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Originally Posted by gemy  Nancy you have always been so nice with your help. Gawd I didn't think I was that much older than you, but you always are able to wade through this internet stuff, and get the gold kernels.
I feel the need to express myself why this is so important to all breeds, but particularly to large breed dogs, if indeedy we are close to a genetic relatively accurate indicator of HD.
If you have ever seen a large breed puppy - 7 months old start to limp, then 9mths old, then with severe HD, finally the owner goes to the vet. Severe HD is literally a death sentence for these 90lb or so dogs. FHO surgery is usually not successful; and oh my the PAIN these dogs are in over their very short life. Before they are euthanized! And yes there are some experimental things that can be done; which are very very expensive to do, with some small chance of success.
If there are ways to accurately pre-screen breeding stock, if there are ways to safeguard through puppy rearing the seriousness of this disease; I would move heaven n earth to get that done.
I flash to this very morning, driving to work, a woman and what looked like a Bernier, crossing the light in front of me. He had double hip dysplasia as far as I could see, plus he had an operation on his right rear knee. He was in such obvious pain! He could not have been more than 18 months old (my guess). That woman crossed the street with him, he gamely followed, she bent down and stroked him, kissed his head, and you could see the pain in her face from 20 feet away. I about died inside to see this, young dog, with an owner obvious willing to nuture and support this young dog. Why he had knee surgery, not too sure, maybe as a stopgap to keep this beloved dog longer with her. FHO is not so successful with the large breed dogs, and maybe he had knee problems as well that was easier to treat.
This should not be!@!@ I see it way way too often here on the streets of Toronto. I hear of it on my list for BRT the ultimate heartbreak of the owner with a dog with severe HD. I want to eradicate this crippling disease!!! |
I'm pretty sure I'm older than you, at least according to our pictures! Truthfully, I didn't know a thing about computers until I found YT, there was a reason to learn this stuff!
Gail, I'm so happy that there are breeders and educators like you. I've had a very poor view of breed clubs and how little they protected their breeds. I was happy to learn that the YTCA wasn't one of the clubs that were purposely breeding a dog whose standard was actually damaging the breed. In the past, so many breeders have turned a blind eye to these types of problems and the poor dogs have had to suffer. I can understand why a breeder wouldn't want to take a beautiful dog out of her breeding program because of a health problem, but this is such an important thing even more important than looks and temperment, and I know you've been faced with that choice and did the right thing. I'm looking forward to a time when genetics can tell us even before we show our dogs whether they have these severe problems and whether the problems can be inherited. We have the opportunity to, in the future, breed only really healthy animals, with the best chance at a healthy life. I think healthy animals are more likely in natural selection, because only the fit survive and reproduce, but with this new information, we can do better than nature. Anyway, I appreciate all you are doing to help with this and to educate others. It takes someone like you with a sincere heartfelt desire to help these dogs, and I know people will listen to you.