Firstly, I want to say that my Dalmatian pup is probably not LUA, or low uric acid. In fact, I was loath to discuss the subject with my breeder, because I had read that there was much controversy surrounding the LUA Dalmatians. After I brought my puppy home, a board member on another forum explained a LOT about these Dals (someone in the process of getting a LUA Dalmatian puppy themselves) and I was shocked by how outdated some of the information I had read online was. Hopefully someone will be able to add some info here, because I am still super curious (and thinking that my puppy may have some back-crossed Dal in her lineage, too). You've probably heard that Dals are prone to forming kidney stones. This is a really unique health issue, and truly the breed is generally healthy beyond this trait (which is why I'm somewhat baffled that Dalmatians have such a reputation as a "breed with health issues"). When I was first looking at Dalmatians, thinking that I'd love to have a companion Dalmatian someday, I found information about Dr. Schiable and his back-crossing project; basically, one GSP sire was bred with a Dal three times, to produce puppies carrying the (dominant) gene for Normal/Low Uric Acid. All subsequent generations where bred Dal-to-Dal, but the project was very controversial with breed "purists" and this is where I lost the trail of research. Little did I know, LUA Dalmatians eventually WERE accepted by the AKC in 2011! This is the more updated site that was shared with me recently. The site explains everything much better than I can, but I was wondering what everyone thought? In my mind, if it looks like a Dal, moves like a Dal, acts like a Dal...it's a Dal. That's what breed standards are there for, so I don't hold the "purity" of the dog's lines too dear. I'm also wondering if there is any talk of these LUA lines in countries other than the US where I am (I see some UK breeders listed on the LUA site, but not any other parts of the world). Also, what other health issues in other breeds could be helped by a similar effort?
Just looked again and I mis-typed, the sire in the back-cross project was simply a Pointer, not a GSP...there I go, contributing to the misinformation while trying to combat it
I find that the parent breed clubs are usually the best place to check for info on issues like this. At least in the UK, there is usually a breed health co-ordinator who deals with compiling and disseminating breed health information. Not my breed, but I seem to recall that the KC did agree to register the progeny of LUA Dalmatians and identify them on their documentation with an asterisk. It may have been a little later than in the US though. I have no knowledge of the situation in FCI countries - perhaps someone will let us know.
The UK Dalmatian club website has no mention of LUA dals, which is think is disgusting I know some breeders doing amazing work with these lines of Dalmatian and may soon be breeding LUA x LUA to get full non carrier pups! There was only one litter of English Pointer x Dalmatians, all LUA Dals have come down from that litter. I was looking into owning a Dal at one point and would only ever consider a LUA, I don't see why people disagree with it. Surely producing a Dalmatian without these HUA genes is a brilliant thing?
Some links for info http://www.luadalmatians.com/ https://www.caprilli-dalmatians.com/dalmatian-101/lua http://www.woodwynd.com/backcross-project.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...lmatians-healthy-life-dog-lovers-furious.html http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/lua-dalmatians-still-clubs-resist.html https://www.ourdogs.co.uk/News/2010/Jan2010/News150110/dalmatian.htm
How strange. Quite a lot on the breed club website about research into stone formation, but no mention of the LUA outcross. The last link, Our Dogs, KC press release is the same one that I remember having read.
The DCA doesn't have any mention of LUA Dalmatians on their website, either, and it would have been really useful info to have when I contacted them for help finding a breeder. My Prinna's great-great-grandparent is a grand-parent to one of Aberdeen's LUA Dalmatians, but he wasn't on the LUA-gene-providing side of the breeding. Of course any litters would have been mixed, with some puppies being low/normal UA, and some being high UA. So I can speculate that she may be an ancestor of the back-cross project, although I still have more research to do.
