Great news on OFA results

On Friday, I received paperwork from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, an organization that rates the hips, elbows and a host of other congenital occurrences in dogs. Both Emily and Barrett received certification that their hip joints were OFA rated as Good and that their elbows were OFA rated as Normal. That is great news for us as we have been very lucky to have a lot of soundness with our dogs. Eye checks are done annually for the entire kennel and we also use the Optigen test to determine whether a particular dog carries the gene for Progressive Retinal Atrophy. There are a lot of clearances that can be done with Labradors, if one desires. We try to recognize that clearances are a tool to be used in making breeding decisions. It is also very important though to keep in mind that one can go down a very winnowing pathway trying to only keep a dog that is "clean". There are no "clean" lines because recessives are lurking in the background. We do the best that we can to preserve the type that we like and to have sound dogs with good temperament. That is a goal that we strive to achieve.