Health Testing, DNA Color Testing, DNA Diversity Testing
Briefly,
we are very interested in the health and well being of our havanese.
The health testing we do can identify issues once they have occurred (or
not), but genetic (DNA) testing is the ideal answer to predicting the
future health of the breed. DNA color testing is fascinating - and with
all we can identify now, we still don't have all the answers nor can we
conclusively predict what colors will come out in a litter. We continue
to gather information in our search for greater knowledge. We
are firm believers in health testing and as such I'm a member of the
Havanese Club of America's Health Committee. We have now completed our
first Longevity Survey and the subsequent Rainbow Bridge Survey. These
can be read in full on the Havanese Club of America
web site on the Health page you'll see "Havanese Health Surveys" at
the bottom of that page is the link to the full text of the surveys.
The Executive Summary
of the 156 dogs included in the survey indicates that around 27% of
died from cardiac disease at around 12 years of age. As such, we have
been bringing our dogs to a cardiologist annually for cardiac exams so
we can know if/when a problem occurs. The genetics of most cardiac
diseases are not known at this time. There
are a lot of opinions about health, and what health testing is
important. Havanese are a relatively "young" breed in the AKC and we're
still learning a lot. Many tests that have been done are virtually
eliminating the problems from the breed (BAER testing for hearing, CAER
testing for vision), more information here. The genetics of "loose" patellas (knees) and dysplastic hips is thought to be polygenetic (ie many factors are involved).
The
Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL), in collaboration with Dr. Niels
C. Pedersen and staff, has developed a panel of short tandem repeat
(STR) markers that will determine genetic diversity across the genome
and in the Dog Leukocyte Antigen (DLA) class I and II regions. This test
panel is useful to breeders who wish to track and increase genetic
diversity of their breed as a long term goal. BetterBred
LLC was born of a love for purebred dogs and their devoted breeders.
BetterBred was created in response to the glaring need for multiple
measurements to help identify, maintain and redistribute genetic
diversity in several breeds. It was formed as an outgrowth of a project
that helped develop the Canine Genetic Diversity Test created by world
renowned Dr. Niels C. Pedersen, DVM PhD at UC Davis. Biodiversity and
allelic richness are also major concerns to dog breeds and other
species, many of which are under human management. Breeders hold the
responsibility to conserve their breeds for future generations by
maintaining and addressing loss of diversity due to genetic drift and
bottlenecks. BetterBred’s mission is to support all breeders so they can
conserve the genetic diversity in their breeds.