Hip displacement is a disturbance of the hip joints caused by heritance and external influence. Some dogs experience terrible nuisance because of this disturbance. However, there are dogs with more or less serious deformations of the hip joints that have appeared to have no burden. The criticism of the course of work of these dogs gives insufficient information about the state of the hip joints. More information about this can be obtained with the help of x-rays.

HD-Photograph

To judge the hip joints well, an x-ray of the dog's hips laying on its back is necessary. For the sake of reliability, high requirements are used to judge the x-rays. When these requirements are not up to standard, the vet who made the x-rays will recieve notice within two weeks and he must contact the owner to reschedule and make a new x-ray. The judgement of this new x-ray will be brought into acount again.

Report-Hip Displacement-Investigation

On the Report-Hip Displacement-Investigation you find the definitive criticism and a information that gives an explanation for the definitive criticism. The indication HD A means that the dog is free of hipdisplacement, however this does not mean that the dog isn't a "bearer" of the deviation. HD B means that on the x-rays small changes have been found, that indeed attribute to hipdisplacement. The indication HD C ( = lightly positive) or HD D (=positive) means that clear changes, fitting in the syndrome of HD have been found. When the hip joints are seriously deformed this is indicated with HD E ( = positive in optima forma).

The Judgement of the parts

When judging the HD-photograph the form of the hip bowl and the hip head, the depth of the hip bowl, the connection of the hip head in the hip bowl are taken into account. Information about the depth of the hip bowl and the connection of the heads in the bowl is obtained from the so-called "Norbergwaarde". The Norbergwaarden of left and right hip joint are added with each other and give, as named on the report, the "sum Norbergwaarden". On a normal hip joint the Norbergwaarde is at least 15, the sum of the Norbergwaarden of both hips therefore at least 30. Dogs with a too low Norbergwaarde have thus shallow hip bowl and/or a bad connection of the joints. These dogs will thus get a less favorable HD-criticism. A normal or even high Norbergwaarde doesn't mean that the concerning dog has good hip joints. A combination of deep hip bowl and incongruention of the jointsplit (a not everywhere evenly broad jointsplit) or insufficient connection of the joints can, even with a high Norbergwaarde, lead to a (light)-HD-positive criticism. On the form this is explained by crossing "insufficient grade" or "bad" connection. Also the information about the depth of the hip bowl obtained by judging how the center of the hiphead lies on the top edge of the hip bowl. Next to the Norbergwaarde, the depth of the hip bowl and the connection of the joints , the result is also influenced by the presence of "bone deviations". There is a link between the seriousness of the bone deviations and the results:very light bone deviation (1) leads to the criticism HD B, light (2) bone deviation leads to the criticism HD C, and serious (3) bone deviations leads to the criticism HD D. The indication "form changes" concerns mostly a more or less clear shaving of the first edge of the hip bowl. The presence of this is mentioned, but has no decisive meaning for the end result.

HD-judgement

All the information together, give the definitive judgment, in which the insufficient part is critical for the result. A certain criticism can be given based only on the depth of the hip sockets, the connection of the joints, the presence of bone deviations or a combination of 2 or all 3.

Repeating the HD-investigation

After a minimum of 1 year an owner can peform new HD-investigation. The result that comes from this investigation will replace prior results. Repeating an investigation is only useful when the dog had an investigation when they were 1 to 1,5 years old and the investigation showed a light positive result, with no bone deviations.

Your Dog and HD

Owners of dogs have often asked the vets which performed an investigation on their dogs what their opinion was on the hip joints. When the vet gives a mild opinion and the result is less fortunate, it can lead to disappointment. With dogs that are not free of hip displacement, but which show no exterior signs of HD, it is not possible to predict by the x-ray if he or she will suffer from HD later on in its life. Even when iti is free of deviations it does not mean that the dug suffers from it. It wise to see to it that the dog does not grow overweight and that any other stress isn't inflicted on the dogs joints. This, of course, depends on whether you use your dog for working purposes. If in doubt contact your vet.

HD and Breeding

The HD-judgementonly gives information about the condition ofthe hips of an individual dog. Information about a dogs parents, siblings an offspring will add to a more thorough investigation. Therefore it is important that pedigreeclubs can see through all results and that all of the HD-photograph's which have been made, are shown to the HD-board even if the vet finds major deviations of the hip joints. It is better to breed exclusively with HD-free dogs, so the chance that the offspring has HD is reduced. With breeds were dogs are scarce and breeds where HD is common, this isn't always possible.