01/03/2026
I am huge proponent of transparency of both the good and the bad of breeding. I think too often on social media you will see all of the highs of a breeder’s program but then they just mysteriously don’t have the results for one test or another posted on OFA. I can definitely understand why information is withheld in many situations because of fear of the reactions from the general public. They may fear comments that may result on the post itself or that they will be the subject of gossip among the breed community. Or perhaps they fear getting posted in one of those Facebook groups where breeders are condemned for even the smallest perceived infraction. These things do happen, so I am not going to judge the people, who are acting in good faith to make the best breeding decisions they can with the information one can reasonably obtain, decide not to publicize all of the less glamorous parts of breeding as a protection to their mental health. Intentionally misleading people is another story.
Sometimes you can test and test for all sorts of health conditions and beyond what is recommended from the breed’s parent club and you will still get a puppy that comes up with health conditions. You can match up a dam and a sire pairing with years of research and the greatest attention to detail and you may get something awesome or you may not.
On a recent vet visit to finish up Kodiak’s puppy vaccinations, the vet mentioned that he thought he heard a heart murmur. So I took him for a second opinion and the second vet said they heard it too. So I took both Claire and Kodiak to get echocardiograms. Kodiak’s sire has gotten extensive heart testing which was all clear but Claire had only gotten the basic cardiologist exam required for her CHIC number. CHIC stands for Canine Health Information Center. In order to get a number listing in the CHIC database you have to complete all health testing recommended by the relevant breed club and then publish the results of those tests in the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) database.
Claire’s echocardiogram showed she had a completely normal heart and we will be sending those results to be published on OFA.
Kodiak’s however was found to have an abnormal heart and was diagnosed with tricuspid valve dysplasia. This means that the right side of his heart doesn’t function as efficiently as it should.
The cardiologist told me that Kodiak was too young to have his echocardiogram results published on OFA but I am sharing them here. I have redacted some personal information but otherwise it’s all there.
Kodiak is not currently showing any symptoms and the vets have said it is possible that he could remain symptom free long term but wouldn’t recommend him for strenuous physical exertion like being a running partner or agility dog.
So anyways I wanted to share all of this with you everyone to show the true experience of being a breeder so that if there are people out there even newer than me they would get an accurate picture of the experience. I also urge everyone to extend grace and benefit of the doubt and just talk to breeders about any discrepancy you see or question you might have. There might be a perfectly normal and good reason for doing something a certain way. If they are worth their salt, they won’t mind kind questions in good faith.
As always let me know if you have any questions about Kodiak or any of my other dogs.
