Once again I must thank you all for such kind words & condolences, not just here but all the private messages & emails I have received as well - I can't tell you how quiet it is around here without her, she was such a character & such a presence, exactly the sort of thing you'd want to breed on with.georgina said:
I simply don't know where we start with identifying these heart problems. The vets say exactly what Toni has just said - it comes & goes, some puppies in a litter are affected & some not & by the time the problem presents itself the dog/bitch has usually been used at stud. I only learnt of Pagan's problem because I took her to the vet for a general health check prior to mating her in a couple of month's time. But, we've got to start somewhere because, apparently it is becoming a problem worldwide. As Lida said earlier even the tests that confirm a heart problem cannot identify the carriers & these would have to be the biggest problem of all. Correction, the biggest problem are the breeders who don't/won't accept there is, or could be, a problem in their lines. We have got to stop looking at this personally & consider the breed as a whole.
The vets do agree that it is hereditary & closely inbred dogs are far more likely to have it/carry it than those with a greater genetic diversity within their pedigrees, hence the need for COIs. Anything above 6.5% is considered too high. Having said that though very few dogs these days are that low but the idea should be to mate your bitch to the dog that will produce the lowest COI possible & keep aiming with every generation to get it lower. This, of course, means close line breeding goes out the window which many wouldn't accept especially if they've spent many years perfecting their own type.
It is a very real problem & I think it's going to take intervention & rules by the various Kennel Clubs around the world to insist on testing each breed for its specific problems with the results either published or shown on the registration papers before any real headway will be made. Self regulation won't work. If the human race can't agree on a solution to save the very planet we live on what chance is there of it agreeing on the health requirements of pedigree animals?
