i must say that I find it worrying that the 'forefathers' as it were would say that there were no problems in the breed... forgive me if I read that wrongly but surely, everyone knows that there are problems with every single breed... and i would seriously worry about the breeder who claimed there were none - in fact, i would go so far as to say any breeder who said this to me, I would run a mile from :-? xx eta - i would also be worried about the person who believes these so called forefathers... It's all very suspicious I'm afraid... xx
running a mile? very sensible It's very sad when breeders try to dupe people - there's nothing worse than lying about underlying issues in a breed. I do see it in rats, though rarely actually which is good - and I make a point of telling everyone who cares to know, exactly what's wrong with our rats. it's just a comparison - and not an ideal one ... but I have encountered some pretty dodgy dog breeders who would never dream of bringing up the problems in their lines. very worrying and sad too. xx
I know, it's a dreadful thing to do, particularly when health related and it's the owner that is left to deal with it. :-(
sorry to stir the pot but i beg to differ. i believe if ANY breed of dog (wether breeding stock or not) has the potential for HD should be tested! After have a non breeding Berner with terrible HD, i in future will be checking all my dogs for signs of HD. I think this would help in my future decisions regarding activities and working! I would be devisted to find out id been working or doing agaility with my dog and finding out he has bad hips and all the activity was making it worse:-( Wouldnt you like to know the scores of your dog, purley for the health benefit??
a very good point kanikula (LOVE your avatar! ). We have a lovely lab who developed HD to a smaller extent, and am sure we could have helped this if he'd been tested at a younger age, and we'd known how careful to be with excercise etc. I think from now on, will try to score any dog I have. except dudley. who i don't care about enough. he costs too much xx
Hey the bernese we had was called Dudley All his litter mates had to put to sleep because of the severity of HD in them:-( we though Duds would go the same way! Even tohough his hips were begining to crumble he got to a good age of 7 and died from a heart attack :-(
Hey the bernese we had was called Dudley All his litter mates had to put to sleep because of the severity of HD in them:-( we though Duds would go the same way! Even tohough his hips were begining to crumble he got to a good age of 7 and died from a heart attack :-( ps i used to have rats! The last one killed the hamster though dont ask!
It's okay. No I wouldn't because he suffers from cluster seizures which are still not under control and I wouldn't want to risk a GA with his current state of health.
So how do you approach not knowing?? do you do "less" activities with him and give suppliments?? Hes got a lovley face BTW! and sorry to hear about seizures! any ideas on the cause (off topic - woops)
