Nervous

((hugs)) I can totally understand - I had Z xrayed before I adopted her and for the few days prior was on pins and needles.

Just keep in mind....in terms of Coke, if the exrays come  back showing any abnormalities or a Fair/Poor rating, it doesn't mean he's necessarily set up for a horrible future! Those exrays are designed for breeding purposes in terms of promoting breed health...in Coke's case you aren't breeding him but rather just looking for information....and you should take it as that. Information. If they aren't great, you can take the preventative steps needed to work to prevent any hip or elbow issues later on - glucosamine, appropriate exercise, weight management, etc. Even with the results you may or may not have issues with him in the future.

Nikon may be slightly different because he is a performance dog and you have certain standards for the extreme conditions he is expected to work in (Schutzhund), so he needs to be a certain level of fitness, that part is obvious.

Good luck though, I hope they go well!!

We've decided that if it ever came to major surgery, we would elect not to do it for our dogs.  Maybe that sounds harsh, but in Nikon's case he is WAY too energetic to crate rest and rehab for several weeks, he would not even do it for a few days when he pulled a muscle.  I wanted a high energy dog and that's exactly what I got.  He would have to be sedated in order to accomplish any rest and rehab.  Coke is a very sensitive dog, especially pain sensitive, so we just couldn't put him through that and feel like he would rather be free and comfortable and just have a shorter life.  He's not had the easiest life, we are his fourth and final home.  He just seems like a "living in the now" kind of dog.  I've seen people put some dogs through some extremely long and painful recoveries and the dogs are never 100% again and we've decided not to do that just for our own sake of not wanting to let go.  This assuming the results are *really* bad, but you never know, just have to prepare for any possible scenario.  My gut tells me Nikon will be fine.  His prelims were fine and his ZW score is a 76.  In Germany they use ZW scores along with a-stamps.  The "average" score is 100, and a dog starts out with the average of the two parents.  Lower is better and scores in the 60s/70s are desireable.  As results come in for siblings, progency, etc the numbers change.  So right now Nikon is just the average of his parents (whose numbers can change), but his father is a 66 which is awesome considering a 100 is "average" and not necessarily dysplastic.  His father is a1 (normal) and mother is a2 (almost normal); an a3 is still a passing/non-dysplastic score.  I'm just so nervous about Coke because we have nothing to even base a guess on and therefore must plan for the worst.  I'm also nervous because of the quality and knowledge of the person doing them, I know if it looks bad it's not like I'll be able to blame it on poor positioning or go looking for a second opinion....

The one consolation is that Coke is not a super active dog, he doesn't start bouncing off the walls like Nikon and Kenya if he doesn't get hard exercise.  So if he has joint problems that are not major to begin with, he should be fine on supplements and limited hard exercise.  We already keep him quite lean.  He looks 85lbs but is 65.

Baylor the GSD was a mess when we got the x rays back.  We did not do the surgery.  We kept him fit and lean (what others would call skinny) 82-84 lbs and he was big.   We used supplements, homeopathics and in the end pain meds.  He lived 13 years.....So it doesnt sound harsh, it sounds like the decision that makes sense for you folks.

PS many of the working K9 s in the military had dysplasia at the rates reported for the breed.  Still worked 10 years (without surgery)

 MACH GSD, mild hip dysplasia: http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/396695.html