Rik, it's really late at night here so I'll try to find the info you're looking for and post it later, in the mean time...if someone else has it at the tip of their fingers, please post it.  

Thanks for the info on the vWD, GSD2727, I didn't know that.  vWD is not something I've ever really studied since I've never dealt with it nor had a Dobermann. 

Speaking of CHIC, my OFA'd dogs didn't show up on it, even though they show up on OFFA :(

So far, what I suspected is true.  There really are practicly no sure-fire tests to reveal if an unaffected dog (of the GSD breed) is a carrier of any genetic diseases.

Darylehet, I do agree with you.  I was just trying to see if there was something that I didn't know about in regards to health tests available.  

There is an accurate DNA test for Pituitary Dwarfism in the GSD, and also Juvenile Renal Dysplasia.

Euro there are so many conditions that can affect the GSD, that it would be impossible to test for them all and find breeding partners also tested.

 

German Shepherd Dog CHIC

(search)

 

Hip Dysplasia

• OFA Evaluation

Elbow Dysplasia

• OFA Evaluation

Temperament Test

• Results of GSDCA Temperament test submitted to OFA

Congenital Cardiac Database (Optional)

• OFA Evaluation

Autoimmune thyroiditis (Optional)

• OFA evaluation from an approved laboratory - recommend yearly testing

Eye Clearance (Optional)

• CERF evaluation - recommend annually until age 6, every 2 years thereafter

Degenerative Myelopathy (Optional)

• DNA Based Degenerative Myelopathy test through UFL or the U of MO.

Yes, the GSDCA now requires a temperament test in order for a dog to earn a CHIC certifcation.
Each parent breed club sets the criteria for which tests are needed for a CHIC and the cert doesn't necessarily mean the dogs have passed those tests, only that they have been evaluated. It's just another designation that may or may not mean something depending on the results and how long the tests are considered valid.

Euroshep, your dogs won't get a CHIC unless they have been temperament tested by a GSDCA evaluator and their scores submitted to OFA.
 

 

It is impossible to test for every genetic issue that effects the dog world in general, GSD's specifically. However, that is no reason to excuse testing for the things we do know are breed problems - at a minimum hips, elbows and DM. To test for nothing and continue to breed litter after litter is certainly not in the best interests of the breed.

Rik, here's some links I pulled up.  Somewhere I read once that when PennHip was just beginning it's research it started with a breeding pool of dysplastic German Shepherds and within a few generations was able to eliminate HD.  But thats just info I'm pulling from the fuzzy memory cells, lol.  Maybe someone knows where the link is to this article?   Also Rik, I understand your point, but it doesn't hurt to at least have a list of these things that we have the option to test for.
http://www.pennhip.org/resch_sum.html

http://research.vet.upenn.edu/GeneralInformation/FastFactsBehindtheResearch/tabid/6209/Default.aspx

http://www.camelotshepherds.com/Penn%20Hip%20Vs.%20OFA.htm

http://romanreign.com/OFA%20vs.%20PennHip.htm

http://www.uskbtc.com/article.php/459


Blitzen, criminy, one of my OFA dogs has a GSDCA TT certificate too, but I don't think I had it submitted to OFA    oh well, doesn't matter anyways, he's retired. 

Thanks Abby!  I dimly recall the info about the DNA test for the P.D., I know it's pretty rare but that is certainly worth keeping in mind.  In regards to the DNA test for JRD, is that test effective for the GSD breed too?   I've heard of dogs who suffered horribly from renal disease, it would be great to prevent that. 

I know that in labradors they test for PRA, and I've heard that GSDs can suffer from PRA too, I wonder if the same DNA test for labs works for GSDs also? 


I've been very lucky in that I've had very few health problems in my dogs, particularly my GSDs.  My first GSD did have mild HD in one hip, she had allergy problems-sometimes really bad and I suspect she had DM that developed during her last year of life (she passed away at 14.)  Otherwise she is the only GSD that I've had who suffered any genetic related health problems.  (I've owned a total of 8 GSDs.)  
Health problems I've dealt with in other breeds that I've owned.  (out of the 14 non-GSD dogs I've had/have)
A gorgeous, sweetheart Shar-pei (who LOVED everyone) had a major Pica problem (ate EVERYTHING) and thus bloated or impacted multiple times (she even ate a muzzle she wore to prevent her from eating stuff) she finally died from this condition.  Horrible tragic loss :(
I co-owned a Neo Mastiff who had cherry eyes, that was fairly easy to fix
I briefly had a gorgeous peachy apricot toy poodle who had a severe "romanian orphan" temperament problem (I was her 3rd owner by the time she was 6 months old, I'm positive that her breeder NEVER touched the pup til she sold her) at just under a year old she passed away suddenly, without warning, the vet who necropsied her could not find a definate reason why.

hello Euro, of course it doesn't hurt to test for what can be done. It can put you generations ahead if you know what you are dealing with.

good luck and keep us posted on what you breed and the accomplishments. also, I have dealt with HD very up close and personal in several dogs/litters and I don't see any thing better than the SV ZW system, and I'm not saying it is perfect.

Rik

Right, Rik.  I don't have any breeding plans for the near future.  I have two lovely breeding age females right now but neither have been health tested (or any kind of testing) yet and if I do breed them I want to be able to keep pups back.  I don't have the space to be keeping more dogs right now so no breeding plans :(  
On a personal level, I don't like breeding if I can't keep a pup.  (This is just for me personally, I'm not saying it's wrong to breed without intending to keep something) 

This is just information that I wanted to have.  I also thought other folks would be interested too. 

 Euroshepherd
You're welcome. The test for JRD is GSD specific. Similar conditions affect other breeds but I do not believe that they yet have their own tests, as I don't think their condition is exactly the same. GSD's with this condition will die at a very young age. I have only known one, and he died at 4, and that was a very good age for a JRD dog. Their decline and eventual death is very unpleasant.

With regard to PD, it is not rare at all. What is rare is for a dwarf to make it into the outside world, since a breeder will usually recognise a dwarf by six weeks old and cull it. Both dogs need to carry the gene to produce a dwarf, and it would be very easy to eliminate PD from the breed, but many breeders do not see it as important and simply term it a 'problem of the nest', and no-one ever gets to know that certain dogs carry PD. Match it with another dog which carries it and bingo! Some enlightened breeders in the UK are now testing for it..

That's great information, Abby.  While I was reading up some on JRD I also came across haemophilia A disease, another thing I've 'heard' of, but never really looked into. 

JRD, P.D. and H-A diseases are all devasting and usually cause early death (usually preceded by much suffering)  It seems to me that these 3 diseases should be tested for by breeders, and dogs who have JRD seem like they should be not be bred at all.  I myself have a genetic disease that is dominant with incomplete penetration.  Theoretically, if one parent has it then half of their offspring will have it too, and each one is affected differently, some worse than others, roll of the dice.  A dog could be a carrier/have this disease and have unnoticeable symptoms, yet produce pups who have horrid symptoms and die young.

OK, so my list of DNA tests now currently reads as:

Juvenile Renal Disease (don't breed if dog is carrier, period.)
Pituitary Dwarfism
Haemophila A
DM test (with a grain of salt for the results...think long and hard for a dog who is a double-carrier before breeding)

.......main purpose is to prevent breeding two dogs who are carriers for the same disease.


(folks, please keep in mind that I'm not compiling this list so I can say this is what all breeders should do, this is just information I wanted to know about)