Chris has a killer post up over at BorderWars.
Just because a dog has “been tested” doesn’t mean that it’s healthy.
Health testing is useful and important, but it’s not the full picture.
That’s why some of the DQ’d BOB’s at Crufts got dismissed, even though they “had been tested.”
It’s simply a red herring to use the ruse that these dogs passed their breed specific health tests to attack the vets for DQ’ing for health purposes.
We’re talking about two different things here.
Of course, it’s a great argument tactic. It muddies the water and further adds to the histrionic, paranoid collective meltdowns we’ve been seeing over the last week.
The problem with the dog world is the closed stud books, unfortunately, it has been proven time and time again that we are not able to breed healty dogs in this way. When you do want to breed healthier dogs, it is this need changing. DNA testing is a great fly right now, but I do not think you should rely too much on it or any other health program. It is so easy to invest heavily in one or two diseases and then other problems get more common in the breed and so it goes on and on, with more and more known issues. Better focus on removing the root of evil than to remove the symptoms, open studbooks reduce selection that is not due to health or function, decrease the use of popular sires, reduce inbreeding and increase the effective population.
No no no! All that stuff makes sense! We can’t have any sense-making here!
;)
Neither the EVCO or the BVA eye testing certificate is issued for eyelid problems. These problems can be noted on the forms by the veterinary opthalmologist, but do not constitute a fail as it is not proven to be hereditary, in all breeds. These certificates are not breed specific. The dogs disqualified from Crufts have been checked by a vet, in the Clumber Spaniel it is listed as having ‘diamond eye’ and secondary conjunctivitus. Regardless of the media circus surrounding this and the comments on numerous blogs (filled with speculation) the owners of the dogs and the UK Kennel Club are in discussion over this matter. It may well be that none of this will ever be published, but it is surely better that these two groups look at this matter than the ‘witch hunts’ I have seen on some blogs.
Health testing in dogs is a lot more complicated than it is often made out to be, (as it is in humans too). With out full knowledge of what might lie in a breeders line how can they breed for total good health?
Example: in a breed known to suffer from primary angle closure glaucoma, it is well known it is behind every line in that breed, it is also known in related breeds of retriever, such as the Golden Retriever. The inheritance pattern is unknown and believed to be polygenic, where dogs from apparently ‘clear lines’ of 5 or more generations can still produce dog with a predispostion for this eye disease. Unless every single puppy born is tested by breeders and pet owners the breeders and the vets will never get close to establishing what might or might not be in a breeding line.