Faithful Companions, Competitive Obedience, Conformation Champions, Agility Achievers...a Conquerer Golden can do it all!
Golden Retriever Health
Health concerns should be the top priority for breeders. Below are some of the issues we feel potential owners should educate themselves about. A brief summery of our encounters (or lack there of) with these issues can be found under each heading.
Hips
Hip soundness is extremely important in dogs, more so in large breed dogs. Abnormal hips can range from unnoticeable, to uncomfortable to crippling.
***To date (2011) while our sampling is extremely small, as we do not require owners who have a dog from us to have x-rays taken and submitted for grading, we have not yet had a dog fail a hip clearance. As with many other conditions I believe it's not a matter of if it will happen but rather when. Each litter we produce we take great strides to ensure we are stacking the odds in our favour of producing dogs that will not be effected by Hip abnormalities. Even while taking every precaution, these issues can still show up in litters that have no history of hip problems in their pedigree.
Elbows
Elbow soundness is extremely important, more so in large breed dogs. Abnormal elbows can range from unnoticeable, to uncomfortable to crippling.
***To date (2011) while our sampling is extremely small, as we do not require owners who have a dog from us to have x-rays taken and submitted for grading, we have not yet had a dog fail an elbow clearance. As with many other conditions I believe it's not a matter of if it will happen but rather when. Each litter we produce we take great strides to ensure we are stacking the odds in our favour of producing dogs that will not be effected by Elbow abnormalities. Even while taking every precaution, these issues can still show up in litters that have no history of elbow problems in their pedigree.
Pigmentary Uveitis
Pigmentary Uveitis (PU) is a disease of the eye, it seems to be found at around age 8, but there are many cases found much earlier (2) and some much later. Early in the disease process inflammation in the eye is usually very subtle and may go unnoticed, assuming it's allergies etc. Symptoms of Pigmentary Uveitis (PU) include, but aren't limited to, squinting, increased tearing or discharge, redness, photophobia (light sensitivity) and cloudiness of the eye or eyes.
**To date (2011) Pigmentary Uveitis (PU), to the best of our knowledge, has not affected our dogs. I am a firm believer it's not a matter of if Pigmentary Uveitis (PU) affects a breeders breeding program, but rather when. All of our dogs are checked yearly by a board certified Ophthalmologist. We strongly urge all owners to have their dogs checked yearly.
Ichthyosis
Golden Retrievers with Ichthyosis develop white scales on the skin soon after birth. The scales persist through the animal's life and progressively blacken, becoming dry and rough with age but typically do not cause itching.
***To date (2011) we have tested 3 dogs for Ichthyosis. Of these dogs tested 2 have tested Clear, and 1 tested as a Carrier.
PRA
There appears to be three types of PRA in Golden Retrievers, prcd-PRA, PRA1, and an unidentified third type.
**To date (2011) we have tested 5 dogs for PRA via DNA testing, 5 for prcd-PRA and 4 for PRA1. Of these dogs tested we have 4 dogs tested Clear and 1 tested as a Carrier for the prcd-PRA Mutation, 4 have tested Clear for PRA1.
Cancer
Cancer is an ugly word that no one wants to hear. There are many forms of cancer that can strike a dog, some rarer (prostate, uterine etc.) and some are more common (lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma etc.). According to some articles, 1 in every 3 dogs will get cancer (that's dogs, not just Golden Retrievers). By those stats we can see cancer is a very real concern. Equally as concerning, cancer knows no age, it can strike a dog at 16 years of age or at 2.
**To date (2011) there have been two dogs of our breeding who have been affected by what we consider early Cancer (diagnosed prior to 9 years of age). A 6 year old with lymphoma who passed away due to a pulmonary embolism (it is suggested due to the cancer), and a 5 year old with hemangiosarcoma who passed away.
Epilepsy
There are two forms of Epilepsy, Primary and Secondary. Primary Epilepsy includes dogs with idiopathic, genetic, inherited, or true epilepsy, there is no concrete cause for the seizures. Secondary Epilepsy refers to dogs who's seizures cause can be determined (toxins, brain tumor, etc.). There are many different treatments available to help control seizures in dogs, based on your pets history and health status your vet may discuss one or several with you (even in combination).
**To date (2011) there has been one dog of our breeding diagnosed, at age 6, with idiopathic epilepsy which is being treated with Potassium Bromide which has reduced the seizures (which last on average 30-60 seconds) to one every 4-5+ months.
Degenerative Myelopathy
Degenerative myelopathy is a progressive disease of the spinal cord in older dogs. The disease has an insidious onset typically between 8 and 14 years of age. It begins with a loss of coordination (ataxia) in the hind limbs. The affected dog will wobble when walking, knuckle over or drag the feet. This can first occur in one hind limb and then affect the other. As the disease progresses, the limbs become weak and the dog begins to buckle and has difficulty standing. The weakness gets progressively worse until the dog is unable to walk. The clinical course can range from 6 months to 1 year before dogs become paraplegic. If signs progress for a longer period of time, loss of urinary and fecal continence may occur and eventually weakness will develop in the front limbs. Another key feature of DM is that it is not a painful disease.
**To date (2011) there has been 3 of our dogs tested for DM, we are currently awaiting results from these DNA tests. It should be noted, currently there is an extremely small number of Golden Retrievers that have been DNA tested for DM (according to OFA as of Feb. 2012 only 56 Golden Retrievers have been tested, of these 2% are affected).