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Originally Posted by bjh  While doing your research have you been able to come to any conclusions as to if there are more occurrences of liver shunt with line breeding versus outcrossing? |
A paper I have read by a leading researcher has stated that "dismal" results have been obtained by breeders trying to eliminate the disease by bile acid testing and removing afflicted dogs from breeding their breeding program. At this time, the writer recommends not line breeding.
Of course, bile acid testing is still important to identify carriers and aid in research and, or course, to identify shunt puppies so you don't sell them to the unsuspecting public.
I really don't believe this is an unsuspecting pet buyer's burden to bear.
They never even heard of liver shunt before and they believe by going to a "show breeder" they are buying a beautiful healthy puppy -- that's all they want.
But breeders know very well about this problem and should bile acid test any puppy before they make it some poor family's nightmare.
My soap box is getting slippery....
