What is health testing?
Health testing can be broken down into two categories. Genetic Testing and Health Screening
Genetic Testing
Genetic Testing can help the breeder eliminate the chance of your puppy developing a disease.
Health Screenings show current information of symptoms at the time of the testing. They can still develop a disease after a period time or not. We test our poodles for Genetic Diseases, vWD, DM, NEWS, and PRA-PRCD, PRCD4, rd/DB. These diseases are recessive. Each parent must pass a copy of the gene to the puppy. If the puppy does not receive two copies of that disease, it will not develop into a disease. So we can prevent the disease by not breeding a carrier to a carrier. We use Betterbred to analyze our findings with a potential mate to rule out bad combinations. This technology has opened up our knowledge for preventing disease that was not possible in the past.
There are hereditary problems in ALL breeds of dogs.
Below are some of the more common hereditary health problems in Standard Poodles. The issues are not unique to the Standard Poodle, many other breeds and even mixed breeds may develop these problems. As a responsible Poodle owner you should be aware of these.
Hip Dysplasia
PRA (progressive retinal atrophy)
rd/DB (retinal deterioation/Day Blindness
Cataracts
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Gastric torsion/bloat
von Willebrand's Disease
Sebaceous Adenitis (skin disorder)
Addison's Disease
Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia
Epilepsy
Hypothyroidism
Cancer
Even when breeding dogs that have been tested and found clear of specific hereditary health problems, there is no 100% guarantee that the puppy will not develop one of these problems. Buying a puppy from a breeder who tests breeding stock increases your chances of getting a healthy puppy. It is your responsibility to provide a healthy and safe environment to raise your puppy. This includes high quality food and proper medical care.
Below are true genetic health tests for Standard Poodles. There are no other test at this time for them available.
Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) - An inherited neurologic disorder with an average onset of 9 years.
Neonatal Encephalopathy with Seizures (NEWS) - a neurologic disease that usually results in the death of a puppy by the time they are seven weeks old.
Progressive Retinal Atrophy, Progressive Rod-Cone Degeneration (PRA-PRCD, PRCD4, - Late onset eye disease, it effects vision in both dim and bright lights.
DB/rd - Standard Poodles, unlike other forms of Day Blindness observed in other breeds, the DB/RD mutation causes a more complete retinal degeneration in the Standard Poodle and affected dogs eventually lose both cone and rod cell function resulting in vision loss under all lighting conditions.
Poodles should be tested for von Willebrand Disease (vWD) Type 1. vWD requires only one gene to be affected. This disorder is inherited as a dominant trait with incomplete penetrance, which means that not all dogs that have the vWD mutation will present signs of the disease. Dogs with 1 or 2 copies of this mutation may be affected and may develop vWD. Since we can't predict which dogs will be affected all of our Moms and Dads will be clear and non carriers of vWD.
von Willebrand Disease (vWD) - Relatively uncommon in standard poodle but can be life threatening. vWD is a bleeding disorder that may or may not be discovered until a dog has been injured or has surgery and may occur in later life. Dogs are affected to different degrees which can't be predicted. Thankfully, if you do have a dog that is affected, Type 1 is the easiest to treat.
Health Screenings
Under Construction!