Genetic idiopathic epilepsy - Page 7

BTW I'd be very happy if admin could take the sections of these posts that refer to HD and start a new thread.

I, for another, would be perfectly happy if the Admins do what Blitzen

suggests, but would point out that the subject of HD was only brought

into this thred originally because of the comparison between Epilepsy

not being seen as something we yet know enough about to try to tackle

through breeding progs.  and the introduction of NZ by Germany.  I wouldn't

like the lessons pointed up for the Breed community by that 'can of worms'

to get lost / disregarded as a subject for debate, would any of you ?

 

..."Good and Fair are not equal to Excellent."

While I understood where Mackenzie was coming from, and think he/

she has a point, it could certainly have been more 'tactfully' put  (and

people reckon MY posts get aggressive !).  The Ratings Schemes are

all as good - or bad - as each other, IMO, from the A  Stamp onwards.

None is a complete picture of the breed in each country, none is used as

well as it could / should be, the overall position re the amount of clinical

cases in the breed HAS improved and is still improving - but only slightly,

and very slowly - (the fact that the Mean used in the UK has reduced from

about 22, [? if I recall correctly, when we changed to Scoring from Breeders

Letters], to the current 17 is some indication of that) - and there will always

be breeders (everywhere) who ignore it, or tell untruths about it, and only

record their GOOD results.  Such tools can only ever be as effective as the

uses they are put to.

"When the grade Good is applied it should say that there is mild dysplasia degradation and the same classification and comment made to the grade Fair."

Um, no, you are wrong there.  MILD is mild dysplasia, not GOOD (GOOD is basically A-Normal while MILD is your NZ).  There is already a rating for a dog with "mild dysplasia" called MILD.  An OFA GOOD dog does *not have* hip dysplasia. I'm not defending the US or OFA (last dog I certified with a-stamp through the SV system, not OFA) but I have no idea where you are getting this b.s. from. An OFA GOOD dog does not imply there is any "degredation".

From OFA:

"Good: slightly less than superior but a well-formed congruent hip joint is visualized. The ball fits well into the socket and good coverage is present."

OFA Hip Dysplasia Guidelines for Breeders

Breeders and the OFA

Progress in hip joint phenotype of dogs in the United States between the 1970's and early 1990's has been shown through results of a retrospective study using the OFA data base. This improvement was evident as an increase in the percentage of dogs classified as having excellent hip joint phenotype and a decrease in the percentage of dogs classified as having hip dysplasia (HD). The increase in percentage of dogs classified as having excellent hip joint phenotype was greater for German Shepherd dogs, Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, and Rottweilers than for all dog breeds combined. In addition, the submission screening rate for these four breeds was higher than the screening rate for all dogs. Within these four breeds, the improvement was greatest for Rottweilers, which also had the highest screening rate.

Overall, low screening rates for breeds found in this study offer some insight into the problems involved with reducing the incidence of HD. The typical dog breeder is involved in breeding dogs for about five years. Thus, informed, experienced breeders are continually replaced with uninformed, inexperienced breeders who may not be as aware of the problems associated with HD or of the importance of participating in a screening program. In addition, many breeders choose which dogs they breed on the basis of the hip phenotype of individual dogs without knowledge of the phenotype of related dogs or previous offspring. It can be very difficult to get hip information on siblings and previous offspring due to the overall low number of dogs radiographed in a given litter (most dogs in a litter end up in pet homes). This is the slowest method of reducing the incidence of an undesirable trait or increasing the incidence of a desirable trait. The use of preliminary radiographs as early as 4 months of age can be used by breeders to add valuable information on the hip status of dogs they choose to use in a breeding program.

What can breeders do?

Hip dysplasia appears to be perpetuated by breeder imposed breeding practices, but when breeders and their breed clubs recognize HD as a problem and establish reduction of HD as a priority, improvement of the hip status can be accomplished without jeopardizing other desirable traits. Prospective buyers should check pedigrees and/or verify health issues with the breeder. If suitable documentation is not available, assume the worst until proven otherwise.

Do not ignore the dog with a fair hip evaluation. The dog is still within normal limits. For example; a dog with fair hips but with a strong hip background and over 75% of its brothers and sisters being normal is a good breeding prospect. A dog with excellent hips, but with a weak family background and less than 75% of its brothers and sisters being normal is a poor breeding prospect.

OFA's Recommended Breeding Principals

• Breed normals to normals
• Breed normals with normal ancestry
• Breed normals from litters (brothers/sisters) with a low incidence of HD
• Select a sire that produces a low incidence of HD
• Replace dogs with dogs that are better than the breed average

Did anyone check the GSDBBR to see if there were any common dogs in the background of those with epilepsy?

 

Margorie:  I apoligize, I called your Name Margaret in my earlier post, but glad to see you back posting, this forum needs you so much.  Thank you for all you contribute and better days ahead for you.  Nan

Thanks, Nan :)  I have been called worse names than Margaret ;) I will take that happily :)  see- smiles are coming back. Its good to be here :)

 

The URL of the GSD Health Database I started, the German Shepherd Dog Breed Betterment Registry is:

http://www.gsdbbr.org

And too funny Marjorie;  I just look back at my post and mispelled your name again;  I need to check my typing skills out,  really lousy lately.  Have a great, great day.  Nan

:)