Are health clearances necessary before breeding? - Page 1

Opinions? Which ones?

Bare minimum, hip & elbows OFA'd or 'a-stamp'

Thats the very LEAST bare bones a 'breeder' can do.

Yes, I agree. I would also do a brucellosis as a bare minimum.

We already do "a" stamp hips and elbows as well as Brucellosis but we are now starting to CERF, Cardiac and DM test all of our breeding stock also, everyone should be done by end of March.

All...
Breeders should check:

Hips
Elbows
Heart
Thyroid
Eyes
DM
Temperament test

Without testing you are breeding blind. 

Why are people CERFing their GSDs? It only tests for problems that are present at the time of testing. There are not many(any?) genetic eye problems in GSDs that you can detect via CERF that you can't detect via a regular vet exam. CERF can't tell you whether your GSD will develop pannus (the only? main? eye problem in GSDs) when the dog turns 9. Am I mistaken? Please inform.

What heart problems are being tested for? Any that don't show up on a basic vet check? I wasn't aware there were genetic heart problems that the GSD had that could be tested for.

Thyroid: test for it if there are any problems or health issues.

Are people testing just to say they've tested? Just to enrich the testing/certifying companies?

Christine

100% YES.  If more breeders did more testing we could lessen the amount of our BELOVED GSD having these horrific conditions and being lost to young or have ongoing problems.  Avoiding lines known to have epilepsy.

HIPS
ELBOWS
AF
DM
MRD1
EPI
PD
JRD

All able to be tested for???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Why are people CERFing their GSDs? It only tests for problems that are present at the time of testing. There are not many(any?) genetic eye problems in GSDs that you can detect via CERF that you can't detect via a regular vet exam. CERF can't tell you whether your GSD will develop pannus (the only? main? eye problem in GSDs) when the dog turns 9. Am I mistaken? Please inform.

What heart problems are being tested for? Any that don't show up on a basic vet check? I wasn't aware there were genetic heart problems that the GSD had that could be tested for.

Thyroid: test for it if there are any problems or health issues.

Are people testing just to say they've tested? Just to enrich the testing/certifying companies?

Yup. 

Ha Jenni I like that answer. I think that definately bare minimum Hips, Elbows, and DM. Good breeders, though, I think should test for Burcellosis, temperment, eyes, cardiac, and thyroid.