Once again, we put some less-than-perfect news about ourselves out for public scrutiny because we feel that openness and honesty is the only policy.  If this is the kind of news that scares away a puppy buyer, we are glad to be rid of that person.  They can go feel comfortable with someone who lies to them.  We prefer the truth, and people who can handle the truth.

One of the truly wonderful things about PennHIP is you can do it at six months of age.  I highly recommend everyone PennHIP at six months.  Why?  We all have hopes, dreams and expectations of our dogs.  The higher yours are, the more important your hip scores are.  Waiting until the pup is two years old is crazy.  By then, you already have so much invested in the dog -- time, money, emotion -- that your judgment can get cloudy when bad news arrives.

Our expectation of Portia is that she would be a highly trained hunting dog, with NAVHDA titles, and a brood matron.  Her hips came up .40/.49.  She can be a highly trained hunting dog, and achieve NAVHDA titles, however her hips are such that we don't feel comfortable breeding her.  She is highly unlikely to have hip problems.  I bet if you OFA her at two, she will come up OFA good to excellent.


Portia at Eight weeks 100% Potential.

The "magic number" where HD is virtually impossible is .30 and the number where HD reaches a 50/50 crap-shoot is .70.  The "loosest" hip of either of Portia's parent's is .22 and .49 is .27 looser than that.  If it's possible to get three tenths looser in one generation, breeding on tight hips to begin with, then it seems possible that Portia's middle of the road hips could become very loose in a matter of a generation or two. 

Besides, 80% of GSP's have tighter hips.  In other words, it's very easy to find a brood matron with better hips.  If we were in another breed, her hips might be excellent for that breed, but we are talking about GSP's and our goal at Marshfield Kennel is to make each generation of GSP's better than the last.  Here's my compilation of some PennHIP data (click).

Anyway, we decided that we would PennHIP Portia young, and if her hips were unsatisfactory as a brood matron, we would spay her and sell her.  Then keep a girl from our upcoming litters to replace her.  This plan was easy to agree to when we didn't know the scores.  I can tell you that sticking to the plan has been hard.  Portia has always been a special dog to us.  She's Amanda's first GSP, and Amanda has put a lot of work into training her.  Portia has "it."  She's just very pleasant to be with and to hunt with.

So we had some folks looking for a puppy, and actually put a deposit down for our upcoming litter.  I mentioned Portia and told them about her hips, and they kind of fell in love with her.  So instead of a puppy, they are getting a started dog.  We're going to cry when she goes to her new home.  But fortunately, it's not that far away in Greene, so we'll be able to keep up with her.

And again, here is the chart with breed specific HD probabilities based on the Distraction Index.



Presuming GSP's are more like Goldens and Labs, at .49 Portia has a less than 10% chance of developing HD.  You can tweak the odds in your favor by keeping other known factors in line.  In otherwords, keeping the weight down is important, and keeping muscle mass up around the hips is also important.  Portia looks like she's going to be blessed with her mother's "buns of steel."

Mark and Wanda are getting a wonderful hunting dog, and we'll stand behind Portia 100%.  If she ever has a problem with her hips (or any other genetic condition) we will take care of it 100%.