morning all!!!!

I have a question i thought i was all clear on..on saturday was talking to a lady about lola saying she'd had her eyes tested by the bva and had the results come back normal.(yearly test)

then a few months later i had her DNA tested nd she came back clear.it states in the form she will never develope the eye disease nor shall she ever go blind,but this lady (i didnt get her name) insisted that the yearly eye test had to still be done every year because the dna testing only tests for PRA and the yearly test is looking for the other forms of PRA.

is this right??
im not bothered by having to continue to have the test done yearly as ill be doing what needs to be done but im a teeny bit confused again.lol
just when i thought i was clear on the subject.ha ha ha

Just had a look round for info on this, because I didn't know, but there is definitely more than one type of PRA, and on one of the health sites it states that DNA testing doesn't mean you don't still have the annual eye testing done, in case one of the other types develop.  So that's not very good, I suppose the DNA test just gives you the result for the most common form then..

yea so people all when looking for puppies seeing the very flattering parents optigen a clear will still be at a certain point be being fooled unless the breeder sat and explained to new owners that this doesnt bguarentee their beloved puppy a lifetime of happiness and health.

i cant see the pont of the yearly test,all it does is state that your dog/bitch is clear at that moment,so the dog is clear yes you breed from him/her then later down the line it develops a disease then what???

you have to then call the owners of the pups and pray they havent ignored endorsments and havent bred from their pups.

so now tell me whats the point of the yearly test......none.it guarentees nothing.this is why not a lot of people have it done then i assume.

i know there is more than one type of the pra and the yealy test is looking for any signs of it but whats the point....now im back to square one.
im sat shaking my head here.

edited cos ive just thought,if the dogs being tested are clear at that point does that mean its not a hereditory disease its a developing one.meaningif the dog is clear at that point and produces puppies the offspring will be ok??
off to do some more major searching.......

Yes quite right mine are DNA clear, and we are only listed for PRA, but we continue Clinical Eye testing under the BVA scheme to lock out for anything else that might emerge.

> edited cos ive just thought,if the dogs being tested are clear at that point does that mean its not a hereditory disease its a developing one.meaningif the dog is clear at that point and produces puppies the offspring will be ok??
>

Some diseases are Congenital (present at birth) and some develop later, both can be hereditary.

Of course from clinical eye testing point of view the easiest and most satisfactory to deal with are the congenital ones.

The form of PRA our breed has that we now have a DNA test for was late onset, often showing no signs at all until after the dog had been bred from, sometimes as late as 6 years old, but in the past it showed up usually by about 3, so it shows that even with the same disease the time of onset can vary.

I expect those that showed it early were removed from the gene pool in the past so the only ones left were those that got it later and later.

Sadly with clinical eye testing you can only do your best and breed from dogs tested clear. 

If they later turn out to be affected you have to backtrack with you breeding and inform the offspring's owners. 

With luck as long as the partner was clear their offspring will only be healthy carriers, but of course can't be bred from unless a DNA test emerges for their status to be ascertained. 

This is why DNA tests are so valuable you know what you have got, before any visible signs appear, and you can in theory safely use all dogs for breeding (though in practice afffected dogs would not be used as even to a clear partner al theri offsprign woudl be carriers, with no clears)without producing affected offspring (as long as mated to the right partner) this helps keep gene pools wider as you don't have to dump whole bloodlines that are connected to a problem.

The problem is to develop DNA tests you need affected dogs to use their DNA in research,a nd of course good breeders have striven over the years to minimise the risks and reduce the numbers of affected dogs produced as much as is humanly possible.

Yes there is more than one type of PRA, that's why some people make the excuse of not doing the DNA testing I think.  So yep, you still need to do the usual yearly checks, though to be truthful I only update doing mine when I am thinking of breeding from said dog in the next 12 months or so.

Just awaiting for my girls DNA test results, though presume it will be a while before I get them, I'm not a good waiter LOL!

Alf is DNA clear of PRA (rcd-1) but I think the reason we still need yearly eye tests is due to late onset PRA.

Must admit I only bother with the yearly eye test if I know I have someone interested in using him at stud ...... lucky me got a freebie at Crufts this year :)

yes im remembering more now.so ill be ok though im showing lola,or do they need to be tested regular to show....silly question i hear you say but im still sooooo very new and i know the info i get from here will be straight to the point and correct.i could search online all day and go around in circles

>
> Just awaiting for my girls DNA test results, though presume it will be a while before I get them, I'm not a good waiter LOL!

good luck i was very impatient and i waited a really long time i hope thats not the case for you.xx

You don't need an eye test to show, but a current eye test should be in place if you intend to breed.  It adds more to the picture of health in your breed if you eye test annually.  Most people in our breed test their breeding stock until their breeding careers are over, but the eye specialists say that they like to see older dogs as well, as it all adds to the picture.

ahhh,well thats good to know thank you.i dont plan on wuppies im too interested in the showing.just thought id ask.x

Eye tested all of my Spanish up to the age of 11, not bothered after that, except for my Lydia who I didn't eye tests for a few years then had her last one done at 13 years of age.