Hello everyone My partner and I are in the middle of a frustrating search to find a well bred puppy to join our family. I will start by reassuring everyone that this is by no means a lockdown puppy - it is a moment in our lives that we have waiting a long time to reach, but we seem to have picked the worst time to do it - with the UK in the midst of a puppy craze, and the vast majority of people breeding being first time breeders, that haven't had even the most basic health checks performed on their dams... So we think we may have found a potential pup... both mum and sire are fully DNA health checked, with clear results and have good hip and elbow scores. The sire had an eye examination 2 1/2 years ago and the dam has never had one (both are around 3 years old now) We are trying to ensure the puppies have the lowest probability of ill health through hereditary illnesses, for obvious reasons, so my question is... is it too much of a risk that mum and dad haven't had an up to date eye test? Thank you so much for your advice regarding this.
Bearing in mind that you are hoping to spend the next 15 years together, I personally would not risk it. I could understand a slightly lapsed eye test due to lockdown restrictions, but I don't see any reason why a test should be 2 1/2 years out of date, or not done at all. If you are set on this puppy, could you check on the KC Health Test Results finder and check to see if the grandparents were all tested? I was lucky enough to get all of my eyes done between lockdowns so my planned litter this spring can go ahead, but I would not have bred this time if I hadn't managed to test. Breeding should not just be about making puppies, it should always be about bettering the breed.
Thank you for your thought.... so, something made me look up and contact the owner of the sire, in the hope that there had been a delay in updating the KC register with an updated eye test (a shot in the dark, I know). And would you believe it... he had been for a BVA eye examination the day before my call! And was clear!
Yeah after my experience with Lucius I would always go for a fully health tested lab, eyes included. He has bad eyesight now, and hip dysplasia now and hes 6 in April. But I wouldn't change him for anything
To be honest we never got an official diagnosis, but we're going on the lines of Progressive Retinal Atrophy since his night vision is pretty much none existent either that or he may be just short sighted. The eye specialist said the second one is more likely but this cant be tested for as easily.
Sorry to hear that. So if it's PRA then his parents could have been screened before breeding? He's a handsome dog from the photo!
