APRIL'S TOY HAVANESE PUPPIES HAVE ALL OF THE HEALTH TESTING MENTIONED BELOW.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF HEALTH TESTING?
The term "health testing" can mean many different things. Being familiar with these terms can be very important in determining how healthy your dog will be into adulthood and old age. Unfortunately, many breeders will tell you what you want to hear. Some, are uninformed backyard breeders, while others overtly lie about their health testing, in order to sell puppies.
PRICE IS MANY TIMES AN INDICATOR OF HEALTH TESTING EXTENSIVENESS, BECAUSE THERE ARE COSTS INVOLVED TO VERIFY THE GOOD HEALTH OF BREEDING PARENTS. A LOW COST PUPPY IS ALMOST SURELY NOT FULLY TESTED.
AKC registration papers, Puppy Culture, Neuro stim, socialization, vaccines, fecal exams, etc. are NOT health testing, Breeders many times will try and promote themselves by calling one or more of these "health testing," and trusting new owners will fall for the deception, because they want to believe them. Many times, the new families have picked a darling little baby and bypass the need to make sure their puppy isn't going to have unnecessary, unexpected lifetime illnesses, and mounting vet bills.
AKC REGISTRATION PAPERS
AKC papers mean that your new puppy has a bloodline that has been documented. It DOES NOT MEAN that your puppy is healthy, or has been checked for health by AKC. Most puppy mills in deplorable conditions still have documentation of the puppy's bloodlines, and have AKC papers.
AKC BRED WITH HEART BREEDERS
Bred with Heart is a separate designation by AKC, that does include health verification, ON A HUMANE LEVEL, to make sure our environment and our breeding dogs are well taken care of and are in an appropriate and thriving environment. Here at April's Toy Havanese Puppies, we have the Bred with Heart designation. AKC paid us a home visit, to see our home, and visit with our dogs. They also make sure we document our breeding program appropriately. However, they don't check vet records, or otherwise verify long-term health of our blooclines, or our dogs onsite. Socialization, labwork, fleas & ticks, etc are NOT checked.
VETERINARY WELL CHECK
THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM A BREEDER SHOULD COMPLETE ON THEIR PUPPIES. At its basic level, we should discuss a veterinary well check for your puppy. A "litter exam" comprehensive well check should include heart (heart rate, arythmias, etc) , blood pressure, temperature, fecal exam for parasites, external parasites (fleas, ticks, ear mites), patella, other skeletal issues, and of course should check for present illness, such as Parvo. It may also include the first round of puppy shots. Many vets, however, only check visually, and look for fleas and intestinal parasites. A new puppy owner should always ask to see the well check, and should receive a copy at the time of adoption.
OFA TESTING (Orthopedic Foundation of America)
OFA testing is typically required for dogs to show. It is done by veterinary examination, and includes, at a minimum, hearing, vision, and patella testing. Some breed clubs recommend more tests, but these are the basics. While extremely valuable, they only verify an existing problem, not illness or structural issues that may occur later, or in old age.
DNA TESTING
DNA TESTING CAN MEAN MANY DIFFERENT THINGS:
Basic testing:
This would include breed verification, and whether or not your new puppy is pure-bred Havanese. As mentioned above, AKC papers are falsified many times. Sometimes the breeder doesn't know their registrations are inaccurate, other times they know. DNA testing is the only way to verify. AKC offers this for domestic animals, and requires it for dogs transferred from other countries, but many are never tested.
Breeder traits testing:
I have actually had breeders tell me they do DNA health testing, when in actuality they have only tested for traits. Traits are things like expected coat colors for their dog's babies, or whether they are more likely to produce curly haired babies, or colors that fade. THIS IS NOT HEALTH TESTING!
FULL PANEL, DNA HEALTH TESTING
Full panel, DNA health testing, tests for over 250 genetic predispositions for illness. While a puppy will rarely exhibit any signs of long-term illness, it can manifest at anytime in their growth or maturation. Therefore, it is my educated opinion that DNA health testing, full panel, is extremely valuable to ensure the longterm health of your dog.
In a Havanese, two variants are usually singled out and placed in the summary, for easy access. These are IVDD/CHDD and the Alt liver gene. IVDD/CHDD is Invertebral Disc Disease, which is one of the gene variants that can cause hip dysplasia, or other spinal and skeletal disease. The Alt liver gene can be a cause for elevated liver enzymes, which can lead to liver failure.
Many other markers are tested, such as glaucoma, kidney disease, vision markers, hearing, some cancers, diabetes, nutrient malabsorption, hemophilia, epilepsy, etc. Some of these illnesses can be heartbreaking, and can become extremely expensive, even cost prohibitive, and is the main reason owners will put their dogs to sleep.
There are several companies that offer full DNA health testing, such as Embark Vet (through Cornell University), UD Davis, Orivet, AKC has just introduced a panel, though I have no experience with this one yet. I have used the others extensively.
While there can be errors in testing, by and large, they are accurate. I typically will verify with a second company's tests, if one of mine comes back positive on any marker, just to verify, before retiring a breeder unnecessarily.
For a full list of disease markers, visit the websites of any of the companies mentioned above.
PRICE IS MANY TIMES AN INDICATOR OF HEALTH TESTING EXTENSIVENESS, BECAUSE THERE ARE COSTS INVOLVED TO VERIFY THE GOOD HEALTH OF BREEDING PARENTS. A LOW COST PUPPY IS ALMOST SURELY NOT FULLY TESTED.
AKC registration papers, Puppy Culture, Neuro stim, socialization, vaccines, fecal exams, etc. are NOT health testing, Breeders many times will try and promote themselves by calling one or more of these "health testing," and trusting new owners will fall for the deception, because they want to believe them. Many times, the new families have picked a darling little baby and bypass the need to make sure their puppy isn't going to have unnecessary, unexpected lifetime illnesses, and mounting vet bills.
AKC REGISTRATION PAPERS
AKC papers mean that your new puppy has a bloodline that has been documented. It DOES NOT MEAN that your puppy is healthy, or has been checked for health by AKC. Most puppy mills in deplorable conditions still have documentation of the puppy's bloodlines, and have AKC papers.
AKC BRED WITH HEART BREEDERS
Bred with Heart is a separate designation by AKC, that does include health verification, ON A HUMANE LEVEL, to make sure our environment and our breeding dogs are well taken care of and are in an appropriate and thriving environment. Here at April's Toy Havanese Puppies, we have the Bred with Heart designation. AKC paid us a home visit, to see our home, and visit with our dogs. They also make sure we document our breeding program appropriately. However, they don't check vet records, or otherwise verify long-term health of our blooclines, or our dogs onsite. Socialization, labwork, fleas & ticks, etc are NOT checked.
VETERINARY WELL CHECK
THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM A BREEDER SHOULD COMPLETE ON THEIR PUPPIES. At its basic level, we should discuss a veterinary well check for your puppy. A "litter exam" comprehensive well check should include heart (heart rate, arythmias, etc) , blood pressure, temperature, fecal exam for parasites, external parasites (fleas, ticks, ear mites), patella, other skeletal issues, and of course should check for present illness, such as Parvo. It may also include the first round of puppy shots. Many vets, however, only check visually, and look for fleas and intestinal parasites. A new puppy owner should always ask to see the well check, and should receive a copy at the time of adoption.
OFA TESTING (Orthopedic Foundation of America)
OFA testing is typically required for dogs to show. It is done by veterinary examination, and includes, at a minimum, hearing, vision, and patella testing. Some breed clubs recommend more tests, but these are the basics. While extremely valuable, they only verify an existing problem, not illness or structural issues that may occur later, or in old age.
DNA TESTING
DNA TESTING CAN MEAN MANY DIFFERENT THINGS:
Basic testing:
This would include breed verification, and whether or not your new puppy is pure-bred Havanese. As mentioned above, AKC papers are falsified many times. Sometimes the breeder doesn't know their registrations are inaccurate, other times they know. DNA testing is the only way to verify. AKC offers this for domestic animals, and requires it for dogs transferred from other countries, but many are never tested.
Breeder traits testing:
I have actually had breeders tell me they do DNA health testing, when in actuality they have only tested for traits. Traits are things like expected coat colors for their dog's babies, or whether they are more likely to produce curly haired babies, or colors that fade. THIS IS NOT HEALTH TESTING!
FULL PANEL, DNA HEALTH TESTING
Full panel, DNA health testing, tests for over 250 genetic predispositions for illness. While a puppy will rarely exhibit any signs of long-term illness, it can manifest at anytime in their growth or maturation. Therefore, it is my educated opinion that DNA health testing, full panel, is extremely valuable to ensure the longterm health of your dog.
In a Havanese, two variants are usually singled out and placed in the summary, for easy access. These are IVDD/CHDD and the Alt liver gene. IVDD/CHDD is Invertebral Disc Disease, which is one of the gene variants that can cause hip dysplasia, or other spinal and skeletal disease. The Alt liver gene can be a cause for elevated liver enzymes, which can lead to liver failure.
Many other markers are tested, such as glaucoma, kidney disease, vision markers, hearing, some cancers, diabetes, nutrient malabsorption, hemophilia, epilepsy, etc. Some of these illnesses can be heartbreaking, and can become extremely expensive, even cost prohibitive, and is the main reason owners will put their dogs to sleep.
There are several companies that offer full DNA health testing, such as Embark Vet (through Cornell University), UD Davis, Orivet, AKC has just introduced a panel, though I have no experience with this one yet. I have used the others extensively.
While there can be errors in testing, by and large, they are accurate. I typically will verify with a second company's tests, if one of mine comes back positive on any marker, just to verify, before retiring a breeder unnecessarily.
For a full list of disease markers, visit the websites of any of the companies mentioned above.