Editor's Note:

The above radiographs CLEARLY display why OFA is not very effective (although I believe OFA is far better than nothing).

These radiographs are ALL of the same dog, done at the same time: an 8 month old Labrador.

The top/1st  radiograph represents what would be an OFA Excellent Dog (on hips) (as verified by OFA radiologists). The joint conformation looks completely normal. The hip-extended view in this radiograph gives a false impression of joint tightness.

The middle/2nd radiograph is used for identifying critical landmarks of the hip and for determining the depth of the acetablum (hip socket).

The bottom/3rd radiograph is used to measure hip laxity. This distraction radiograph reveals much greater joint laxity than the hip extended radiograph #1. Compare #1 with #3. The distraction index (DI) for this dog is 0.82 (82% OUT of the joint) indicating that the dog is not normal and has a high probability to develop hip arthritis later in life.

This is why all of SageKeep's breeding stock will be PennHIP certified.