The blue hip certificate (sample below) contains the following information:
Registered name AKC registration number
Breed Sex
Coat color Date of birth
Permanent ID number Age in months at evaluation
(tattoo, microchip, DNA profile)
Application number OFA certification number
Date of report Evaluation category (Excellent, Good or Fair)
The OFA certification number ,i.e. LR40920G27M-PI, is interpreted as follows:
LR indicates the breed (Labrador Retriever)
40920 indicates that this is the 40920th Labrador to be hip certified
G represents the evaluation of Good hip joint conformation
27 is the dog's age in months when the xray was taken
M indicates that this is a male
PI indicates that the dog has permanent identification
The OFA keeps a database of all dogs that are OFA certified, including linkage to their parents and siblings, and the CERF database. Dogs can be searched by their registered name or AKC registration number. The OFA website is www.offa.org
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| Sample OFA Hip Certification |
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Click on images to link to the OFA website for additional explanation and further information.
The green elbow certificate (sample below) contains the following information:
Registered name AKC registration number
Breed Sex
Coat color Date of birth
Permanent ID number Age in months at evaluation
(tattoo, microchip, DNA profile)
Application number OFA certification number
Date of report Evaluation category (Normal)
The OFA certification number ,i.e. LR-EL22266M27-P, is interpreted as follows:
LR indicates the breed (Labrador Retriever)
EL indicates that this is an elbow certification
22266 indicates that this is the 22266th Labrador to be elbow certified
M indicates that this is a male
27 is the dog's age in months when the xray was taken
P indicates that the dog has permanent identification
The OFA keeps a database of all dogs that are OFA certified, including linkage to their parents and siblings, and the CERF database. Dogs can be searched by their registered name or AKC registration number. The OFA website is www.offa.org
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| Sample OFA Elbow Certification |
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The Preliminary (Consultation) Report (sample below) is given in the absence of a certificate. This can occur because the dog is too young to be certified (must be at least 24 months), or because the dog's hips and/or elbows cannot be certified because they are not normal. In either case, the hip evaluation will be checked (Excellent, Good Fair, Borderline, Mild Dysplasia, Moderate Dysplasia, Severe Dysplasia) and the specific radiographic findings on the list below will be checked if the evaluation is not normal (Excellent, Good or Fair are normal). The elbow evaluation will be checked as negative, right and left, if normal. If not normal, a Grade (I- least severe, II, or III- most severe) will be checked. The specific radiographic findings for these grades will be checked below.
Be sure to read the OFA explanation of the diseases of hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia. The severity of symptoms that accompany an abnormal diagnosis can vary widely, and may not strictly correlate with degree of dysplasia.
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| Sample OFA Preliminary Report |
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Comparison of OFA and other foreign schemes
For many years it has been difficult for breeders who incorporate foreign dogs into their breeding programs to translate the hip and elbow evaluations of dogs that are certified by other schemes into the OFA system. There is a table giving an approximate comparison of these schemes on the OFA website. Portions are shown below. In the OFA and European schemes, the hip certification number itself does not indicate individual hip scores, whereas the BVA scheme does give separate hip evaluations, i.e. 3:4
OFA FCI(European) BVA total hip score (UK/Australia)
E A-1 0-4(no>3 hip)
G A-2 5-10(no>6 hip)
F B-1 11-18
B B-2 19-25
M C 26-35
Mod D 36-50
S E 51-106
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