evaluations for several reasons. First, they use scientific measurements as a basis for their evaluations, so their ratings are objective. In contrast, the OFA offers only the subjective opinions of several veterinarians. Second, PennHIP only compares Entle hips to other Entle hips. They do not compare one breed to another. Third, PennHIP looks at 3 separate radiographs to evaluate for actual bone degeneration that would be caused by arthritis. PennHIP evaluations provide more complete information, and are more diagnostic of future hip problems your dog might develop.

Dogs must be under anesthesia for precise manipulation of hips joints
as required for these radiographs.

Further Discussion:
*Hip Dysplasia
*OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals)
*PennHIP
*What are the differences between PennHIP and OFA?

Teeth Cleaning:
As long as your dog is under anesthesia for hip (& elbow) radiographs, it is wise to take the opportunity to have it's teeth professionally cleaned. Below you can see Birken getting his teeth cleaned by one of the vet technicians at the Animal Medical Center in El Cajon, CA.