Ablewood

What are we doing about health?

We are so fortunate today, to be able to screen our dogs for many hereditary issues and I do my best towards eliminating these issues from our beloved breed through research and testing. I try to stack the odds in favour of long-lived, healthy dogs.

You have the right to know the health background of the puppy you will be sharing your life with! We allow the screening organizations to publish the results for all to see, and submit all health check results to breed health records such as the searchable Berner-Garde database.

WARNING

PLEASE ensure that you research your breeder and understand their commitment towards the health of the puppies they produce. It is expensive to do proper health screening and many breeders will cut corners, telling you health screening is not necessary.

It is irresponsible to breed without screening for health issues.

OFA Orthopedic Foundation for Animals:

https://www.offa.org

The OFA and the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) have worked with breed clubs to establish the specific screening criteria that is most important for each individual breed.

For both Berners and Cavaliers, the following is recommended:

  • Hip Dysplasia (OFA Evaluation, OVC Evaluation, or PennHIP Evaluation)

  • Eye Clearance (Evaluation by Ophthalmologist)

  • Cardiac Evaluation (OFA evaluation with exam by cardiologist) - recommended annually for Cavaliers for Mitral Valve Disease

  • In addition, for both breeds I strongly encourage you to do a simple swab test for DM

For Bernese Mountain Dogs, the following are also recommended: 

  • Elbow Dysplasia (OFA Evaluation, or OVC Evaluation)

  • von Willebrand's Disease (OFA Evaluation from VetGen)

For Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, the following is also recommended:

  • Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia (MRI)

  • Patellar Luxation (OFA Evaluation)

  • Dry Eye / Curly Coat Syndrome, and Episodic Falling (DNA or cleared by parentage)

~ Breed Health Organizations ~

Berner Garde Foundation:

http://www.bernergarde.org

Berner Garde is an incredible resource for researching pedigrees and health backgrounds for existing dogs, as well as for planning future litters. In this database, you can look up a dog, look at its parentage, including health tests, litters produced, titles, and owners. You can produce reports that tell you the Coefficient Of Inbreeding for a potential litter, and look at all relatives in the database. Although seeing a dog first-hand is invaluable for assessing its structure, movement and temperament, the Berner Garde database provides a wealth of supplementary information and background to broaden your Berner knowledge.

As a breeder, we send all our health results and litter information to the Berner Garde. As a Berner owner, you can submit information, photos, and any health tests to the database as well. The more information we have on all Berners, not just breeding stock, the better informed we can be in making decisions for the longevity and health of the breed as a whole.

Cavalier Pedigrees

https://cavalierpedigrees.com/

This site provides a searchable repository of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, where you can view health tests that have been submitted, as well as digging into pedigrees.

CavalierHealth.org

https://cavalierhealth.org/overview.htm

This organization provides guidance and links to research for all aspects of Cavalier King Charles health and wellness. From Diets, to Health Clinics, and questions to ask breeders, this site is a valuable resource for the ongoing care of your Cavalier.

Main Topics include:

~ Health Issue Descriptions ~

Degenerative Myelopathy (DM):

http://www.offa.org/dnatesting/dm.html

This disease is horrible to see when it manifests, and the chances of it occurring can be greatly reduced through screening. The test is a simple kit you can send away for, involving a saliva swab that you mail back to OFA. If both parents are "Clear" then you can apply to have the direct offspring declared "Clear by Parentage". A "Carrier" should only be bred to "Clear", never to another Carrier. If your dog tests as "Affected", you will want to learn as much as you can about this disease.

Episodic Falling (EF)

This is a genetic disorder that only affects Cavaliers. A June 2012 report found that 19.1% of CKCSs are carriers of EFS, and in a May 2012 report of DNA testing of 2,811 cavaliers, only 3.7% were found to be affected with EFS.

The disorder involves stiffening of the muscles and falling over after certain "triggers" such as heightened excitement or stress. It tends to improve with therapy, with milder cases stabilizing at one year of age, and does not appear to shorten lifespan.

Von Willebrand's Disease (vWD):

http://www.vetgen.com/canine-vwd.html

This is an inherited bleeding disorder that affects the process of clotting around damaged blood vessels. This disease can be tested for through the link provided above.

As of 2005 in BMDs 83% were found to be "Clear", 16% were "Carriers" and 1% were "Affected" with the disease.

Syringomyelia

This condition is a malformation of the skull and spinal cord in the upper vertebrae. This results in pain for the dog and neurological issues. Some common symptoms include excessive scratching at the neck or the dog keeping its head elevated even while eating or drinking. Because of the pain, other behavioural changes such as whining or barking and touch aversion may take place. MRI scanning is expensive but allows the veterinary neurologist to examine the spine for any abnormalities that might interfere with cerebrospinal fluids.

Curly Coat / Dry Eye Syndrome

A curly or "rough" coat is abnormal for Cavaliers and indicates that the puppy has inherited an extreme version of dry eye, skin inflammation, and ongoing deterioration the dog's teeth, gums, and other connective tissues.

CavalierHealth.org states:

"The knowledge of whether a cavalier is clear, affected, or a carrier of curly coat is important to the responsible breeder who wants to avoid passing curly coat to future generations in her bloodline of cavaliers."

"Breeders should have DNA tests performed on all cavalier breeding stock before matings, to detect the mutations causing curly coat syndrome in the CKCS."

• If two clear cavaliers are mated, all offspring likewise should be clear of curly coat.

• If a clear cavalier is mated to a carrier , the odds are that half of the puppies in the resulting litter will be clear and half will be carriers.

• If two carriers are mated, the odds are that half of the litter will be carriers, a quarter will be affected, and a quarter will be clear.

• If a carrier and an affected are mated, half of the litter should be affected and half should be carriers.

• If two affecteds are mated, all puppies in the litter should be affected.