Hips elbows and knees of Kuvasz

Lambent Kuvasz
[ Home ] [ Hips elbows and knees ] [ Thyroid and vWD ] [ Other Health Issues ]	Hip Dysplasia Canine Hip Dysplasia (CHD) is the most serious health concern of the breed. Most Kuvasz breeders have taken great strides to reduce the risk of inheritance, and the % of incidence has gone down since breeders have become more diligent. CHD is a heritable disease that affects the hip socket and joint and can ONLY be diagnosed by radiograph. Some veterinarians have become skilled at "listening" to the hip socket, but diagnosis cannot be confirmed without x-ray. Furthermore a diagnosis should be performed by a board certified radiologist, and not your vet as he may not be qualified. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFfA.org) is one organization widely used by breeders in North America to diagnose and certify hips. The OFA has a staff of radiologists that compare the x-rays of your dog to other hip x-rays of other Kuvasz, and make a determination rating each dog with a grade of : excellent, good, fair, borderline, mild, moderate, and severe. Only three grades are considered passing - excellent, good and fair. Additionally there is another organization that requires a radiograph taken in a specific manner, performed by a trained and qualified vet in the method, called PennHip. The PennHip method will return a numerical value that measures the exact laxity of each hip, but they do not give a pass or fail value. The numerical values should be compared against other values for the breed, and against the mean average for all canines to determine the status. At Lambent Kuvasz we use BOTH methods to evaluate the hip status of our breeding animals as each method has it's merits. Pictured above is a photograph of Hayley's OFA hip x-ray. The positioning of the dog on the table is of the utmost importance. The dog is laying on it's back, and the rear legs are stretched downward so the dog appears to be "standing". The dog must be positioned exactly center and the legs can be pulled neither to the right or the left. CHD has one or sometimes two components. The first component is a laxity of the hip joint - meaning that the ball of the femur does not fit properly into the socket of the acetabulum. The second component occurs in some dogs and that is degenerative bone changes - arthritic calcifications around the ball and/or socket that may grind together causing great pain. Degenerative bone changes does not have to be present to confirm a diagnosis of CHD. The disease can be quite painful to some dogs, but Kuvasz being stoic animals may not necessarily show pain. Some breeders will tell you that CHD is caused by environmental factors such as diet and exercise. These breeders are either misinformed, or making excuses for not performing this critical health clearance. One Kuvasz breeder in the South East has never to my knowledge performed a hip clearance on any of their breeding animals (the OFA data base lists all dogs cleared - this breeder has none!) yet they claim that CHD does "not run in their lines". Hogwash. There is even a dog food company that claims that CHD is caused by poor diet - and of course they've developed a diet that will prevent YOUR dog from getting CHD. More hogwash! The fact is that CHD IS heritable (that is - genetic). Now it is true that poor diet (overweight, too high in protein and calcium) can WORSEN the effect of CHD, but it will not CAUSE CHD. For a dog to be diagnosed with CHD - it must first be genetically predisposed to the disease. Diet and exercise ARE important, but the best of intentions and animal husbandry will not prevent your dog from getting CHD if his DNA markers say that he has the genetic material for the disease. A dog only needs to receive one clearance for CHD in his lifetime. The OFA will not certify a dog prior to the age of two (but they will give a preliminary result). PennHip on the other hand will evaluate dogs as young as 4 months. Lambent Kuvasz does not condone using a PennHip method alone at an age of less than 18 months for breeding males, and less than 24 months for breeding females. This is a fairly new method and there is not yet a lot of data on Kuvasz - especially at a young age - for comparison. Elbow Dysplasia Elbow Dysplasia is another hereditary orthopedic disease. In this case it is the elbow joint that shows laxity. To my knowledge very few Kuvasz have been diagnosed with Elbow Dysplasia. Regardless of having found much incidence of the disease, most breeders continue to have their dogs elbows diagnosed by OFA. The diagnosis also requires an X-ray be submitted to OFA and most breeders will have the hips and elbows x-rayed at the same time and submit them both together. The current statistic is that 92% of the 174 radiographs submitted for elbow evaluation are in the normal range. Patellar Luxation Patellar (kneecap) luxation is where the patella can shift from side to side on a dog, and can cause great discomfort. Typically this is a disease of small dogs, but some Kuvasz have been affected by it. The OFA data base currently shows 66 evaluations have been submitted with a rate of 100% normal. DON'T LET THIS FOOL YOU. The patella submission requires a simple test by a veterinarian and he can tell you on the spot that the knees are normal or not. All the 100% rating tells us is that to date, no Kuvasz owner has submitted an evaluation that was known to fail. One of my dogs (Abby) had one luxating patella. Overall though, it is not a common problem in the breed. Nonetheless, breeding animals should still be screened for this disease before being bred. The roll of the OFA The OFA is a non-profit group that has dedicated themselves to assisting breeders make better breeding choices through the use of health screenings and a public data base. The OFA at one time only screened dogs for hip dysplasia, and now they screen for many orthopedic and non-orthopedic health issues. They have a data base with an incredible and simple search tool so the general public can easily look up data on a specific dog, or an entire breed. They have many wonderful published articles that exist on the website and every breeder should read them. The OFA data base is an enormously valuable tool for breeders and potential puppy buyers. Every dog that has ever passed an OFA screening can be found on this data base using a simple and powerful search engine. All health data for that dog is shown, as well as his parents, his siblings, his half siblings, and his offspring! Clicking on one of the parents brings up the same data for that dog. A new tool allows you to create a "vertical pedigree" which instantly shows a pedigree with all the siblings (the "breadth" of the pedigree). Recently OFA added two more functions to their data base. In the past OFA only published animals that have cleared. Now, each owner can check a box on the submission form that authorizes OFA to publish the results regardless of clearance, and most Kuvasz breeders today are using this "Open Data Base". Another addition is that OFA is listing preliminary results - that is CHD radiographs taken before the age of 2 years old. The OFA data base is open to all - one need not register or pay a fee. Lastly ... the OFA data base is not just for hips, OFA also registers: thyroid levels (good for one year only), patella, elbows, heart, von Wilebrands disease, deafness, and other breed specific diseases that are genetic in nature. They also list clearance data from CERF (eyes - see other health issues) to complete the listing. The OFA also plays an important roll in research of canine health. Some of the research data has, and will continue to assist areas in human health as well. At Lambent Kuvasz we believe in screening our breeding stock for all known health issues, but we don't stop there. We look at the "depth" of the pedigree (the parents, their parents, and their parents) and even more important we look at the "breadth" of the pedigree (siblings of parents, grandparents etc.). Consider this - you want to breed a bitch who is OFA excellent (hips), BUT she is the only CHD clear puppy in her litter of 8. Every puppy in the litter received the same DNA from their parents, and because CHD is "polygenetic" (caused by multiple genes in combination with each other) CHD may be expressed in some, and not in others. But this bitch that cleared, still carries the same genetic markers that her dysplastic littermates carry - thus she has just as high of a risk of passing those markers on to her children. In OFA's infancy it was recommended that breeders check the intended sire and dam for CHD, and their parents etc (the "depth" of the pedigree). In time, and the result of further studies, OFA is now recommending that the breadth of the pedigree is as important, or possibly more important than the depth. In an effort to assist breeders with pedigree research OFA has developed many tools for our use, and the use of you the puppy buyer. I strongly suggest that puppy buyers make use of this most valuable tool, especially if you are buying a breeding/show quality puppy.
Copyright 2004 Susan Gilmore and Lambent Kuvasz Susan@Lambentkuvasz.com This page last updated - April, 2005

Hip Dysplasia

Canine Hip Dysplasia (CHD) is the most serious health concern of the breed. Most Kuvasz breeders have taken great strides to reduce the risk of inheritance, and the % of incidence has gone down since breeders have become more diligent. CHD is a heritable disease that affects the hip socket and joint and can ONLY be diagnosed by radiograph. Some veterinarians have become skilled at "listening" to the hip socket, but diagnosis cannot be confirmed without x-ray. Furthermore a diagnosis should be performed by a board certified radiologist, and not your vet as he may not be qualified. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFfA.org) is one organization widely used by breeders in North America to diagnose and certify hips. The OFA has a staff of radiologists that compare the x-rays of your dog to other hip x-rays of other Kuvasz, and make a determination rating each dog with a grade of : excellent, good, fair, borderline, mild, moderate, and severe. Only three grades are considered passing - excellent, good and fair. Additionally there is another organization that requires a radiograph taken in a specific manner, performed by a trained and qualified vet in the method, called PennHip. The PennHip method will return a numerical value that measures the exact laxity of each hip, but they do not give a pass or fail value. The numerical values should be compared against other values for the breed, and against the mean average for all canines to determine the status. At Lambent Kuvasz we use BOTH methods to evaluate the hip status of our breeding animals as each method has it's merits.

Pictured above is a photograph of Hayley's OFA hip x-ray. The positioning of the dog on the table is of the utmost importance. The dog is laying on it's back, and the rear legs are stretched downward so the dog appears to be "standing". The dog must be positioned exactly center and the legs can be pulled neither to the right or the left.

CHD has one or sometimes two components. The first component is a laxity of the hip joint - meaning that the ball of the femur does not fit properly into the socket of the acetabulum. The second component occurs in some dogs and that is degenerative bone changes - arthritic calcifications around the ball and/or socket that may grind together causing great pain. Degenerative bone changes does not have to be present to confirm a diagnosis of CHD. The disease can be quite painful to some dogs, but Kuvasz being stoic animals may not necessarily show pain.

Some breeders will tell you that CHD is caused by environmental factors such as diet and exercise. These breeders are either misinformed, or making excuses for not performing this critical health clearance. One Kuvasz breeder in the South East has never to my knowledge performed a hip clearance on any of their breeding animals (the OFA data base lists all dogs cleared - this breeder has none!) yet they claim that CHD does "not run in their lines". Hogwash. There is even a dog food company that claims that CHD is caused by poor diet - and of course they've developed a diet that will prevent YOUR dog from getting CHD. More hogwash! The fact is that CHD IS heritable (that is - genetic). Now it is true that poor diet (overweight, too high in protein and calcium) can WORSEN the effect of CHD, but it will not CAUSE CHD. For a dog to be diagnosed with CHD - it must first be genetically predisposed to the disease. Diet and exercise ARE important, but the best of intentions and animal husbandry will not prevent your dog from getting CHD if his DNA markers say that he has the genetic material for the disease.

A dog only needs to receive one clearance for CHD in his lifetime. The OFA will not certify a dog prior to the age of two (but they will give a preliminary result). PennHip on the other hand will evaluate dogs as young as 4 months. Lambent Kuvasz does not condone using a PennHip method alone at an age of less than 18 months for breeding males, and less than 24 months for breeding females. This is a fairly new method and there is not yet a lot of data on Kuvasz - especially at a young age - for comparison.

Elbow Dysplasia

Elbow Dysplasia is another hereditary orthopedic disease. In this case it is the elbow joint that shows laxity. To my knowledge very few Kuvasz have been diagnosed with Elbow Dysplasia. Regardless of having found much incidence of the disease, most breeders continue to have their dogs elbows diagnosed by OFA. The diagnosis also requires an X-ray be submitted to OFA and most breeders will have the hips and elbows x-rayed at the same time and submit them both together. The current statistic is that 92% of the 174 radiographs submitted for elbow evaluation are in the normal range.

Patellar Luxation

Patellar (kneecap) luxation is where the patella can shift from side to side on a dog, and can cause great discomfort. Typically this is a disease of small dogs, but some Kuvasz have been affected by it. The OFA data base currently shows 66 evaluations have been submitted with a rate of 100% normal. DON'T LET THIS FOOL YOU. The patella submission requires a simple test by a veterinarian and he can tell you on the spot that the knees are normal or not. All the 100% rating tells us is that to date, no Kuvasz owner has submitted an evaluation that was known to fail. One of my dogs (Abby) had one luxating patella. Overall though, it is not a common problem in the breed. Nonetheless, breeding animals should still be screened for this disease before being bred.

The roll of the OFA

The OFA is a non-profit group that has dedicated themselves to assisting breeders make better breeding choices through the use of health screenings and a public data base. The OFA at one time only screened dogs for hip dysplasia, and now they screen for many orthopedic and non-orthopedic health issues. They have a data base with an incredible and simple search tool so the general public can easily look up data on a specific dog, or an entire breed. They have many wonderful published articles that exist on the website and every breeder should read them.

The OFA data base is an enormously valuable tool for breeders and potential puppy buyers. Every dog that has ever passed an OFA screening can be found on this data base using a simple and powerful search engine. All health data for that dog is shown, as well as his parents, his siblings, his half siblings, and his offspring! Clicking on one of the parents brings up the same data for that dog. A new tool allows you to create a "vertical pedigree" which instantly shows a pedigree with all the siblings (the "breadth" of the pedigree). Recently OFA added two more functions to their data base. In the past OFA only published animals that have cleared. Now, each owner can check a box on the submission form that authorizes OFA to publish the results regardless of clearance, and most Kuvasz breeders today are using this "Open Data Base". Another addition is that OFA is listing preliminary results - that is CHD radiographs taken before the age of 2 years old. The OFA data base is open to all - one need not register or pay a fee. Lastly ... the OFA data base is not just for hips, OFA also registers: thyroid levels (good for one year only), patella, elbows, heart, von Wilebrands disease, deafness, and other breed specific diseases that are genetic in nature. They also list clearance data from CERF (eyes - see other health issues) to complete the listing.

The OFA also plays an important roll in research of canine health. Some of the research data has, and will continue to assist areas in human health as well.

At Lambent Kuvasz we believe in screening our breeding stock for all known health issues, but we don't stop there. We look at the "depth" of the pedigree (the parents, their parents, and their parents) and even more important we look at the "breadth" of the pedigree (siblings of parents, grandparents etc.). Consider this - you want to breed a bitch who is OFA excellent (hips), BUT she is the only CHD clear puppy in her litter of 8. Every puppy in the litter received the same DNA from their parents, and because CHD is "polygenetic" (caused by multiple genes in combination with each other) CHD may be expressed in some, and not in others. But this bitch that cleared, still carries the same genetic markers that her dysplastic littermates carry - thus she has just as high of a risk of passing those markers on to her children. In OFA's infancy it was recommended that breeders check the intended sire and dam for CHD, and their parents etc (the "depth" of the pedigree). In time, and the result of further studies, OFA is now recommending that the breadth of the pedigree is as important, or possibly more important than the depth. In an effort to assist breeders with pedigree research OFA has developed many tools for our use, and the use of you the puppy buyer. I strongly suggest that puppy buyers make use of this most valuable tool, especially if you are buying a breeding/show quality puppy.