An improved procedure for genetic selection against hip dysplasia in dogs.

Rapid weight gain can educe hip dysplasia of dogs with normal hip joints. It is proposed that progeny whose parents have "excellent genotypes" would not be susceptible to this stress and would develop normal hip joints. The method for reducing the incidence of hip dysplasia in dogs would be to use stress to identify carriers (parents) and potential carriers (progeny), and select for breeding only dogs with proved genotypic value and those progeny with the best hip joint conformation.