29/04/2024
Responsible breeders health test. What does that mean?
For Cardigan Welsh Corgis, the parent club recommends testing for PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy), which causes blindness in dogs at a young age, hip x-rays to screen for hip dysplasia, and an annual eye exam to screen for heritable eye diseases.
PRA is a simple recessive. The disease only manifests when the dog has two copies. A parent might be a carrier (not affected) and still be valuable to a breeding program but a responsible breeder will only breed them to a non-carrier. The puppies might be carriers (not affected) or clear, so the breeder would test any puppies kept in a breeding program. If parent have both been tested clear for the gene, none of the puppies will be carriers.
Hip dysplasia and other eye diseases are trickier. These are more complex inheritance and can be affected by environmental influences. A responsible breeder will still screen for problems in the parents and watch for trends in their breeding program and breed accordingly, possibly removing dogs from their breeding program.
In addition, some breeders will test for other issues. Elbow dysplasia and DM (Degenerative Myelopathy) are two.
Elbows can be x-rayed at the same time as hips. And like hips, it is a complex issue that can be complicated by environment and temporary injury.
DM is a neurological disease that causes paralysis when the dog is older. From the parent club website: "a disease that causes progressive paralysis and seems to only affect very old Cardigans. Its cause appears to be multigenetic and the currently available genetic test identifies dogs that may be at risk of developing the disease." What we know is that if a dog does not have the gene we have a DNA test for, it will not have the disease.
Responsible Cardigan breeders will often test for some cosmetic issues such as long hair or colors that are not allowed to be shown. They may still breed carriers to carriers in an effort to get hard to acquire traits that are involved with proper structure which is also a health concern. Good structure enables the dog to have a quality life and to do the work it was bred to do. These cosmetic traits do not affect the health of the dogs.
(Blue Merle is an accepted coat color in Cardigans. Other colors of merle are not. It's a bit more complicated than the simple recessive coat color genes but understand that an obvious merle bred to another obvious merle can often produce deaf and blind puppies. We have a DNA test now that can tell us more. A topic for another day perhaps.)
The genes for EID (Exercise-Induced Collapse) and vWD (Von Willebrand Disease) are not found in purebred Cardigans (no Pembroke or other breed in its pedigree). If a breeder uses the term "triple clear" when they say their dogs are health tested, it means they don't fully understand relevant health testing for Cardigans. Or they have been using crosses in their breedings.
Talk about health issues with a breeder you are considering. Find out what their goals are in their breeding program.
Look on the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) website for kennels who screen their dogs.
https://ofa.org/
You want the money you pay for your puppy to be supporting a breeder whose ethics you also share.
