Are health clearances necessary before breeding? - Page 3

I dont think temperament testing falls under health testing.

Shepherdhope, how are "GSD is in such a bad way".

I have now been doing research into getting my next shepherd for the around 8 months.  The more I find out the worse it becomes.  I am in the UK there is one breeder that I know of doing extensive genetic test on all her breeding stock.  Thank god upto now she has had all clear results.  I know from talking to various GSD people that finding a good dog is going to be really hard.  There are many pedigrees to avoid because of hereditary problems.  My next shepherd will be from extensively tested parents.  I think ostrich syndrome was mentioned  when it came to all the problems with the GSD after speaking to someone very clued up with shepherds.

1GSD1, I don't think that temperament tests are a waste of time or meaningless. I've seen Sch titled working line dogs fail the GSDCA test. 

Members of the GSDCA need their dogs to pass their temperament test in order to earn a CHIC designation. I don't understand why anyone would trivialize anything owners do with their dogs in order to bond with them and to get an understanding of their basic temperament. I don't see them sharing what tests they use to qualify their dogs.

 

Hi all,

I have been trying to get Oli to add health checks/DNA testing to all pedigrees. Hopefully in the near future Oli can code it and you will be able to add this vital information to pedigrees.

We have the OFA list but are there any other lists on the web for genetic tests or does the OFA list cover all tests?

Thanks,
GSDadmin

A temperament test is not a physical health clearance, but it can give an owner a look at their dogs mental health by assessing the way they respond to the challenges of the tests. Having lived with a dangerous,  unstable GSD for 9 years, mental attitude has become as important to me, maybe more so, than good hips and elbows.

I've gone through 3 ATT's (American Temperament Test) with different dogs in my area. Each there were SCH titled GSD's there that did not pass the test. They had Champion show dogs that did not pass the test, & they had shelter dogs that did to help prove adopt ability.
The ATT is not the end all of all to prove temperament but it is a useful tool in helping orders understand their dogs temperament.

I think basic testing of hips, elbows, spine, & DM are important prior to breeding. There are many other health issues more prone within certin lines of GSD's that greatly inflict their health that should be tested. Example a show line breeder in my area tends to produce heart issues in her American line GSD's. I've never even heard of these issues with working line GSD's. That breeder now does cardiac testing with her breeding stock.

The GSD's I started with & loved dearly. They were awesome workers with good hips & elbows. But by the 3rd generation chronic ear infections & skin allergies started showing up. I tried to breed ineffective dog with ineffective studs but still would get at least one pup with the same issues in the litter. I had to spay & neuter my adults then kept them as my SAR partners + pets. I abandoned that breeding / line completely then started over years later. But now I always look for any sign of ear infections / allergies / digestive issues in any new dog or pup's in a litter.

OH I forgot to mention the breeder Katrina, Kesyra GSD also hip score and will only breed with 00 elbow scores.  In the UK the hip score is 18 and all Katrina's breeding stock are well below this. I wish more would follow in her foot steps in the UK.  The Training Club I go to the trainer has stated there are more and more GSD with very poor temperaments coming to her for 1 2 1 training.  She said it is defiantly breeding not just environmental.  I don't think we have anything like you have in the US?

Curious why the SchH dogs you have seen failed the TC and ATTS TT tests?

When I have done the GSDCA TC tests with my SchH dogs in the past (4 in total) all passed easily.  However, I found a few things pretty stupid.  A couple of those dogs were KNOCKED because they did not react to the gun shots.  I was told that the GSD SHOULD react to the gun shots and the fact that mine did not brought them down in points.  Same with the umbrella test.  One of my females did not show much of a reaction, and again was knocked for it.  I definately did not agree with those two things. 

With that being said, I think the TC/TT is interesting, something fun to do with the dogs and will do them again in the future if there is one available near me.  

Temperament and mental health are two different things.  A temperament test would only be valuable if it tested for highly heritable and stable traits that were difficult to alter significant by environmental influences.

The testing I do for dogs I would like to breed is OFA hips & elbows at 24 months and DM.