Aww I want a puppy now http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07bkr3r/choose-the-right-puppy-for-you-episode-1
Good to see they did talk about puppy farmers and how to avoid them, and persuaded one man (hopefully) who worked away a lot that it wasn't the right time for a dog. They stressed how important it was to research different breeds before buying a puppy, to make sure it was right for you. All in all, not a bad programme hopefully it will have made some people think. As for leaving the puppy to cry on it's first night home, not for me but each to their own.
I didn't watch the programme, but I have always left a new puppy to cry at night, have always had a puppies ticking teddy with mums scent on in bed with puppy & they did settle down after couple of hours crying, the next night they would settled right down & sleep without crying.
Overall I thought that this was good programme. Certainly it was much better thought through than the last series on this topic, (the one with the crossbred Beagle). I did wonder how the average buyer would be able to inspect the sire's health certificates, as well as those of the dam. Have they started to give the bitch owner photocopies of these with the stud pedigree nowadays? Would the average puppy buyer know what they were looking at anyway? I would of course, run a health check on MyKC before choosing a stud, but don't think I would have asked for copies of all the test certificates.
When K9 went up for stud I at to give copies of all health checks he had to dam owner & when he had sperm removed by vets (before he was neutered) the vets held copies of the health checks they carried out, which was given to the dam owner before they artificially did what they did to get dam pregnant.
That is a good arrangement. So much has changed since I had my last litter in 1989! So much was taken on trust, although health tests were always a plus, many breeders claimed that they had no need to screen as they had never had any problems. I still think the average puppy buyer would have difficulty understanding what a collection of DNA results were about though.
Many have databases which you can look up the dog in question for many of the tests and view the results.
I think my last litter of Griffons was in 1983 - and at that time there were no health tests/screening for that breed. But my girls and the studs I used - just two, belonging to my mentor who was a Crufts judge for the breed - were traceable with the KC. In those days everything had to be done by snail mail but as I say, there were no DNA/tests done then. There was, however, a problem with hips, but nobody would admit where it came from as Griffon breeders at that time did not want to point the finger at what was then the top breeder in the UK. There was also a sudden "outbreak" [ie known about] of puppies being born with cleft palate, again traced to a specific stud line but hidden up and the puppies destroyed at birth. Some Griffon breeders formed a separate "club" from the main Griffon one. It was called the Northern Griffon Breeders Association IIRC and I will never forget going with my mentor to a meeting - her hurtling up the M1 in a small green VW Polo and me scared sh*tless at her driving. And one of the founders wanted to start an unofficial database as there was no official one in those days. I do not know what became of it as I lost contact with them when I left England, and my mentor died shortly afterwards. It is not that either she or I claimed our puppies did not needed to be screened because there was no screening available at that time - and neither her stud dogs or the puppies they threw had any health problems whatsoever. Neither did my girls, who came from different lines. There is no record of any tests for the Griffons at the time I bred them, although I can still find their official KC registered names even though they must be long gone by now. I do not know if there are now any health tests for the breed.
The majority of reputable Gsd breeders have the Sire/Dam scores on their web site, http://www.kesyragsd.co.uk/pge.php?page=7 http://www.kesyragsd.co.uk/dogpge.php?dog=26 Some only give the stud dogs tests, or the dams, but its east enough to check on both. http://www.videxgsd.com/videx_mika.htm
@Malka there were no DNA tests available in those days, but Peter Bedford was testing and issuing Eye certs. In Cavaliers we also had Peter Darke who began the testing for Mitral valve disease, but I think that may have been breed specific. My last four breeding Cavs were also hip graded on the old Pass, Fail, Breeders Letter system for HD. I was sorry to find that these results do not appear on MyKC - presumably because the current scheme uses scores. The Lowchens only had Eye certs though, all that was recommended. @GsdSlave Most of the leading breeders do publicise their DNA results - and a list of Clears, carriers and affected can be found on the KC site if you know how to look for them. However, some breeds now have so many tests, (to their credit), that you need to be quite well informed to know what you are looking for. Current KC approved DNA tests for Beagles are, MLS, NCCD, Factor VII and IGS. No doubt there will be others soon. Perhaps I'm being nit picky, but the programme said that buyers should ask to see the health certificates for both parents. Do stud owners give copies of health certificates these days? I also wonder how much the average pet buyer would take in from what must look like a bewildering string of initial letters.
As far as I can gather the Stud dog owner should supply the breeder with a copy of the health certificates. Looking at it from a ‘Pet buyer’s perspective’ it would I presume be a minefield, I know the abbreviations for the Gsd tests, but looking at your Beagle ones I wouldn't have a clue .
