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Pearl, I agree with you 100%. It CAN be crippling. I know this personally, because one of my co-workers has a poorly bred lab. She has spent TONS of money dealing with it. Her poor boy was so bad, he had to have surgery on both hips by the time he was 2 years old. Yes, it's unusual for it to be that bad at that young an age, but it shows what can happen.
Yes, it's true that a dog can have excellent rated hips and still give birth to a dysplatic pup. But why take the chance? I think it's pretty rare for this to happen. It can also happen that a dog rated poor can have a pup with good hips. Again, why take the chance?
I own brittanys. They are a sporting breed, but smaller than a lab. As such, they are prone to dysplasia, although it is not as common. When I bought each of my pups, I also researched a ton, and one of the things I was very careful to look for was a breeder who both showed AND did OFA testing. Both of my pups come from a champion blood line, the dogs are shown in AKC and also field trials and hunt trials. I have a pedigree several generations back. Does this guarantee they will have no health problems? Of course not. But it DOES give me peace of mind, knowing that each breeder did everything possible to protect the health of both the parents AND the puppies.
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