And it was a GENERAL question .




I`m sorry, I assumed from some of your other posts ( from other threads) it was your belief,

So just to clarify, you do believe health testing is important in producing healthy dogs ?.

If you perhaps took the time to read, and understand, my comments you wouldn't need to ask your final question.

But just to help you out, this is what I have said on the subject ...

"I think health testing has a place in dog breeding, but I don't agree it is the be all and end all."

"I believe that if I were to ever breed a litter of GSDs (which is highly unlikely), then I would want to be as scrupulous as yourself."

"As I have said earlier, health-testing is definitely a PART of breeding, but I really am starting to question the validity of certain tests and the weight put on them."

"I agree, and I would do all health tests required if I were to ever consider breeding."

"I did mention DM and Haemophilia However, I agree there are certain tests in various breeds that should be done in order to eliminate (where possible) the condition. I suppose hips and elbows are controversial because no-one knows what causes HD and ED."

There, does that help?

Oh, and I am merely asking questions about health testing - by asking you learn.

Health tests are are very important.
They are but one bit in the jigsaw, but if the tests are available for the conditions that are specific for your breed why would you not use them.

Of course there are other things to consider.


In my opinion pedigree dogs in general and not so unhealthy, ask my vet.

Some breeds have some issues and that is due to exagerations for which there are no tests.

So by learning and given your response , do you believe that if health tests are available for a breed a responsible breeder would use them before breeding from there dogs.

And given that would you in the future buy from a breeder who did not health test their dogs.

It depends - if we are talking about genetic disorders inherited in a straight mendelian fashion, then of course we would want to test in order to identify carriers of the faulty gene. However, then we add the issue of, if it's not been identified as a problem in the breed, then why test for it? I'm not sure if breeders should have to use every single test that has ever been developed, just for the sake of it?

And then things get even more complicated with HD etc, a hugely multifactorial condition that doesn't seem to always necessarily be heritable as even just a genetic pre-disposition?

Froma scientific perspective, I'd guess that there simply isn't enough data available to make a sure statement with regards to HD, however, I'm not involved in the world of canine health at all so I have no idea what kind of research is going on there?

At the moment, I would still buy a dog from non-health tested stock, depending on the breeds genetic background in itself, and then also only if I was happy with the breeder's criteria as an "overall" consideration.

Lots of great posts in this thread, certainly food for thought

That is very interesting

But, as my old prof used to say, "WHAT DOES IT MEAN???"

Good points.

I like the last sentence, use them as tools to get a "clearer" picture, but in the end they are still pieces in a rather complicated puzzle

Untrue, I can think of plenty of health tests, I just chose hips and elbows (and CLAD) to begin with.

ALL relevent health tests should be conducted, I am not sure how you came to the conclusion that, on the basis of TWO posts I think its ok to breed dogs that could suffer from dm, pituitary swarfism, haemophila and many many eye conditions amongst others that could be eliminated by testing?!

Frankly I am very surprised and disappointed that you of all people could jump to such a conclusion!

It was late and I did not want to write war and peace!

If a condition can absolutely be eliminated by health testing, then I'm not sure anyone is saying that it shouldn't be done?

I thought the discussion was with "complicated" disorders e.g. HD

I think that we all recognise that some tests do not GUARANTEE that progeny will not suffer from eg HD, and Ronnie Irving has queried blanket health testing in this week's Dog World, however............

You would not buy a piece of equipment which did not have a CE mark etc, that does not mean it will never develop a fault, but it means that it has met certain criteria and the expectation is that it will be more reliable than something you bought from an unknown source with no record of testing