I thought this would be a good thread for everyone to list the vets they recommend for taking your dogs x rays for hip scoring and elbow grading!

I will be getting Dino done when he turns 1 and would quite like to know of some good vets to go to. I don't mind travelling to make sure I get the best plates taken!

I'm sure it will be a useful thread for lots of people too

BVA Canine Health Schemes from Moy Farm Vets

Mark did Zandi's unfortunately he passed away - but his wife does them and like Mark she can give a prediction

I would second Wildmoor and recommend Moy Farm. They scored Cleos hips earlier this year and it was Marks wife who gave us the predicted score. She predicted 0-1 but Cleo went one better and got 0-0.

The staff at Moy Farm are excellent and there's a lovely farm shop close by to pop into whilst you wait

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www.wittonbellchowchows.co.uk

Are you hoping to breed from Dino?

I got Roo Roo done purely because there were concerns he had problems because he refused to jump onto anything and would always scramble or climb, if he couldn't he would stay on the floor as opposed to jump up. Plus I discovered his sire sired a pup with hip scores of 47 despite having low scores himself. Scoring him meant I could push him on an exercise front without worrying I was damaging him, even my vets were a bit concerned but it turns out he was just a lazy toad.

I wouldn't exactly recommend the folks I went to as Roo is the only dog I've had done so I can't say if some are better than others, I don't know! Generally speaking if a vet has done plates before I would think they should be OK, I think the BVA can or do refuse to score plates if they are not done very well.

Will not be scoring my future goldens unless I have similar concerns, don't like any risk re general anaesthetic/sedation if it can be avoided.

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You would hope so, unfortunately not the case, and a bad set of plates can alter the score/grade, sometimes drastically. Having been the victim of a poor set of plates, and trust me, the BVA do not always reject poor plates, I am very wary about who I will use next time. I would be willing to travel to a vet that's recommended, simply because, as you so rightly point out, the risk of GA and sedation is unknown, a dog may react badly, you never know, particularly if this is the first time they ever go in for a procedure. Hips tend to be more widely done than elbows, which is why I would be willing to travel, as I do plan to make use of the elbow grading scheme, even though I'm not the biggest fan, it is the only way we have of knowing the state of the dog in front of us, other than looking at it's movement and assessing them for soundness on a regular basis. The x-rays give us a bit more of an insight, even though it is, with elbow grades, a very small range, which doesn't seem to work as well as the hip scores.

The one I used for Tau I would recommend again, they have three surgeries outside of York, the main one is at Stamford Bridge, they did her hip and elbow plates:

Battle Flatts Vets | Stamford Bridge | Pocklington | Strensall | Norton | Small animal, equine, avian, reptile and exotics vets in North Yorkshire

Edited to add, the vets who mucked up Indie's plates were Abbeyfields in York, who are now combined with Tower Vets, and I would avoid Tower vets like the plague as they managed to botch a treatment for a budgie of mine and killed her, then failed to respond to my correspondence regarding the whole issue.

OMG I had no idea Mark had died - I always took my dogs to him! When did this happen? Do you know how he died? Very sad.

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I know they wont always, but the KC themselves have lead me to believe they are *supposed* to

Either way I could find no one recommended in my area, so I went to my normal vet who is the chap that does them in the area and didn't have a concern. But this is it, because I never intended to breed anyway so I wouldn't have seen the point in going miles out of our county when it was just a reassurance thing.

There is no way with Roo I would have taken him that far largely because of the general anaesthetic, massive car journey before and after wasn't something I was keen on. But in the same breath its the reasons why, I would never have bred from him so my reasoning was not in the same league as say your reasoning. I'm not sure if Shrap is intending to breed or not, hence I asked because I do think it makes a *bit* of a difference

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I didnt know untill I pulled the site up for Rachel my current GSD was done at 13 month as all my GSDs are done - it was Mark who predicted Zandi's scores he predicted 0:1 for hips and grade 3 elbows - he was only 1 point out on the hips as he scored 0:0 unfortunately he was correct on the elbows
It tells you on the site - he will be missed by many

I would always hip & elbow score my GSDs in particular the elbows as it determines what disciplines you can do - there is noway I would compete in any that involved a 6ft jump down from the scales with a dog with bad elbows

Thanks everyone

No I will not breed from Dino. I don't know enough about behaviour changes after stud, from what I've heard it CAN make interactions more complicated - I like Dino being able to play with other entire males. I doubt anyone would approach me anyway, I will only be showing him at open GSD shows and a lot of reputable breeders don't like long coat to short coat matings. I disagree with long coat to long coat matings for the most part so there we go

I want his hips + elbows done for a few reasons, so I know "what I'm in for", so Heather knows what she's producing, and so I can do Schutzhund without a worry.

The journey doesn't bother me, and Dino doesn't mind travelling - he just lies down and sleeps til we move again.
I'm not hugely worried about the GA/sedation. He would be getting put under if I was neutering him, which I'm not. He'll be in safe hands anyway, hence the thread