Health Tests
Simplified for people to find a puppy of any breed.

Understanding health screening and tests can be mind boggling for non-breeders.  What do the tests mean?  What are good and bad scores.  Is health everything?

In any purebred breed there are predispositions for diseases.  What does this mean?  These are the diseases most likely to develop or be present in that breed.  Does this mean mix breeds or street dogs won’t get these diseases?No, it only means you can better predict the diseases in a purebred dog than dogs with an undetermined parentage.
 
For some of these diseases there are some forms of testing available - some have specific genetic tests, for others we look at what the parents present with.  If the parents do not present with the disease, it does not mean that they do not have the genes to pass on the disease, it only means that they do not present with the problem themselves.

Notes.

  • For testing eye disease all breeding (and also past breeding age) dogs need an annual eye certificate by a SAVA Certified Veterinary Ophthalmologist.
  • In this eye consultation, the dogs are checked for the presence of disease in the eye. Some eye diseases are congenital, present at birth, some develop later in life, even past breeding age. Therefore, it is important to test well beyond breeding age to understand what diseases are in a pedigree.
  • So apart from the diseases mentioned, all other screening is based on phenotype not genotype. This means the dog is evaluated based on the presence of the disease. Being clear does NOT mean that they can’t reproduce it in their pups.
  • Other diseases like epilepsy are very difficult to predict.  Even in diseases such as HD & ED breeder knowledge and understanding of pedigree is imperative.
  • Remember the perfect dog of any breed is yet to be born.
  • My responsibility as a breeder is to try and understand these diseases as much as possible to try and prevent reproducing them. Could I breed a problem? Absolutely!! 

Understanding the results of a DNA test.

A DNA test presents with one of three results.
  • Clear - Simply put, this result means that the dog tested does not genetically carry or have the trait tested for. Result can also be indicated as N/N or Negative/Negative
  • Carrier - This result means that the dog tested carries one opy of the gene for the tested trait, but the other copy of the gene-pair is normal. Generally carriers will not show any clinical ymptoms of the trait. Result can also be indicated as N/P or Negative/Positive.
  • Affected - Dogs that are affected by a genetic trait has a higher likelihood of showing clinical symptoms of the trait. Result can also be indicated as P/P or Positive/Positive
Knowing the status of your breeding dogs can help to decrease the prevelance of a genetic trait in your breeding. Genetic traits are carried over to progeny as follows:
Parent Test Results
CLEAR
CARRIER
AFFECTED
CLEAR
PROGENY:
All Clear
PROGENY:
50% Clear
​50% Carrier
PROGENY:
​All Carrier
CARRIER
PROGENY:
50% Clear
​50% Carrier
PROGENY:
25% Clear
50% Carrier
​25% Affected
PROGENY:
50% Carrier
50% Affected
AFFECTED
PROGENY:
​All Carrier
PROGENY:
50% Carriers
50% Affected
PROGENY:
All Affected

Summary of diseases with some genetic link (per breed):