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Originally Posted by Pinehaven  Not all dogs who are white or parti colored, have hearing problems. There are many breeds with those colors who don't have higher than normal deafness rates in their breed. Deafness is often seen in breeds when there is increased amounts of white colour in the coat and blue eyes . We have not seen problems with the Parti's and they've been breeding now for over 10 years (not that that is a long period of time but you'd suspect we'd be seeing some problems during that length of time?) |
In my reading one of the exceptions mentioned is the Samoyed. I also found some reference to the white German Shepherd not being truly white but rather is considered a very light buff color (looks white to me, tho). In general, what I've read seems to indicate that it's the white hair, along with a loss of skin pigmentation, that is an indicator of potential problems. I also read there is a group of Dachshund breeders trying to establish their own standard that would include piebalds but they aren't getting any support from the breed club due to the health concerns. It does seem like, across the board, piebald dogs are not recommended to breed due to the risks. From my understanding, deafness doesn't show up until later in the life of the pups but the health concerns aren't limited to deafness.