I agree, if EIC is not done on the parents than do it yourself. along with everything else mentioned.
Patty
Hidden Content
[QUOTE=Labradorks;22954]
Regarding hips and elbows, I know they drive hard going after the bird, but if he has underlying hip and elbow problems, despite being from excellent lines and having parents that are OFA certified good, wouldn't it happen either way? Whether he was a semi-active or active dog? And prelims wouldn't give me the whole story anyway, would they?
.[/lQUOTE]
I didn't realize that you are just starting training for a WC, I saw the pro trainer reference, and thought he was starting heavy duty training. You most likely don't need a pro trainer for a WC, as long as he has good recall, retrieves, swims and will pick up a bird, you can do it yourself with just a little training. A WC is pretty much a marking and instinct test, and pretty easy to attain. If you think you might like to go further, having a trainer start him with good habits is a good idea.
OFA Prelims done at one year are very indicative of final ratings in most cases. There is a chart on OFA and something like 89% of passing prelims go on to pass finals, the higher the grading at one year the better chance of finals passing. The grading rarely changes more than one level (from Good to Mild for example). Prelims will tell you if your dog is dysplastic, or not, at the time of the film. It's not like dysplasia at 12 months will miraculously pass at age two years. If you were sending your dog to hard core training camp for 6 months, I would do prelims, because I wouldn't want to ask him to do the work if he were already showing signs, and I would modify his training program.
We all know of dogs that have orthopedically sound ancestors that do not pass OFA hips and elbows, so passing parents does not "guarantee" that their offspring will not have dysplasia. I bought a show puppy that came from 5 generations of Excellent hip conformation on the dam's side, and three generations of Excellent on the sire's side, and she was Mild at her 13 months prelims.
Anyways, I would just test for the EIC at this point, let me know if you need any help with the U of MN paperwork for submission.
[QUOTE=Shelley;23155]Yeah, so just a WC at this point. I am not hiring a trainer, per se, but am taking lessons with a small group of Lab ladies from the club a couple times per month. I have NO idea what I'm doing! In the lessons, I will be set up for going further if we want to go that route.
I realize his health is not guaranteed based on his lineage, testing, etc., but given that this is just a WC, and while the chances are there, they are fairly slim versus an unknown (untested parents, rescue, etc.), it didn't make sense to me to go that far with the testing.
Before I do his EIC test I'm going to email the breeder and to make sure it wasn't done and not included in the paperwork or done after I got my dog since apparently my vet doesn't do it. If not I might hit you up for the UMN info. Thanks!
Just remember, only one parent has to be tested clear on EIC, it's inherited as a simple recessive. So even if the other non-clear parent is affected, as long as one parent is tested clear, the worst the offspring would be is a carrier. Carriers do not typically collapse, and thats what I am concerned about, you don't want a dog having an EIC episode while doing a water retrieve. :-)
Not a Member of the Labrador Retriever Chat Forums Yet? | |
|
|