I am uploading this video of my beautiful girl Lily to show how important it is to get health tests done on your dogs before breeding; Lily was to be Mum of my first litter and in preparation for this i had both her and Oscar hip scored, eyes tested and SA tested. Oscar's tests came back as Hips 6:6 (overall 12), eyes clear and SA clear, Lily however has a hipscore of 14:18 (overall 32) eyes clear and SA clear.
The hip score breed standard is 14, so you can imagine my disappointment when her hips scored so high. My son said, "Mamma why dont you just let her have one litter?" my reply " If i had intended to breed whatever the score, why would I bother having her hip scored in the first place ?"!!!! I made the decision there and then that Lily would be spayed and would not be bred from. In the video you will see her walking, taken from behind her, you will note that she looks bandy and she has an over exaggerated hip swing when she walks, none of these symptoms were showing until she reached maturity.
If i had bred her without testing her, potentially she could have had problems whelping and possibly had affected pups. I don't believe that Lily is in any pain as she is very active and does not give any indication of pain, however I am aware that it is likely hip dysplasia will be an issue for her at some point. She is a very special girl, very intelligent and always my baby!
