Breeding a Mega Esophagus Carrier - Page 1

What would you do? Would you continue to keep breeding a bitch that has produced mega e? Would you use the sire if the sire's owner admitted their dog has produced this?

What I did, after producing a litter of 7 pups, 6 with mega-e was to never breed the female again. It's just not worth it if you have goals past selling pups.

jmo,
Rik

It takes both parents to pass the gene, so is taking only one out of breeding the best thing? Would you risk breeding both to others, not knowing if they carry the gene as well?

hello jag, I only had control of the female. To answer your question, no, I would not breed to or from a dog that produced mega-e.

Rik, thanks. :) I probably should have clarified that a bit better. Most breeders do not own the stud.

We had a female about 16 years ago that 3 out of 4 pups had mega e.  It was devistating for our breeding program at the time.  I not only culled the female that produced it.  I culled her sisters and an up an coming male who was to be used as our next stud.  They all found great pet homes but it is a VERY serious issue and should be treated as such.  While I went over board with the culling, that is a choice I have never had regrets about. 

Why is it that so many breeders argue with this then? I have been told time and again that you shouldn't "throw the baby out with the bath water" just because a breeding produced mega e. Mega E takes both parents to pass the gene so why risk it? I keep getting told it narrows the gene pool so sometimes the risk should be taken to continue breeding them. I don't get that train of thought.

I tried to compare it to hip displaysia. If a dog had severe hip displaysia, why wouldn't you keep breeding it? Wouldn't that narrow the gene pool to take out all dysplastic dogs?

I am not a breeder, just a buyer. This is coming from my side as strictly a buyer. I would personally run the other way if I knew someone continued to breed a dog known to produce severe diseases.

It is my understanding, learned from correspondance with Dr. Leigh Ann Clark at Clemson University, the genetic marker for mega esophagus need only be carried by one parent. My own experience with this horrible affliction bears this out. I neutered and re-homed my dog when we discovered that he carried and passed mega e on to his pups. He was not affected, but is a carrier. (there is a short description of my experience on my website http://www.vandenbergohana.com/WhatsHappening.html#anchor_131 )

Evidently the breed must be so 'rare' that we 'need' to use
dogs that are known to produce such issues as Mega-E. 
There are no 'rare' lines.

I'd take a dog with bad hips or elbows before ME.

It should be obvious by now to most, people will justify
absolutely every kind of breeding you could possibly
imagine.

It's always sad for the dogs in the end.

That's what I thought it only takes one carrier.  They do not even have to be affected.  Typical health issues in the breed, getting harder and harder to find healthy dogs.  Really a sad thing that you cannot find an animal without in depth health issures.  Something is really, really wrong here.  Nan