Doberman Health: Hips and Elbows

In my "Picking a Breeder" page (you'll see it up top there), I state that you want to look for a breeder who has gone through either OFA or Penn Hip for their dogs. Hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia are crippling and painful conditions that can affect dogs. In addition to the (to me) obvious quality of life concern, a dog crippled by one or both of these conditions is not a dog that does well in conformation competitions (or should not, anyway), and cannot adequately perform in working venues.

(an x-ray of normal hips, from Wikipedia Commons)