[gemy]

I was having a discussion the other day with two of my friends, both breeders, both exhibitors, and we were talking about the pre breeding tests.

What is heart-wrenching for all of us, is there are so few genetic tests, markers, to determine if your dog has x,y, or z.

In Yorkies, let's take LS for an example. The dam, and the sire, can test clear, and yet an LS puppy is born.

In all breeds CERF for PRA, you can test at one year old clean, and at two clean, so you breed, then at 3 or 4 yrs old, you test, and whamoo bangoo, you have PRA. Then what, you've maybe bred that sire or dam, once maybe two or three times. Again no marker found yet for what is generally accepted as a genetic condition.

OFA hip elbow, knee. Many have had breeding zero to zero, and gosh darn it we have a grade 2 or grade 3 in a puppy. This is a known poly genetic condition. Where are we with determining how to eliminate this?

Further on OFA, it is just not enough to say grade one or two, where are the studies, to help us understand what can or can't be done with Grade one or Two. The rememdies proved effective for joints.

For those non breeders out there, I would like to say, we sweat blood and tears, do our best with tests, that have no guanatee, how our beloved puppies will be. We take a risk, with heart in mouth, with passionate love of this breed and health foremost.

This is not quite a rant, although it may sound so. More a forum for breeders to share their own concerns, where we could do the most and best impact to guide research.