Health Clearances and Responsible Breeding

Just a little over 6 years ago, the canine genome was completely assembled; this achievement made huge strides in the ability of veterinarians and researchers to study canine genetic diseases and traits. However, one group has been making an impact on genetic diseases for over 40 years; the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) was founded in 1966 by John Olin. Mr. Olin was an avid sportsman and when hip dysplasia began to have a negative impact on his retrievers, he organized a meeting with veterinarians and breed clubs, which eventually led to the formation of the OFA. Today the OFA is not only concerned with hip dysplasia, but the organization serves virtually all breeds of dogs and cats with genetic disease databases to provide breeders with the health screening information they need to improve the genetic health of their breed.

The OFA encourages responsible breeding by providing health clearances and genetic databases for dogs and cats; read the article on the OFA and the Role of Canine Health Databases here. How is this information used successfully? Well, for example, say you have a champion Labrador Retriever that you would like to breed, and because he is a Labrador Retriever, there are certain genetic diseases that he is predisposed to because they are common in the breed; they would be hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, certain eye diseases (progressive retinal atrophy, cataracts), central nuclear myopathy (CNM), and exercise intolerance and collapse (EIC). Now these are just the common diseases that are considered by many to be the minimum health clearances to assure healthy, unaffected offspring. Depending on how thorough you want to be, you would have your dog tested for all or some of these diseases by a veterinarian or veterinary specialist. If the results of these tests are acceptable and you find a suitable mate with similar acceptable test results, then you are helping to ensure the offspring from this mating will likely be unaffected; this is what responsible breeding is about. These health clearances will also tell a prospective puppy buyer what they can expect with a pup from this litter. Anyone who has ever had a pet with a terrible genetic disease can attest to how invaluable these health clearances are to the prospective puppy buyer.

Click here to listen to an audio podcast by Dr. Greg Keller, Chief of Veterinary Services with the Orthopedic Foundation For Animals (OFA), where he discusses the OFA process for evaluating radiographs and the differences between OFA evaluations and those of PennHip.

For more information about OFA testing for genetic diseases, visit the OFA website, or talk to your veterinarian.

To find breed specific information on genetic diseases, visit the Canine Inherited Disorders Database.