viewing a suitable sire

[robertmark2006]

Can anyone give me any advice on what to look for with regard to a proposed sire for a cocker bitch I plan to mate. I have viewed the sires pedigree that I am interested in, and if the mating goes ahead, it will be a total outcross. The sire has no clear eye certificate, but both his sire and dam are certified clear. Does this mean none of his offspring can inherit eye dysfunction

[NickC]

If the dam and sire of the dog in question are DNA tested prcd-PRA clear then the dog is hereditarily clear. If this dog is mated with a clear bitch the pups will be clear. If mated with an affected or carrier bitch the pups will be clear or carriers, but not affected so will not develop the condition.

So to answer your question, pups from this dog will not develop PRA (according to the test labs).

What sire are you looking at?

Nick

[Breezybrook]

As far as the eye certificate goes, if the parents have the BVA eye certificate, this means they were clear for CPRA & GPRA on the day of testing, it's a bit like an MOT on a car, it is possible to develop problems later but is ok at present. The pups would not be genetically clear for CPRA & GPRA as there is no DNA test at present for these forms of PRA.

If the parents had a Clear DNA test for prcd-PRA, then the offspring would be genetically clear of this form of PRA.

[Judy]

Depends on whether the parents were DNA tested or just a BVA visual check, if the latter it doesn't necessarily mean the stud dog will be clear of eye disease. If DNA tested, as Nick said above. Its not just about health though, I'd want to see the dog working, find out whether the lines were sound, eg quiet and soft mouthed and last but not least how well the dog is constructed, if he has the same structural faults as your bitch then look elsewhere.

[hollybank]

i agree with judy above,
Although i can see the obvious benefits of using a health tested dog, currently there isn't really anything out there tested working wise to a decent standard. So i think using a health tested dog would potentially compromise the working ability of any offspring.

[James]

i agree with judy above,
Although i can see the obvious benefits of using a health tested dog, currently there isn't really anything out there tested working wise to a decent standard. So i think using a health tested dog would potentially compromise the working ability of any offspring.

apart from 1 FTCH, an OFTW and a FTW that I know of and seen run in trials. All of them very good dogs indeed, im sure there are many more FTW tested, but I havent looked into it.

[hollybank]

excellent, interested to know the names of these cocker dogs james?

[fusey]

Hi all, just been up & used Andrew Cunningham's (Spams) dog Edwardiana Rob. I used the dog for what it can put back into my line which is quality, the dog isn't tested but that doesn't bother me one bit. If he throws pups as half as good as he is, I will be very pleased

[James]

excellent, interested to know the names of these cocker dogs james?

Oh boll#@ks, some how I missed the Cocker bit and had springer in my head. My bad, there does seem even less tested trialing cockers then springers and there's not that many of those.

[Teddy]

i agree with judy above,
Although i can see the obvious benefits of using a health tested dog, currently there isn't really anything out there tested working wise to a decent standard. So i think using a health tested dog would potentially compromise the working ability of any offspring.

Just because we don't all trial our dogs doesn't mean they're sub standard!