Would you breed to a3 hips? - Page 3

that was discussed by schbabe earlier in the post

I don't want to sound arrogant or anything like that but atleast for people breeding with top German studs in Germany they should be very careful with NZ(A3) . In my experience an A4 grade can easily change to NZ in Germany provided you know where to go and get your animal x-rayed. It sounds hard to believe but if a dog is good in anatomy and temperament and all in Germany there are ways to get his hips from A4 to A3. So the answer to the question above would be a certain NO WAY. In fact my last two litters were from A1 rated sires , as I had a fast normal sire (top top draw) producing 5 out of six puppies A4 and one fast normal. So I decided A1 normal from now on and a good study into the sires progeny prior to using him for stud. In my opinion breeding is not something to be taken lightly especially with our breed facing all sorts of health issues.

Gustav,
           Sorry my mistake I have made a mistake on the number of A4 pups, it should read 3 A4 , One Fast normal, and 2 puppies A1, the mother's produce until that point was excellent , it was her fourth litter, the previous 3 producing only A1s and Fast at a ratio 3:1, never A3 or A4. I am absolutely sure that if I disclose the Sire's name a lot of people wil tell you they had similar scores out of this particular male, because after the litter I did contact a few people that used him and also checked on most of his recorded progeny and found that he consistently produces hips worse than his own on a fair percentage, around 35%. To be fair he gave us two very high quality pups out of this particular litter, one Fast normal and one A1 normal but the other A1 normal puppy had also week ears and this also ws a first for the female. What worries me is what happens to the progeny of the two good ones , will they be carrying the displasia gene to their offspring? And then you could have A1 parents and puppies with less than normal. Another reson that ,in my mind, one should breed at the highest possible hip score and cross his fingers.