Calico Sunbeam DeLovely wwas Winner's Dog at the Los Angeles Golden Retriever Specialty for a five point major.

A word about hip and elbow dysplasia and surgery. We are seeing an epidemic surgeries for these items. There are some wonderful things that can be done - but it is also a profit center for veterinarians. Some of the unnecessary surgeries are done because a surgeon is looking at a bad x-ray without questioning the positioning and quality of the film.

If you are told there is a problem, go to someone who is known for the quality of the x-rays they take. Most vet schools spend little time teaching how to take good x-rays; the variance in quality is shocking.

Then submit well-positioned film to OFA - hips and elbows, regardless of the dogs' age. For $45.00 you'll get a reading from three board certified radiologists who are not making money based on (a) more referrals from your vet or (b) the diagnosis. It is cheap insurance.

Audrey puppies - 12/2006

Ch. Sunbeam's Private Party OS

Healthy Golden Retrievers

Well-bred Golden Retrievers are generally very healthy dogs. Good breeders have worked over the years to take dogs with hip, eye and heart problems out of breeding programs. While getting a dog that has all the recommended clearances is certainly not a guarantee that your dog will not have these issues, it is certainly stacking the deck in your favor.

STANDARD CLEARANCES

In general, you should expect to see the following clearances on the parents of any puppy you consider. OFA (http://www.offa.org) clearances on hips, hearts and elbows. Hip clearances come in Excellent, Good and Fair. All three are acceptable for breeding. Hearts are clear of murmurs and SAS (Sub-aortic stenosis) or they are not. Your preference would be that the heart clearance is from a Board Certified Cardiologist rather than a Specialist or General Practitioner. An eye clearance must be from a Board Certified opthalmologist. Most breeders submit these to CERF (http://www.vmdb.org/cerf.htm) so that you can check their database for clearance information*.

The Golden Retriever Club of America now recommends Elbow Clearances as well. Most breeders are doing this with current dogs; some are not. My impression is that for a few breeders this is a gray area now, as is the issue of whether a dog having Grade 1 elbow dysplasia should be bred (as it would be in all other countries). You should ask about elbows.

Not only do you want to know about parents, but about the siblings of parents and grandparents. The only dog in a litter that did not have hip dysplasia is probably not a good bet as the mother or father of your puppy.

*A note on checking the above web sites for clearances. Always use the dog's registration number rather than the name as these databases are sometimes not able to pick up dogs by name.

There is much that you can do to ensure your healthy puppy stays that way. Be sure to sead the pages on easly spay and neuter and vaccinations.

 

PIGMENTARY UVEITIS

We are finding more and more dogs affected with Pigmentary Uveitis. This progressive disease of the eye appears to be a hereditary, immune-mediated disorder. This disorder affects older dogs (the average age of onset is 8 years old) of both sexes and is usually a bilateral condition. While there is much we don't know, the condition can be treated with daily, affordable eye drops. Treatment not only alleviates any pain, it can save the eyesight.

In the past breeders may have stopped getting annual eye clearances when their dogs were taken out of the breeding pool. We can no longer do that; we need to be checking eyes every year while our dogs are alive.

All pet owners should be checking their dogs eyes annually, probably beginning at about age 5. This annual examination probably costs about $80. An early diagnosis can not only make the disease treatable with a daily steroid drop but any information about PU should be relayed to your breeder so they can share that infomation with others