Health Tested Parents Produce Healthier Puppies!
The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals worked with the breeds parent clubs, to list the primary health screening tests that breeders should perform on their stock before breeding. In the case of English Setters the parent club is ESAA. This testing provides basic information for breeders to make more informed breeding decisions in order to reduce the incidence of inherited disease. The results also provide valuable information for potential puppy buyers looking for responsible breeders that health test their breeding stock.
For the English Setter those tests include:
Hip Dysplasia - OFA Evaluation
Elbow Dysplasia - OFA Evaluation
OFA evaluation based on BAER test
Autoimmune thyroiditis - OFA evaluation
Dogs meeting these basic health screening requirements will be issued Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) numbers. For CHIC certification, all results do not need to be normal, but they must all be in the public domain so that responsible breeders can make more informed breeding decisions. For potential puppy buyers, CHIC certification is a good indicator the breeder responsibly factors good health into their selection criteria.
It is easy to search the OFA site, if you are looking for a specific dog, you need either their name or registration number, or you can search based on the first part of the name, such as searching for Flanagan Springs as the beginning of the name will pull up most of our current breeding stock, you can then drill down into the individual dogs.
It is our goal to have CHIC certification on all of our breeding stock.
The breeding decisions you make today will affect your dogs in the future.
BAER Testing
Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) is a hearing test performed for dogs over 5 weeks of age. Each ear is tested independently.
The test is conducted by placing very small electrodes under the skin of the scalp and at the base of each ear. Foam ear pods are placed into the pet’s ears. A computer produces noises and the electrodes measure electrical activity associated with a hearing response. The speed and intensity level at which they travel, are measured and an evaluation of hearing ability is the result.
All of our testing is performed at the University of Cincinnati FETCHLAB. they are an internationally renowned animal hearing and bioacoustics laboratory.
The testing is observed by two different audiologists at the Fetch Lab. The reports and results for the dogs we will add to our breeding program are then sent to the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. The tracings for each individual pup are put in the puppy packets for the new owners. By using this reliable information and consistently testing all pups (except those during COVID times) we have health results we are proud for anyone to research. All of our health testing is public at https://www.ofa.org/
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BAER testing is IMPORTANT!!
The national average of hearing issues in English Setters per the LSU study is 12.5%. Our rate for Flanagan Springs dogs from 2014 to the present is under .005%.
The value of having the tests performed by an impartial, verifiable source is that you know there was no bias in the reading of the results.
All dogs, when you don’t consider breeds have a frequency of 2.5-6%. (From Congenital Sensorineural Deafness in English setters some interesting findings=just attach a link to this site for the statistics)
Females are 3.3 times more likely to be deaf than males. Puppies born to untested parents are 4.6 times more likely to be deaf than from litters where one parent has been tested. That shows you the impact that just one untested dog can make.
OFA Hip
OFA testing rates your dog’s susceptibility to hip dysplasia on a seven-point scoring system. For this test one radiograph view is interpreted by three different radiologists and their ratings are averaged to arrive at your dog’s score (excellent, good, fair, borderline, mild, moderate and severe).
This is an x-ray of one of our girls with excellent hips!!
Elbows
The OFA reviews a single radiographic projection of each elbow during extreme flexion They are looking for the presence of bony proliferation which would be evidence of osteoarthritis which could produce a dysplastic lesion, this testing is on a pass or fail system.
With Hypothyroidism, the thyroid gland is not making enough of a hormone called thyroxine that controls metabolism (the process of turning food into fuel). Hypothyroidism causes a wide variety of symptoms, but is often suspected in dogs that have trouble with weight gain or obesity and suffer from hair loss and skin problems. The good news is this disease isn’t life-threatening, it’s easy to diagnose with a blood test, and it’s fairly easy and inexpensive to treat. Treatment is typically a thyroid supplement taken daily.
Although we do the thyroid test at least once the disease can have a variable onset.. The test blood is drawn by your vet and the sample sent to an OFA approved lab. Results come back as normal, equivical or compromised. We have not seen any of the signs of hypothyroidism in any of our breeding stock, however dogs with compromised thyroid systems should not be bred. If the test is equivical we will do a repeat test of the dog.
CHIC #’s
For breeders, CHIC provides a reliable source of information regarding dogs they may use in their breeding programs. Breeders can analyze the pedigrees of a proposed breeding for health strengths and weaknesses as well as the traditional analysis of conformation, type, and performance strengths and weaknesses.
For buyers, the CHIC program provides accurate information about the results of a breeder’s health testing. For diseases that are limited to phenotypic evaluations, there are no guarantees. However, the probability that an animal will develop an inherited disease is reduced when its ancestry has tested normal.
We believe conformation is an important aspect in the health of the dog. A dog who is nice and square and moves true who has no wasted movement will have less wear and tear on their joints. No dog is perfect but our goal is to breed dogs that are as close to the breed standards as possible. Everything mentioned in the breed standards makes the dog more elegant, efficient and effective in the field, with the exception of the coat. Although we are selecting dogs for breeding who do not have excessive coat, because we have bred in some good quality bench dogs that coat gene is going to pop up here and there.