its very common in large breed dogs ..
if you do some homework before you purchase your large breed dog, you will notice some breeders only breed from low 'hip score' parents..
Rottweilers for example should be below 20... (10 for each hip) the maximum is 100 ( 100 being full blown hip dysplasia)
so the lower the hip score, the better chance of the dog growing without hip dysplasia ..
my rotts have a score of ( heidi) 7,7 =14.. (erik) 3,4 = 7..
so are both good scores..
you can get 0, 0 wich is excellent...
in germany most top breeders take their rottweilers to be scored at exactly 15 months of age.. this is supposed to be the optimum age to be scored apparently..
over in the UK we usually score at around 12/15 months..
it costs around £120 - you take your dog/bitch to the vet, they have an anasthetic to make them just drowsy & still, they are lay on their backs so they can xray the hip joints then the xrays go off to the BVA (british vetenary association) to be scored.. you will get results back within about 3 wks..
its well worth it if you want to breed... so many dogs suffer cause they are bred from animals with this condition.. its horrific..
