Health screening questions

Hi,

I'm planning on buying a puppy next year and I'm still in the research stages.

I'm looking for reputable breeders, have looked at the Kennel Club's Accredited Breeder page for the breed and at their Breed specific health statistics and recommended health tests (hip scoring and eye testing in the case of the breed I want).

I've looked on the Breed Club sites for recommended breeders and researched them. Still, I have a couple of questions that probably sound really stupid, but I'm hoping someone will help!

Hip scoring- Is this done annually in stud dogs and bitches, or is it only necessary once in a dog's lifetime?

Eye testing- The breed I'm looking for has histories of animals affected with, or carriers of, PRA and Lens Luxation. Do eye tests test for both, or only PRA? As all I've seen on breeder's pages is "Eye Tested Clear". Which is fabulous... if you know what they've been cleared of!

Apologies if I sound incredibly dim, and many grateful thanks to anyone who has the time and patience to fill me in!

Hip scoring is done once in the dogs lifetime. A dog cannot be scored before it's 1 year old.

With regards to the eye testing, I'm not sure if PLL and PRA can be tested for simultaneuosly, I guess that would be something you'd have to discuss with the breeder. Always make sure you see the relevant paperwork! With Springers GPRA, CPRA and MRD can be tested for simultaneously, but glaucoma has to be done seperately by a specialist. So it's anyones guess really!

Good luck in your search for a pup, it's nice to see you're doing your research beforehand.

BTW lots of pics are mandatory on here when you have a pup!

Thank you very much for your reply it was very helpful.

This won't be my first puppy; I have a cocker I've had from a puppy and a rescue dog I've also had since she was 6 months old.

My cocker came from health screened parents and a recommended accredited breeder but she has an unusual genetic condition so I'm being even more thorough with my research this time.

I'm hoping for a pup I can try showing with, but health and temperament are my primary concerns. I'm more than happy to get the Spanish Inquisition from breeders- I'd be very wary if I didn't! I just hope they won't be offended by countless questions from me.

The puppy pics could be a while off yet, I'm not in a rush to find the right breeder or pup for me!

Thanks again.