When you are going to breed reputably, you have the sire and dam checked for whatever your breed guidelines are. For Goldens it is hips, elbows, eyes and heart. You DO NOT have to do this but again if you are going to breed reputably then you will.

Hips and elbows can not be certified on a sire or dam before they are two years of age. This is because the bones are still soft and forming and do not become hard until around the age of two. You can have what is known as a preliminary report done but the OFA (Orthepedic Foundation of Animals) will not register them before the age of two.

Eyes are checked yearly in breeding stock dogs.

I sold all my puppies with a guarentee against hip, elbow, eye and heart problems. If I was not confident that my dog and the sire were healthy breeding stock, I would not offer this guarentee. If any of our puppies should be tested for any of these conditions then I will do one of two things. 1. Give a replacement pup (purchase a dog of their choice for them) if they return the dog to me or 2. If they choose to keep pet, Pay vet bills equal to the purchase price of the dog for the diagnosed condition.

I actually turned down two studs that I was very interested in breeding with because they only had fair hips. The rating is Excellent, Good or Fair. Anything less than fair is not recorded.
Dixie had Excellent hips which is not the norm for a Golden. She was bred to a Good which is the norm for a Golden. Fair is still considered breedable but I would not even consider it!

All the puppy owners have until the dog is 26 months old to have the tests to diagnose these conditions in the dog. After that point the money part of the contract ends. This is because all these problems can be diagnosed by the age of 26 months with a relative 100% success rate. If something happens to the dog later in life which creates any of these conditions then I should not be liable. For instance if a dog is jumping over something and does damage to the hip joint which over time will eventually develope into arthritis.

You do not have to have your dogs hips x-rayed. This is just a comfort level to know what the future may hold so you can perhaps keep the dog from doing something that will aggrevate the condition!