Some of the Economics of Health Testing by Breeders
Anyway, the economics of health testing is actually much more involved than mere hips. The OFA submission fees are the least of it. My vet is very fair and I think I still end up paying at least $125 for hip and elbow x-rays per dog. Because of the mode of inheritance of CHD you need to ideally be x-raying entire litters, and you can't do that until they are at least two years old. That means finding exceptional homes for your puppies, people who will work with you and get health testing done even on pet puppies, not just a dog you want to breed. After hips you have eyes. I get mine done at a health clinic held at a local show every year, which means I only pay $25 per dog. Office exams at an eye vet's office is otherwise about $40 per dog around here, though you can get litter discounts sometimes for puppies. Then there are the OFA submissions fees, though there are as you say litter discounts and, unlike hips, eye exams have to be repeated, since eye problems can show up much later in this breed - we know, for instance, that PRA is late onset in this breed. You don't need to pay OFA fees to update the dog's status, however. Hypothyroidism is another big problem in the breed, often not showing up till a later age, and it's another thing, like eyes, you should be testing every year until age five, and every two years there after. Like hips, entire litters should ideally be monitored. OFA thyroid tests cost me about $100 per dog. You only pay OFA for the original submission. We have a fair amount of deafness in this breed. Unlilateral deafness can often be missed if not specifically tested for (BAER). If I recall correctly I paid $300 to test an entire littter of eight, $45 for an individual dog. There are some times health clinics at shows or offered by dog clubs where it can be done at a discount. OFA submissions costs on top of that, but BAER testing only needs to be done once as a dog is either deaf or not and it can be done at an early age so a breeder can get the status of all of the dogs in a litter without being at the mercy of pet owners. Cardiac testing is about $40-50 per dog, with discounts possible for litters and at health clinics. OFA submissions on top of that and this is another thing that needs to be rechecked, though you can do a pre-screening of litters which can be helpful. Don't bother doing the math. If a breeder is in for profit they won't bother doing much in the way of testing, because you'll never come out ahead so it's perfectly rational for them not to. Plus then you might find out you have health problems and not be able to continue breeding certain dogs. These breeders are also less likely to stay in touch with pet buyers (as rescue also well knows) so less likely to find out that puppies they've produced grew up to have problems. It's not that breeders who test never produce health problems - it's that they bother to try to minimize the risk of producing them, and also try to follow entire litters to know what they are actually producing. That takes exceptional pet owners as well, who are willing to go the extra mile. What's the word for those owners? Oh, yeah - priceless  Kristine |
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| It is a bit more expensive here in Canada for health certifications. I just had my two year old Ben done last week. The total bill for OFA Hips and Thyroid was $575. CERF is $45+HST per year/dog. In my opinion, there is absolutely no excuse to not have the health testing done. Period. It is a simple trip to the vets office. If a breeder is not doing this, I wonder what their answer to the question of "Why not"? would be? It would be interesting to hear the answer....... And yes, sometimes the results can be devastating. I had my first dog fail a health certification last year. She was a Canadian Champion. Took her in for her first CERF exam at a year and a half, and she had retinal dysplasia in the folds of her eyes. Both of her parents were CERF clear. Now while I was assured she herself would have no problems with her vision, etc, there would be a strong possibility that her pups could be blind. A chance I would never ever take. So she was spayed and placed in a pet home. Now imagine I never did health testing. How would I have known? I would have in turn irresponsibly bred her and possibly produced blind puppies. This is a personal example as to why testing is just so important........and very easy to do! Trip to the vets, that's it. |
Mad Dog wrote: Anyway, the economics of health testing is actually much more involved than mere hips. Yeah, I know.  Panda was suffering due to her genetic ortho issue so it's what I was focusing on at that moment. Her pain has eased again today and she was even running a bit and bouncing around again. I have two littermates with low thyroid also. If I had one with a cardio or elbow problems, I probably would have been focusing on that. I sometimes wonder what buyers can ask when buying a puppy that might encourage puppy sellers to improve their breeding programs. This is going to sound simplistic but how many people stand on the steps at the dealership, point to a used car and say, "Oooh, I like the color! Does it have leather seats? It does!? Okay, I'll take it!"? Or do you want to see if it starts and how it runs? That’s basically what I myself did in the past and what others are still doing when buying a puppy. What OES puppy isn’t adorable? Put any OES puppy before me and all common sense would go out the window. While some of the genetic conditions that can affect these dogs aren't immediately life threatening, they may end the buyer's dreams of having a normal companion, limit their activities together and in the long run cost them more money for medical care... not to mention the possible suffering of their companion. What other things do we buy that come certified or graded? If people have ever purchased a diamond, they may have relied on lab certification papers (eg. GIA, IGI, EGL) to verify the quality. A VVS1 stone faces up beautifully... but you don’t want to be paying a VVS1 price for an SI1 stone. These labs grade diamonds and provide a 3rd party, unbiased opinion about the quality of the stone. While it is not a guarantee, it is the opinion of a professional that grades diamonds for a living. It’s what the Orthopedic Foundation For Animals does with hips, elbows, etc. It’s no guarantee that your puppy won’t have a genetic condition but it’s as close as you can get by verifying the breeding parents aren’t afflicted with a genetic condition. Amber, I'm terribly sorry this happened. I can only imagine what a disappointment this has been. It’s got to be even more so because of the effort/time/money you put into obtaining her championship. I truly admire you for sharing this and for what you did and do for this breed. Things can still happen despite careful breeding and testing. We can’t prevent all bad things from happening but we can do our best to lessen the odds by pretesting and making responsible and sometimes difficult choices. |
6Girls wrote: This is going to sound simplistic but how many people stand on the steps at the dealership, point to a used car and say, "Oooh, I like the color! Does it have leather seats? It does!? Okay, I'll take it!"? Or do you want to see if it starts and how it runs? That’s basically what I myself did in the past and what others are still doing when buying a puppy. What OES puppy isn’t adorable? Put any OES puppy before me and all common sense would go out the window. While some of the genetic conditions that can affect these dogs aren't immediately life threatening, they may end the buyer's dreams of having a normal companion, limit their activities together and in the long run cost them more money for medical care... not to mention the possible suffering of their companion. Actually, I think that's a pretty good analogy. |
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