How to check for Health Clearances.....

Ivoryudx

New member
Hello all,

Newfoundlands should have minimum health clearances for Hips, Elbows, Hearts (by a Vet Cardiologist), and Cystinuria.

Since there has been a lot of excitement with people looking to get a new puppy, I thought it would be a good time to post the information about the OFA website. It is an easy way to help yourself research for a healthy puppy, and I'm sure others have more information that can be added.

www.offa.org

The OFA is not the only registry, but it is the largest and easiest to check. If other registries are used, then the breeder should be willing to discuss it with you further and explain what the difference is to OFA, and why they like it. It does not mean the other Registries are bad, just different, but the same standard of QUANTITY of sibling clearances are just as important. (described below)

The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals is the main registry for the U.S. for Hip, Elbow, Cardiology, Cystinuria, Patella's, and many other canine health issues. On their front page they offer in depth information on each disease as well as information for breeders on how to read a VERTICAL pedigree for health.

If your surfing the net, or are in contact with a breeder get the FULL REGISTERED name of the dog they are breeding. Take that full name and type it in the box provided on the OFA website and if that dog has its clearances it will show up on that page. It will also show if that dog has produced any other dogs with clearances, and if that dogs siblings have any clearances. If that dog does not show up, and they have not used any other Registry, then they do not have the Clearance, or has chosen to not register. Keep in mind, for hips, and elbows the dogs must be at least two year old, so dogs being bred younger than that are not cleared, and the most they can have is a PRELIMINARY Clearance, done usually at one year of age. You can also type in the kennel name and see the number of dogs that particular kennel has produced with health clearances.

Yes, breeding two dogs with all their health clearances can produce dysplastic dogs, but it does put the odds more in your favor, as well as decreasing the chances of your puppy being severely (crippled) dysplastic. IF, the dogs being bred were the only ones in their litter who have health clearances, the odds are not very good that they can produce sound puppies. That is the reason to look at a VERTICAL pedigree to see the siblings of the parents and even grandparents, to get an idea if there are more dogs with good health clearances than not. If there are no siblings, or parents listed, other than the dogs being bred, you may want to look farther, so you can increase your odds of getting a healthy puppy. IF the breeder has not checked any of the dogs outside of the ones they are breeding, (siblings) they become a very big question mark to your puppy, because you don't know if they are a good OR bad health indicator.

There are good Newfoundland Breeders out there who know many generations in the their pedigrees and have the official health checks to prove it. They are also adamant about the puppies they produce getting their health clearances, when old enough, so they can continue to make sound decisions in the direction their breeding programs are going. Your puppy is very important, even if it is never bred!

This does not mean that breeders who do not do health checks are bad people, but it does mean that they are not doing everything they can to produce sound, healthy dogs, which contribute positive things to the breed we love, and the puppy we bring home to adore. Breeders not doing health checks should not be supported by writing them a check and HOPING for the best, WE and our puppies deserve more than that.

:rolleyes: edited to fix spelling errors :rolleyes:

[ 11-06-2005, 08:46 PM: Message edited by: Ivoryudx ]
 

BluwaterNewfs

New member
Susan had made some very excellent poitns here. I would like to add one thiing though.

Not all breeder register their Cardilogist, thryriod and/or cystinura results on OFA or any registry. BUT, that does not mean they are not doing these tests and they should be able to provide documentation that these test were done.
 

Giddyuppy

Inactive Member
What a wonderful, educational, and necessary thread this is.


Thanks for "putting it out there", for all to see. :cool:
 

newfvo

New member
I might also add that as of January 1, OFA will now be posting to their website preliminary certifications. This will be a great tool to add to our information.

Some "breeders" state that their dogs are "preliminary" certified by OFA without offering any proof. They use the fact that OFA will not certify prior to two years of age as an out to the uninformed for their not having a certification. Now there is no reason if a dog truly has been preliminarily cleared for it to be public record. This is a good thing.
 

tsunami

New member
-----------------------------
Since there has been a lot of excitement with people looking to get a new puppy
-----------------------------

Among others, that pretty well would describe us. Thanks for the excellent document. It's one of those that gets files for reference over and over again.
 

ROM Newf

New member
Thanks Susan. I didn't know that OFA will be listing preliminary results.
They are also listing the results/clearances from other databases such as CERF and GDC.
 

sarnewfie

New member
how long does it take them to put prelims in the database, and to, will it come up just like the certs for any dogs name you type in, only it will say preliminary results, and is this just starting so any dogs prelimed after jan 1 2004 are the ones starting to be putin.
thanx!
 

newfvo

New member
Preliminary evaluations submitted after January 1, 2004 will be posted IF the person submitting authorizes the release of information. The results will be posted on the OFA website within the same timeline as regular OFA results. They will not go back and post preliminary results prior to 01/01/04.
 

Codes

Active member
Thanks Susan! All the health testing Newfie breeders do is one of the main reasons I decided to get a Newfie. Talking to Saint breeders about doing health clearences is as productive as banging my head against the wall. *sigh*
I hate to say it but I'm seriously thinking of getting out of Saints one day. I think I've set my standards so high for breeding and expect so much from my dogs but I'm frustrated that other breeders don't feel as I do about the importance of health clearances.
 

alexmaddy

New member
Yes Susan. This is excellent information. I'm sure all the prospective puppy buyers will find this post extremely valuable. I for one, did NONE of these things when I bought Maddy. I liked the breeders, they were nice people etc...

I've since learned a TON, and this post is very helpful. mj
 

MMtnmom

New member
what I thought was interesting was that as an OFA site it had lots of information relating to cardiac, thyroid, etc. Thanks. I'm looking to do better with my second puppy purchase although to be honest my BYB 5 year old is wonderful. Looking back though it was a huge risk...knowing better, I was just captivated by that puppy breath.
 

BydandNewfs

New member
This was well written. I like also that you have reminded those in search of a puppy, that just because the parents have cleared, this does not guarantee the pup to be CHD free. The xrays only show the phenotype of the parents, not the genotype. Unfortunately, it may be necessary to breed a couple of litters to get a resonable indication of the combined parental genetic constitution. So by researching your potential pups family tree, including parents, grandparents and siblings, you can get a clearer picture of the health of the line with hopes of a good breeding.

Also something I feel is important to remind everyone is, that not only genes play a role in CHD, the developmental process is also affected by enviornmental factors and nutrition.

On another thought, how do I make this picture of my Boo smaller???? Sorry it is so large.

Michelle
 

Giddyuppy

Inactive Member
Hey, Michelle!
Nice ta see yer Boo, again! :D

If you can't figure it out,,,try loading it into Imagestation. You can do all kinds of things with it...size included. ;)
 

BydandNewfs

New member
Thanks for the comments on Boo's picture, but I wasn't trying to distract from the seriousness of the topic. Sorry. I will post more someday of him and others after I figure out how to do it in the photo area.

Michelle
 
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