Doodle Health, Dog Health testing, what does it mean?

Here is some health testing info I found very interesting

Dog Health Testing>Cerf (Eye Test)

F.Y.I>Both parents MUST carry the PRA gene, to pass to offspring

Cerf testing is not reliable. This test must be redone EVERY YEAR,

Lets think about this,… what happens if you produce a litter or pups after you get your dog cerf’d and the next year the dog comes up with a problem??

For one thing any qualified vet can check eyes and will notice a problem if there is one, Cerf. testing is a worthless test. My vets are qualified to initially diagnosis a possible problem with eyes.

DNA is more reliable but again both parents must carry it to pass it down to their offspring.

VWD -(Dog Health Testing, blood disorder)

Again both parents must carry this gene our dogs are either cleared
thru testing or negative results of parents.

This test in my opinion is one of the MOST important to perform
If a dog has Vwd or is a carrier bred to a carrier this can be passed onto the puppies.

One parent can be carrier and the other not a carrier and produce puppies that are not affected.

All of our dogs are tested for this disorder unless they are bred here and their parents have been tested and cleared.

Note it has recently come to my attention that these Dog Health Testing, also are NOT foolproof, be it thru blood drawn or DNA testing results. It is certainly ashame that us breeders that go to all the trouble and expense to test for genetic disorders to find out that cant be guaranteed results of such tests,,

SA – Skin Disorder
This test is also one of those Dog Health Testing Tests, that are unreliable if a dog is tested in a spot that is NOT affected the results will show as negative if not tested in the right spot and the dog is infected then what??

Not to mention this test is very painful for the dog

“Is Addison’s disease genetic or inherited?

Research has shown that Addison’s disease is genetic, but the exact method of inheritance is not yet known. It is thought that there may be an environmental trigger. There are ongoing research projects for several breeds, including Standard Poodles, Leonbergers, Great Danes and West Highland White Terriers, with hopes of identifying a genetic marker. However, at this time, there is no specific test to identify the gene, only the test to diagnose whether or not the dog’s adrenal glands are functioning properly.

No genetic marker at this time there is no test currently available to use to check for this disorder. More info http://www.poodlehealthregistry.org

Hip Dysplasia Hereditary or Environmental?
All of our breeding dogs are tested, by one of our vets before breeding. Most are OFA certified if they are over 2yrs old

Hip Dysplasia Hereditary or Environmental?

After many years of research , our conclusions and thoughts on Hip Dysplasia. Yet another questionable Dog Health Testing test.

Hip Dysplasia (HD) is defined as abnormal development or growth of the hip joint. The hip in all mammals is a ball and socket joint. The tip of the femur is supposed to fit nicely inside the curvature of the hip socket. Lack of fit causes side-effects such as mild to severe arthritis, pain, limping and impacts on other joints of the dog’s body as he compensates for the hip joint failure. If all goes well, a pup will be born with no signs of dysplasia, and his hip movement will encourage good hip and bone development, thus avoiding the unwanted side-effects of HD. However, in some large breed pups, this does not occur.

Let’s talk about why that might be.

First, let’s talk specifically about HD.
Is HD hereditary, environmental or both, HD issues can and do vary.
Here are the most common situations:

Subluxation, meaning there is a good hip joint formation but not a snug fit between the ball and socket of the hip. This may improve or deteriorate depending on care given by the dog’s owner/vet.

Good hip formation but the ball is not in the socket. In this instance the hip formation will deteriorate over time without good veterinary care and potentially hip surgery. Poor formation of either the socket or ball or both.

Again, this situation may be mitigated with proper veterinary care to avoid or reduce painful side-effects.

So here’s the question….
Q. Is hip dysplasia (HD) hereditary or environmental?
A. It can be either or both!!

**Hereditary**

Hereditary HD occurs during the development of the pup in the womb. In this instance, the hip sockets in the pup are not right from conception.

They inherit this type of HD from a relative – mom, dad or even a dog from many generations ago. Please note that although the mom and dad dog may have tested just fine for hips – as well as their parents and the parents before them, and on and on, there is absolutely no guarantee than any given pup won’t inherit HD. If there is HD anywhere at all in their background – even five generations or more ago, there is a possibility of the pup inheriting it.

**Environmental**

Even if you purchase a pup born with no discernable hip problems, you’re absolutely not home free.

Even the best puppy hips can deteriorate from stress or injury as they grow.

All large breed puppies grow very quickly between the ages of 3 and 12 months.

During that short period of time, they will attain almost all of their adult height.

This rapid growth alone stresses the joints and ligaments.

Add rough play, jumping and climbing while the hip sockets are still forming and hip dysplasia may occur.

Here are some environmental issues that may create or aggravate a dysplastic hip.

• Injury (ie ,puppy falls off somthing,dropping puppy) can cause the perfect fit to become loose or the ball to become misplaced.

• Very vigorous play in the still-forming joint may cause improper formation, the joint to lose its smoothness and/or the socket to become shallow and deteriorate.

Here are some specific things YOU as a responsible dog owner
can do to avoid environmental HD:

• Proper food and nutrition are vitally important to your puppy’s health and go a long way toward preventing HD.

Always feed a high quality food…
Yes, high quality foods usually do cost more, but you most likely spent quite a bit of money on your puppy.  You don’t want to have to spend even more later if treatment is required to fix a problem that could have been prevented to begin with.

(Even if you didn’t, don’t you think he deserves the best?)

Do you want him to become chronically sick just because of improper nutrition?

In the end, you’re saving money on vet bills by paying more for better quality food.

Good nutrition also includes feeding the proper amount – not too much and not too little.

During your pup’s high growth phase, he may be a voracious eater, but also make sure he doesn’t get too fat.

Extra weight puts a lot of stress on developing hips, but too little weight is also a problem.

Talk with your vet or breeder about the correct amount to feed to maintain optimal health.

We also recommend a GOOD vitamin supplement. I have some recommendations there as well just ask me.

• Slipping/sliding on slick floors (tile, linoleum, wet grass, etc.)
Your puppy sliding across the floor after a toy is cute but it can also cause him to become a cripple.

Access to slick floors should be avoided or at least limited to no running or playing. Our pups are on a rug to avoid this from day one.

• Our Vets also check proper bone at their well puppy check up, Stairs are a work-out for people as well as a puppy.

The pup’s body is stressed by stair climbing. Between the added stress and the angle of the stairs it makes his hips work too hard and can literally destroy them. We strongly recommend your pup not attempt stairs until he is ready after 4-6mths old and ONLY walking. not running, if runs leash keep leashed.

• Excessive exercise, tired muscles and ligaments make your puppy prone to injury. Never force exercise on your pup. Do not encourage him to play when he wants to rest. Take care not to venture too far away from home when going for a walk – rest every 15min the walk back may be too much for him.

• Jumping over things/on things is one of the worst things a developing pup can do to his hips, elbows and knees.

Holding a toy up and having him leap into the air to get it is very hard on a pup’s body, as the landing is too much impact on a young one’s developing joints. As they say, what goes up must come down!

So, in the final analysis is hip dysplasia caused breeder or a bad owner? Of course it can be a combination of both. The pup may have a very tiny hip defect, and coupled with the owner contribution, the combination may be too much. Or he may be born that way or develop it from improper care. And even the best puppy hips can become dysplastic through the things I just discussed. But let me try to answer the question from this breeder’s perspective.

To be honest, breeders sometimes take the rap for everything that goes wrong with a puppy.

This is not necessarily correct or fair.  Certainly there are some breeders that that know their dogs have or Produce problems But they breed them anyway. Again, these are NOT responsible breeders. All responsible breeders would love to see the irresponsible ones go out of business. Frankly, they give us a bad reputation.

But what about the responsible breeders who only breed dogs that are doing their absolute best to limit the number of problems they have – are they to be blamed and held accountable for the hidden genes that come from ancestors that had no part of their current breeding program? This is something I’ve been thinking about and struggling with for some time now. As a buyer and a breeder, I have done a lot of research on this topic because I am deeply troubled by the thought that I might be blamed for producing a pup with HD sometime in the future. I believe most breeders share my concerns.

So who is ultimately responsible if your puppy turns up with problems?
Dogs are living breathing creatures; should we expect them to come with a warranty too?? like cars and dishwashers?

On the other hand, purchasing a puppy from a reputable breeder is a huge expense, if you have no guarantees – this is why most reputable breeders offer them – it gives us credibility because owners believe they are buying peace of mind.

But what if you as an owner could have, through ignorance, accident or lack of care “trashed” a perfectly good puppy; should you be entitled to a free pup or even a full refund under any guarantee? If your pup is determined to have hip problems, it’s back to the breeder. If the breeder used only healthy parents for breeding, what more could they have done? there is no genetic marker for HD , so in reality Nothing!

These are just some of the things I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and there’s really no perfect answer. I guess it all comes down to this.

I produce beautiful living creatures and sell them to approved homes.

I do my absolute best to assure they are born healthy and leave here in the same condition.

I work with the new owners and warn them against doing things unwittingly that could damage a pup.

They can either take my advice or Not, i have no control over that and i will not be held responsible for things that happen as a result of their ignoring my advice. I refuse!.

But at the end of the day, there are no guarantees in life , for any of us is there.

The only way to completely guarantee you will not end up with problems like HD is to not purchase a living creature. I wish it was different – it’s just not.

A breeder can do all the Dog Health Testing till they are blue in the face, if the new owners of the puppy doesn’t take care of the new puppy as it matures it does no good at all.

Please contact me for more information, I am here to help you !
Working together, we can reduce the number of HD doodles – I know this is your goal too!

NOTE:> Some info in this article, I found on the web,
The Link was lost, I would love to give credit for this info ,
Please email me so I can credit you.

Cancer Considerations
A retrospective study of cardiac tumors in dogs showed that there was a 5 times greater risk of hemangiosarcoma, one of the three most common cancers in dogs, in spayed bitches than intact bitches and a 2.4 times greater risk of hemangiosarcoma in neutered dogs as compared to intact males. (7) A study of 3218 dogs demonstrated that dogs that were neutered before a year of age had a significantly increased chance of developing bone cancer. (8) A separate study showed that neutered dogs had a two-fold higher risk of developing bone cancer. (9) Despite the common belief that neutering dogs helps prevent prostate cancer, at least one study suggests that neutering provides no benefit. (10) There certainly is evidence of a slightly increased risk of mammary cancer in female dogs after one heat cycle, and for increased risk with each subsequent heat. While about 30 % of mammary cancers are malignant, as in humans, when caught and surgically removed early the prognosis is very good. (12) Luckily, canine athletes are handled frequently and generally receive prompt veterinary care.

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

MICRO CHIPPING Please if you are considering Micro chipping http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2009/11/14/How-Safe-are-Pet-Microchips.aspx

After Over 30years in the dog industry, as a breeder, trainer, dog groomer.

My life has been dedicated to dogs researching health issues and what i can I do to produce quality dogs and obtain the PERFECT breeding dog.

I have decided there is NO guarantees in life for any of us, human or dogs.

I have found that the majority of testing that breeders do are really NOT reliable or neccessary.

Please review all this info and form your own conclusions.
Hopefully this will help you understand testing and decide for yourself.
What test are important and what level any breeder can guarantee anything.

As Shown above, some disorders are breed specific
(they dont run in certain breeds of dogs,).

Others dont have a genetic marker to even begin to hope to get a reliable result.

Bottom Line:
We do what we can to ensure a disease free dog, that is all we can do.

We are breeders NOT God.

As with humans it is all up to the good lord to what he gives us All in life!!

As Always Please Click Like and Share on Facebook. Also Please Follow My Website too. Lots More Coming!

Dog Health Testing,Dog Health Testing what each test actually means.