AMS in English Springer Spaniels

[Sgurr]

Good news!

[Helenma]

Melverly Misdemeanour for Potrail -AMS Carrier ..
Potrail Secret Affair -AMS Carrier
Tiamant Always Happy girl -AMS Clear
Potrail Dreamchaser - AMS Affected

We were working with the Health coordinators At the start of the year when My home bred puppy developed what we thought was a simple nail bed infection sadly it just got worse and with Thousands of pounds spend on every test possible and 3 months of continuous daily vet visits we discovered it was This awful disease..

[Judy]

Thats really sad Helenma, thanks for joining to let us know.

[EssGrouse]

Melverly Misdemeanour for Potrail -AMS Carrier ..
Potrail Secret Affair -AMS Carrier
Tiamant Always Happy girl -AMS Clear
Potrail Dreamchaser - AMS Affected

We were working with the Health coordinators At the start of the year when My home bred puppy developed what we thought was a simple nail bed infection sadly it just got worse and with Thousands of pounds spend on every test possible and 3 months of continuous daily vet visits we discovered it was This awful disease..

Sorry to hear about your dogs, Im guessing AMS has only cropped up in show lines then so far?

[vicky payne]

Melverly Misdemeanour for Potrail -AMS Carrier ..
Potrail Secret Affair -AMS Carrier
Tiamant Always Happy girl -AMS Clear
Potrail Dreamchaser - AMS Affected

We were working with the Health coordinators At the start of the year when My home bred puppy developed what we thought was a simple nail bed infection sadly it just got worse and with Thousands of pounds spend on every test possible and 3 months of continuous daily vet visits we discovered it was This awful disease..

Sorry to hear about your dogs, Im guessing AMS has only cropped up in show lines then so far?

We've only heard about it in show lines, but it could be in both. Until recently these cases weren't known to be a 'thing' called AMS.

[Sgurr]

Sgurr Dhomhnuill Normal Homozygous ie Clear for AMS. This makes all the current Sgurr breeding dogs either tested Clear or Hereditary Clear for AMS. I have not tested the older, retired dogs (3) but I have no reason to suspect any problem as Glen's half brother Zane is Clear and Glen's and Jodie's son Dhomhnuill is Clear, also Jodie's daughter Breagha. Molly is Hereditary Clear (Zane x Breagha). Peggy Sue's granddaughter will be tested in October so we will see how Peggy's line goes.

[EssGrouse]

Enid do you have any reason to suspect any working dogs have it?

[Sgurr]

Liam, there are so very few working line dogs tested it is impossible to say - there are 12 listed Clear and Dhomhnuill (Cooper) not on the list yet. But look at the history. Fucosidosis: first found in show lines, the show breeders tested and have just about eliminated it from their lines. When working lines began to be tested, fuco was found there too and now the only new Carriers coming up are in working lines. PRA Cord 1: first found in show lines and the working breeders said nothing like that in their lines.....Ten years on from the introduction of the DNA test, it's pretty obvious that 'big' untested Carrier sires have produced thousands of untested working line pups - and I'd estimate 20% of working ESS are Carriers. The show breeders have not produced anywhere near that quantity of pups and have worked towards eliminating the mutation so the problem is now almost entirely in working lines. PFK: only Clears on the Kennel Club list but the majority of dogs tested are working lines as that's where the problem shows when a dog is working hard but that's not to say PFK is not in show lines, just this is the one area where the show breeders have done less testing. AMS: As the show breeders will test, that's where AMS will appear first, as has happened in the last twelve months or so. In my view, when (or shoud I say If?) more working line breeders get around to testing, then AMS will be found in working line ESS just as it is in working line cockers. Of the 13 tested, Vicky has three, I have three, possibly two with Rangemaster, so fingers of one hand for working line breeders testing for AMS. It seems to be a very rare condition but that is no reason to ignore it.

I want health tested dogs with working ability, it's not an either / or situation as some seem to think. Sgurr a Choise (born Nov 2015) has been doing Working Tests this summer - he is the first gundog his handler has trained and these are the first tests he has competed in. July, South West Scotland, First in the Novice, Second in the Open. August, Galloway Gundogs, First in the Open, Ayrshire Gundogs, First in the Open. Hereditary Clear for PRA Cord 1, Fuco, PFK and AMS. BVA Eyetest and Gonioscopy Unaffected (Sept 17). He will be hip and elbow scored in the coming weeks and should be field trialling later this season. In the trials, I think the handler's lack of experience will tell so I'm not expecting any placings, just hoping the dog does its best on the day.

[EssGrouse]

I was never meant to question to type of dog you produce Enid. Each to their own I say.

One day we will have so many test there to do that a dog will fail somewhere, then what happens? I think there should be a line as it seems rather excessive doesn't it, all these test now and new ones coming out each year.

That's my personal opinion of course.

[Sgurr]

I was just reminding that health testing and working ability are not mutually exclusive but can go in the same package.
In my view, if you are breeding dogs, even if it is just one litter per year as I've done, then you should breed the best dogs that you can and the DNA tests and other examinations do help. Yes, there should be a line, such as the Dutch Kennel Club have drawn, and pups can only be Registered if the sire and dam are hip-scored and have an eyetest, plus the parents and the progeny have to be DNA profiled and this is part of the official Registration.
For the DNA tests, once you have got a Clear, then you only need to test every third generation. Doing all the DNA tests on an ESS costs about £250, equal to or less than one stud fee or about half the price of a pup. So putting a dog to sire 100 litters over its lifetime, at say £300 per stud fee, £30,000, the cost of the DNA tests is pretty cheap.