05/08/2023
***Editing to add Spine X-rays***
"Strahd" Speak with the Bleu Devil de la Bergerie d'Elan BCAT CGC finished his health testing and may be available for stud to approved females in the future. However, like always at Beaucerons du Cosmos I strive to be as transparent as possible. I am a firm believer that the information that hurts the most, is the information that we do not have.
That said, Strahd's OFA hip results came back with an unexpected note of "Spine: Spondylosis". Although he is only two we have not seen any outward evidence of this affecting his movement or quality of life and after discussing with our reproduction vet, radiologist and neurology team, it's unlikely that it ever will.
We did follow up with an OFA spine evaluation and unsurprisingly the results showed some spondylosis. Those results will be made public in the database soon and the radiographs will be added to this post when I have access to them. I have added the notes from my own vet in the images.
Spondylosis is often an incidental finding and although it's not something that we take lightly, it is also something that we do not feel should remove him from the breeding pool entirely. Myself and his co-owner Yvette Lear (Moon's End Kennels) will be very selective about who he is bred to and several extra stipulations will be put in place.
Any female that he is bred to must be checked by an experienced radiologist for spinal issues and ALL of Strahd's offspring must submit for OFA spine evaluation at age two.
No dog is perfect and health testing is and should be a tool to make better breeding decisions. My choices may be controversial at times, but I have been and will always be open to discuss with those who want to know more.
Anyone interested in using Strahd can contact both Yvette and myself.