Actually, if they are really bad, they may be able to tell on a prelimn now. Were the parents OFAed? Of course that is not a guarantee, but it does help improve the odds.
Also, one of my old dogs (bought as a show prospect from England) was severely dysplastic. He was never bred of course, but I kept him and he lived pretty comfortabley to age 10 (died of something else entirely). He had a little trouble getting up if he lay on the tile floor the last couple of years of his life, but he did amazingly well. And his hips were AWFUL. So, maybe, even if your friends puppy has dysplasia he will be ok, if they keep his weight down and monitor things.
And, there are other things it could be as well....
susie
I have a big soft heart, as you might have noticed.
My first Golden was sent home from college by my oldest son who bought her 1/2 price from a girl who had brought 5 puppies back to Texas Tech from an ElPaso breeder and sold them around campus. Nobody wanted the female, even though she had AKC registration. (All the new dog "parents" were "macho" college football players, and they wanted only male dogs. My son talked me into taking her by giving me a whiney story about how he couldn't keep her, but he bought her to "save her" because the football players next door were feeding her tacos and beer! And besides, I needed a "watch dog" to protect me now that all my kids were out of the house. (Baloney!)
Naturally, this Golden was no watch dog. She would lick a burglar to death and then offer him a beer. The vet took one look at her and told me that I should have her spayed because there were already too many Goldens in the world. I hesitated because she had a really nice demeanor. Then she went into heat. I took her right in to be spayed at that point because I knew that I couldn't deal with it.
But, before she was spayed, she slipped on a hill on wet leaves in my yard and wrenched her shoulder when she was about 10 months old. She had to be confined to a kennel for a MONTH to heal. Then, when she was 5, she slipped on wet grass again on another hill and slipped a disc. After a 10 days at the Vet School and a lot of rehab we got her walking again and she led a fairly active life with no hunting and no jumping allowed until she died at 15 1/2. We devised indoor retrieving games to amuse her without stressing her spine.
The first 2 times she was in the vet, the x-ray machine happened to be broken so we could never get a picture of the hips to know if she really had a problem, so we just had her spayed because we felt that the chances that there was a deformity were probably pretty good, considering her background.
To add insult to injury, several years after she was spayed, the vet school took full x-rays when she had her spinal injury at age 5. They told me at that time that she had very well developed hips and sockets and would have been a good mom! Too late then!
My friend's dog (Tess) reminds me of how stiffly my old Terra used to walk near the end of her life, and Tess is still a pup. That is what worries me. Tess is already spayed, but my friend does not tolerate any dog that is less than perfect. I also trained with Tess's mother and I never liked the look of her either. Perhaps it is just my preference for Goldens over Labs.