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Originally Posted by Ladyhawk  So now it just sounds impossible! If the parents don't have any signs of LS than you want all the pups to be held until they are 4 months old so that they can be tested as well before we try to find them forever homes? It kinda sounds like having every American tested for heart disease because it is so prevelant whether they have symptoms or history. Living beings are just so complex that just because something is a bit different does not mean that it is wrong. Could it be that we are finding liver shunt in yorkies more because we are testing them more than any other breed? Mayhaps the porto vein does not entirely shut down in alot of small breeds but simply causes no problems for them in most cases? |
I've met some breeders (through all of this) who just bile acid test the parents and encourage their buyers to bile acid test their puppies once they get them home. I've met
3-4 breeders who keep small breeding programs and keep and test the puppies before they go. My breeder kept mine for 15 weeks? I should have tested mine but I would have kept him anyways. He is the best dog.
At least you can say to potential buyers, I tested the parents before using them. Yes, you can get LS from normal parents, but at least it is some proactive way of doing something. If a dog has slight MVD, you really don't want to be breeding them anyways. One friend of mine was going to breed her cocker spaniel and the cocker spaniel had a problem. Almost died. Come to find out...she had LS. Agility dog. 3 years old. Never a sign. Even the vet (regarding problems with pregnancy) did not think it was LS. She feels that if she had tested, she could have prevented her dog from going through the trauma of a bad pregnancy and othe rproblems that followed.
It is a tough call and I don't envy what breeders have to go through the more I find out.