The dysplasia control database of the OFA is a voluntary program established to evaluate radiographs and to identify films showing no radiographic evidence of dysplasia or other orthopedic problems. All films submitted that are of acceptable diagnostic quality will be reviewed by qualified veterinary radiologists and a consensus report will be returned to the owner of record and referring veterinarian. Only animals that are 24 months of age or older to the day at the time of radiography, with no radiographic evidence of dysplasia, will be assigned a breed OFA number. The OFA does offer a consultation service for those under 24 months of age.

Veterinarians and responsible breeders of purebred dogs and cats are well aware that hip dysplasia and other inherited diseases can be controlled by careful, selective breeding programs. Information regarding the test results from the sire and dam, along with information on other close relatives such as siblings, half-siblings, aunts and uncles allows breeders to apply greater selective pressure to produce normal offspring and avoid affected offspring.

No, the OFA does not require permanent identification. However, all assigned OFA numbers will clearly indicate whether the dog was permanently identified through the use of the -PI and -NOPI suffixes. It should be noted that the AKC does require the dog to be permanently identified in the form of tattoo or microchip in order to include OFA or CERF data in their database.

Radiographs need to be taken by the veterinarian of your choice. These are submitted to the OFA along with the completed application form and service fee. The application can be downloaded from the OFA site. Detailed instructions on the correct radiographic positioning and required film identification are included on the application.

Any licensed veterinarian can take OFA radiographs.

A matrix containing the current OFA fees is located at www.offa.org/fees.html .

Yes. The necessary forms and instructions for submitting OFA evaluations can be downloaded from this the OFA Site.

Here are links to the various application forms.

OFA Hip and Elbow Dysplasia Application

OFA Patellar Luxation Application

OFA Thyroid Application

OFA Congenital Cardiac Application

Application to change from Semi-Open to Open Database

Your veterinarian must first register with the OFA for this service. Once approved then your veterinarian may then submit digital radiographs to the OFA. Please see

on the OFA site for more information.

Effective January 1, 2001, the OFA adopted a policy acknowledging animals that have been submitted for inclusion in its databases that have permanent identification in the form of tattoo or microchip. Animals not permanently identified will continue to be evaluated; however, they will be issued a number clearly indicating that the animal has no permanent identification. Animals with permanent identification will have a suffix of PI added to the OFA number. If the dog is permanently identified AND the id has been verified and signed off by the attending veterinarian, a suffix of VPI is applied. If the animals lacks permanent identification, a suffix of NOPI is applied. 

Example: CC-100E24M-PI

CC = Breed Code, in this case a Chow Chow

100 = Ascending numerical identifier given to each animal within a breed evaluated as normal and given a number, in this case the 100th Chow to be given a number

E = The phenotypic OFA evaluation, in this case E = Excellent, other normal phenotypes include G (Good) and F (Fair).

24 = The age in months when the testing was done, in this case 24 months

M = Sex, in this case a male

PI or VPI - Indicates that the animal has been permanently identified in the form of tattoo or microchip. If the dog is permanently identified AND the id has been verified and signed off by the attending veterinarian, a suffix of VPI is applied. If the animals lacks permanent identification, a suffix of NOPI is applied.

Yes, Abnormal hip and/or elbow results will be released to the public if the initials of a registered owner appear in the authorization box The dog will not receive a certification number for the failing evaluation(s).

The OFA will release normal hip and/or elbow results for dogs over 24 months to the public, and by submitting this application I agree the OFA may do so. Normal hip results are defined as consensus evaluations of Excellent, Good, or Fair. Abnormal hip results are defined as consensus evaluations of Mild, Moderate, or Severe.

For the purpose of determining whether or not the results will be released to the public, consensus hip evaluations of Borderline are considered abnormal. Normal elbow results are defined as a consensus evaluation of Normal. All other elbow consensus evaluations are considered abnormal.

No, for certification purposes, the animal must be at least 24 months of age to the day(the radiographs are taken) to be eligible for certification.

The OFA accepts preliminary consultation radiographs on puppies as young as 4 months of age for evaluation of hip conformation. If the dog is found to be dysplastic at an early age, the economic loss from the cost of training, handling, showing and so forth can be minimized and the emotional loss reduced. These preliminary radiographs are read by the OFA veterinary radiologists and are not sent to outside radiologists. The same hip grades are given to preliminary cases.

In an effort to encourage open sharing of health test results, the OFA will post preliminary results if:

● The animal is at least 12 months at the time of radiography

● The animal must be permanently identified via microchip or tattoo

● The owner initials the authorization block to release all results (including abnormal results) when the application is initially submitted.

Statistical results suggest that preliminary evaluations of hip joint status in dogs are generally reliable. However, dogs that receive a preliminary evaluation of fair or mild hip joint conformation should be re-evaluated when they reach 24 months (or older).

Some female dogs show subluxation when radiographed around an estrus cycle which is not apparent when re-radiographed inanestrus. The OFA recommends radiographing 3-4 weeks before or after a heat period or 3-5 weeks after weaning a litter of pups.

No, hip dysplasia is a multiple gene, inherited disease. Environmental factors, like high caloric diet during the rapid growth phase, may exacerbate changes in dysplastic hips but will not create hip dysplasia. There also is no evidence in the scientific literature that supplements (i.e Vitamin C) will prevent hip dysplasia. Reduced caloric intake and glucosamine products in immature animals genetically predisposed for hip dysplasia may lessen the pathologic changes associated with hip dysplasia.

Transitional vertebra is an incidental radiographic finding noted during the evaluation process. Transitional vertebrae are a congenital malformation of the spine that occurs at the junctions of major divisions of the spine. Transitional vertebrae take on anatomic characteristics of both divisions of the spine it occurs between. The most common type of transitional vertebrae reported by the OFA is in the lumbar-sacral area where the last lumbar vertebral body takes on anatomic characteristics of the sacrum. Transitional vertebrae are usually not associated with clinical signs and the dog can be used in a breeding program. The OFA recommends breeding the dog to a dog with a clear family history for transitional vertebrae.

Spondylosis is another incidental radiographic finding where smooth new bone production is visualized between vertebral bodies at the intervertebral disc spaces. The new bone production can vary in extent from formation of small bone spurs to complete bridging of adjacent vertebral bodes. Spondylosis may occur secondary to spinal instability but often it is of unknown cause and clinically insignificant. A familial basis for its development has been reported. Like transitional vertebrae, dogs with spondylosis can be used in breeding programs. It is recommended however, that they not be bred to others with the same condition.

The AKC requires dogs to be permanently identified in the form of tattoo or microchip in order to include their OFA results in the AKC database.

Each radiograph submitted must have positive permanent identification within the film emulsion that ties the radiograph to the application. This should include at a minimum the animal's name and/or number, the name of the veterinarian or clinic, and the date of the radiograph. If this information is missing or is illegible, the radiograph and application will be returned to the vet without being processed.

The OFA scans each radiograph and keeps the digital image for long-term referral and storage purposes. After scanning, the radiographs are recycled. Owners may have the radiographs returned if a written request is received with the application. The fee to return radiographs is $5.00 per application. Return requests cannot be guaranteed if the request is submitted after the evaluation is already in process since it is likely the radiograph will already have been scanned and recycled.

The OFA will re-evaluate animals as often as the owner likes. However, the re-evaluation must be based on a new set of radiographs. All consensus evaluations on a given radiograph submission are final.

When results of 1.8 million radiographic evaluations by 45 radiologists were analyzed, it was found that all three radiologists agreed as to whether the dog should be classified as having a normal phenotype, borderline phenotype, or HD 94.9% of the time. In addition, 73.5% of the time, all three radiologists agreed on the same hip phenotype (excellent, fair, good, borderline, mild, moderate or severe). Twenty-one percent of the time, two radiologists agreed on the same hip grade and the third radiologist was within one hip grade of the other two. Two radiologists agreed on the same hip grade and the third radiologist was within two hip grades of the other two 5.4% of the time. This percentage of agreement is high considering the subjective nature of the evaluation.