What Does OFA Excellent Mean? Understanding Hip Ratings Explained

OFA Excellent is the highest passing grade a dog can receive for hip health — but understanding what that grade means and how it's determined helps breeders use it correctly.

What Is OFA?

The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is a nonprofit organization that evaluates and registers the health of dogs. Their hip evaluation program — established in 1966 — is the most widely used canine hip evaluation system in the world.

The OFA evaluates hip X-rays and assigns a grade based on the degree of hip joint conformation (how well the ball of the femur fits into the socket of the pelvis).

The OFA Hip Rating Scale

OFA evaluates hips and assigns one of seven ratings:

Passing Grades:

• Excellent: Superior conformation. Ball fits tightly in the socket with minimal joint space. The gold standard.
• Good: Well-formed hips. Slight variations from perfect but clearly within normal range.
• Fair: Minor irregularities in conformation, or slight but acceptable subluxation.

Borderline:

• Borderline: Inconclusive findings. Neither passing nor failing. Requires re-evaluation in 6 months.

Failing Grades (Dysplastic):

• Mild: Clear but mild signs of hip dysplasia.
• Moderate: Moderate hip dysplasia with significant joint changes.
• Severe: Severe hip dysplasia with major joint deterioration.

How OFA Evaluations Are Done

1. A radiograph (X-ray) of the hips is taken, typically under sedation to ensure proper positioning
2. The X-ray is submitted to OFA
3. Three independent board-certified veterinary radiologists evaluate the X-ray separately
4. Their independent grades are combined to produce the final rating
5. To qualify for OFA certification, the dog must be at least 24 months old (evaluations before 24 months are "preliminary" and do not appear in the official database)

What OFA Excellent Means for Breeding

Excellent hips represent the top tier of hip conformation — the ball and socket fit tightly and uniformly, with no signs of joint laxity or abnormal bone development.

In a breeding context:

• Excellent is the most desirable hip grade for a stud dog
• Excellent × Excellent pairings tend to produce the best hip outcomes
• Excellent × Good is also an excellent pairing
• Fair hips in a stud dog should be paired with Excellent or Good hips in the dam at minimum

What Excellent doesn't guarantee: OFA Excellent hips in a dog do not guarantee that his offspring will have Excellent hips. Hip dysplasia is polygenic (many genes contribute). However, selecting for Excellent hips significantly improves population-level hip health over generations.

PennHIP vs. OFA

PennHIP uses a different evaluation method — measuring joint laxity using a distraction radiograph and producing a Distraction Index (DI) from 0 to 1. Lower = tighter hips = better.

PennHIP can be performed at 16 weeks (OFA is final only at 24 months), making it useful for earlier evaluation. Neither is inherently superior — both are valid tools.

Where to Verify OFA Results

All publicly submitted OFA evaluations are searchable at ofa.org. Search by the dog's registered name or OFA number. OFA Excellent, Good, and Fair results are publicly listed unless the owner chose private status.

Summary

OFA Excellent is the highest hip grade — tight, well-formed hip joints evaluated by three independent radiologists. Good and Fair are also passing grades. Evaluations at 24+ months are final; earlier evaluations are preliminary. Excellent hips are the target for stud dogs. All OFA results are verifiable at ofa.org by registration number.