Why is OFA certification so important?
Hip dysplasia is a serious and debilitating condition that is genetically passed down from the parents. Screening has helped to decrease the incidence of hip dysplasia among responsible breeders. Bottom line, you want to find a puppy with BOTH parents having good to excellent OFA certifications in order to reduce the chance your puppy will grow up and get hip dysplasia. A true story: some people in the Denver area did not want to spend very much on a puppy so they found one through the paper for $500. The puppy looked completely normal and healthy when they got him. Neither parent had been OFA certified. The puppy at seven months started developing hip dysplasia. Now they are looking at the possibility of a $6000 hip replacement procedure. One scary additional noteeven though the breeders were notified of the problemthey are still breeding without OFA certifications.
