Scawoo Health Testing For Our Breeding australian cobberdogs
Our Australian Cobberdogs undergo a full breed profile for the tested genetic diseases through orivet
At Scawoo Australian Cobberdogs we are not only dedicated to giving all our dogs the best life, vet care and love but we are also commited to do thorough health testing.All our breeding dogs have had full breed profiles through orivet or are clear by parentage , sometimes the full breed profiles change and each dogs Dna will be based on the full breed profile done at the time of their individual testing.
This is the current orivet full breed profile
https://www.orivet.com/store/australian-cobberdog-full-breed-profile/p/384
What does it mean when a breeding dog, carries for something??
Sometimes a dog will be a carrier for a certain disease and that's ok. The important thing is that we know what they carry for and that is why testing is invaluable.
For example Lucie carries for PRA. This is no risk at all to Lucie as she only has one dodgy gene for the disease and one good gene and for the disease to express itself the dog requires 2 dodgy genes, 1 from mum and 1 from dad.
When we breed Lucie we will make sure her perfect stud is clear for PRA so that there is no risk to the impending puppies.
This means even if pup gets one dodgy gene for PRA from Lucie (50/50 chance to get a good or dodgy gene) and 1 good gene from the daddy (because he will be clear), they can never ever get that disease.
Yay for DNA testing insuring healthy babies.
2 normal genes (clear)
1 normal gene and 1 abnormal gene (carrier no risk of getting the disease)
2 abnormal genes (at risk of aquiring the disease)
Please when buying puppies make sure parents have been DNA tested and bred to assure healthy puppies. We at Scawoo are happy to provide our dogs DNA results to you.
Hip and Elbow testing Australian Cobberdogs
We at Scawoo are hip and elbow testing our breeding dogs. Each dogs results can be seen in their profiles.We are committed to improving hip health in the Australian Cobberdog and it feels great to be moving forward in this area. You can see hip data in the dogs profiles. This isnt an easy excercise but we are selecting the BEST dogs moving forward and letting dogs go that are not up to scratch.
We are using the hip information as an extra tool to consider when matching breeding pairs. We are very fortunate as two of our boys have incredible scores. Our aim is to hopefully tighten the offspring over time as a tighter hip has less chance of hip dysplacia.
We are excited to be moving forward in this direction for the betterment of the breed.
More On Hips
Whilst hips have become a focus area for us, hip health isn't as simple as matching two parents with passing scores. If only it was that easy !. Hip dysplacia is a polygenic disease meaning that there are many genes involved, that can go back generations. Testing parents is a terrific start but is not the total answer. As well as a clear strong genetic component, involving many genes , hip dysplacia is also epigenic , meaning other factors can and will contribute to whether a dog develops hip dysplacia : enviroment, diet, excercise, grooming, growth spurts, timing of desexing and the dogs weight , making this a multifactored issue.
What Can You Do
We need families to be serious in their protection of a puppies developing joints. I hear all the time we are getting a new puppy we will pull up the rugs so the puppy doesnt pee on them. I ask you to look at it this way, we are getting a new puppy I am going to put down more cheap rugs so they aren't slipping around on slippery floors.( its easier to clean up urine than fix damaged hips) Unfortunatly carpets are becoming a thing of the past, this means your puppy is ice skating around your home and this is so bad on the hips, elbows, shoulder, knees: all the developing joints. Paw pad hair , this must be trimmed very regularly, pawpad hair and slippery floors is a recipe for disaster, keep them short. Toe nails, again these need regular trimming to keep at a shorter lenght. If toe nails are long it alters the way a dog stands which can put pressure in wrong areas.
Diet, research says a puppy will have better joints if fed a little less than recommended(so work out how much your puppy needs to eat and give a bit less). Please do not overfeed your puppy, fast growth spurts are times when a pups joints can be damaged, by restricting food a little so puppy doesn't grow quite as fast is beneficial.. Puppies/dogs need to be slender, overweight dogs put strain on the joints. Diet must be well balanced and healthy, omega 3 is great for the hips. we often have families saying that vets tell them their puppy is too thin, please remember the australian cobberdog is a slender breed, when wet there really isnt much of them.
Excercise, please research appropriate excercise for your pup, we want our dogs excercised its important they are fit, healthy and excercised to build muscle. Running around at home or offleash is excercise done at the dogs desire, forced excercise such as walks should be done with the dogs age in mind. Ball throwing, please really limit this till all your dogs growing is done, when they are well over a year old, discourge jumping, not only does jumping jar your dogs joints its also bad mannered, have your pup practice four paws on the floor for pats.. Swimming is a wonderful excercise for dogs, and most cobbers love water. A healthy back end area, muscle toned thighs can keep hips supported and healthier, there are back end excercises that you can google with this in mind.
We are working towards breeding and producing dogs with tighter hips. Tighter hips can withstain alot more, whereas looser hips are more susceptible to wear and tear. BUT for now we need to treat every pup with care, especially in the first 12 months whilst growing. We as cobberdog breeders will do what we can but families will need to do their part too, being a polygenic disease and being infulenced by diet, enviroment and excercise we cannot guarantee a pup against hip dysplacia. However using parents with good hips will make the occurence of hip issues less and even less if families jump on board and protect a pups hips especially in the first 12 months or so when they are developing.
Pet insurance is a great idea and we do recommend it.
We will do everything we can to improve hips and minimise hip dysplacia but we need your help too.
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Australian cobberdog xray of the distraction view pennhip xray which tells us how loose or tight the hips are. It is said that a tighter hip is less likely to develop hip dysplacia. This breeding dog has good tight hips.