Okay Laura, I will take the icy plunge. I have seen many golden x-rays which my vet has been "right on" in evaluating. He always gives explanations so I'll see if I learned my lessons. I believe the dog on the left may have good hips although the photo was not really clear. There is some indication of seperation and a less than round femoral head which might indicate that the hips are leaning to fair. The dog on the right has severe hip dysplasia on the right and moderate on the left. The hip joint is approaching seperation on the right . The femoral head is flat and shows severe stress. The ascetabulum is very shallow and provides little or no "gripping " of the femoral head. I couldn't think of a term other than gripping. The other one is comparatively much better but has flattening of the femoral head, uneven contact with the ascetabuum , and a shallow socket. I have had goldens evaluated with mild which looked much better than these poor hips. Of course, OFA rates dogs comparatively to others of similar age and breed, which could affect the rating.I don't have as much experience with cavaliers. I have seen x-rays of an OFA excellent dog (Fox Terrier) that my vet showed me. They were textbook examples of what hips should look like. As the article stated, there is a correlation between broadness of hips and muscle development. The x-rays clearly show that the dog on the left has a much broader pelvis than the dog on the right. I think this is something that can be quite apparent in even young puppies which might help in our selection of our latest hopeful. I like to see a nice 'fat' looking little rear from behind and from overhead , with good muscle. I don't mean over weight just with substance. Okay. I've taken my chance! What does everyone else see?
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