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should be done on the THIS SITE IS CONSTANTLY BEING UPDATED I am NOT A GENETICIST OR RESEARCH SCIENTIST, I just want to share my knowledge of the breed and what I feel as my Opinion should be done before breeding this breed. ============================================================================== Registries used: OFA is a closed REGISTRY in the USA and GDC is the OPEN REGISTRY in the USA ( GDC HAS MERGED WITH OFA AS OF 2002) Hips: make sure you x-ray your French Bulldog to fine out if he or she has sockets. If there are no sockets, then your French Bulldog is on his or her way to a life of pain down the road, if they are not already showing signs.
Eyes: make sure to take your French Bulldog to see a CERF Ophthalmologist. He or she is the only type of eye doctor that can determine if your French Bulldog has a or any type of genetic problem with the eye that could cause a problem later in life. Patella's: if your French Bulldog has luxating Patella's after one year of age spay or neuter the dog. Heart: the breeder should have the sire and dam's heart checked before breeding the two to be certain they are not knowingly breeding to defective animals that will cause heart ache and pain to some unsuspecting buyer not to mention the dog itself. Listed below are the maximum test that can be
done on the French Bulldog Spine: You can as of November 7, 1999 send in 2 views of the spine to OFA and you will receive a report on the x-rays. A new form is in the process of being made. Owners will send in their spine x-rays taken in 2 views/2 x-rays in these positions: VD and Lateral views and have the dog under sedation so that the spine is as straight as possible. The minimum age to send is 8 weeks of age, there is no maximum age limit. Hips: With the hips they lie the dog on it's back and take a hip x-ray. The vet twists the feet towards each other so that the femurs are parallel to each other so that OFA may evaluate the head of the femur and how it fits into the socket. The dog should be sedated to get the best view. You can do OFA prelims for hips at 6 months and up to 2 years old. Your dog will not be certified with OFA at this age but it gives you an idea of what the hips look like. At 24 months of age OFA will give you a registration number if hips are normal . The vet can sedate your dog to do this procedure. You will get a more accurate reading if you do. Elbows: The elbows need to be extremely flexed which is hard to do with a mastiff asleep let alone awake. You can do OFA prelims on the elbows from 6 months up to 2 years old. Your dog will not be certified with OFA at this age but it gives you an idea of what the elbows look like.
Genetic Data Collection (GDC) -
NO LONGER DOING HIP AND ELBOW REGISTERIES Eyes: CERF Only a board certified Ophthalmologist can CERF your dogs eyes. You need to get your dogs eyes cerfed once a year starting at 8 weeks old. PPM (persistent papillary membrane) will sometimes go away after a dog is 9 weeks old so the only true way to see if a dog has PPM is to CERF at 8 weeks. This is a hereditary condition. COST: Most Ophthalmologist charge $15.00 to $25.00 per dog. Some clinics charge $45.00 for the first 3 and $15.00 for each dog afterwards. Procedure: The doctor will dilate the dogs eyes and examine them with an instrument that magnifies the retina etc. The procedure is painless and usually takes less than 5 minutes. He then fills out your CERF paper with the normal or abnormal eyes noted. Then you need to mail it to:
vWD: vWD is a bleeding disorder. This test will tell you if your dog is borderline carrier, carrier or normal and free of the disease. This is a blood test. There is a very special procedure for this test including special tubes for blood collection and possible freezing or special shipping instructions. Your vet needs to call Cornell before performing the test to find out if they have the right tubes and supplies to perform the test. This is a one time test and can be done at any age but needs to not be done a month before or after a bitch is in heat. Preferably it should be done before the dog has even had any vaccinations, around 7 weeks old. Here is the address and phone number for Cornell:
Thyroid: this test can rule out many problems that can crop up at one time or another in a French Bulldogs life. If you notice a dry, itchy sometimes pitted coat, you should have a complete thyroid panel done on your French Bulldog. The thyroid can change from one day to the next if the animal become debilitated, if a bitch is in season this will throw her thyroid levels off and would have to be tested later for a more exact level. If a male has a infection, this will throw his levels off as well. The same goes for the females. The thyroid controls a lot of body functions
including immunities etc. The thyroid test is kind of confusing because the blood gets
sent to one place but has 2 different fees and the results get sent to 2 different
places. OFA now gives a registration number for normal thyroids. But they only
require 2 or 3 tests performed. Michigan University's standard full panel
thyroid test performs 7 tests. So...when your vet sends the serum to Michigan they
need to request "The FULL Thyroid Panel" then OFA has a form that needs to be
sent with the serum with a 30 dollar extra fee, made out to OFA for Michigan
to report those 3 tests to OFA. Did that make sense? f you don't request the full
thyroid panel and the serum gets sent with OFA's form than Michigan will only perform
those 3 tests. Also, your vet needs to call OFA to get these forms, tell them to request
the patella and cardiac forms at the same time. So, to summarize, if your vet sends serum
to Michigan and the OFA form, Michigan will send the required results to OFA. You don't
have to worry about it. The address and number are: Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory Patella's: Patella's are painless and easy. They require no sedation or special testing. As a matter of fact, they can be easily done during a regular exam in an office call. The doctor simply checks the dogs knee to see if the patella is subluxated or tightly fit into the knee. He does this by lying the dog on its side and trying to slide the patella out of place. Heart: Cardiac: You do NOT need to see a cardiologist for this, a regular vet can do this. If you have any question about your dogs heart it would be a good idea to see a cardiologist. If your vet listens to your dogs heart and signs it xxxx DVM then OFA puts a "P" behind your registration number meaning a practitioner performed the exam. The vet just listens for abnormalities in the heart and makes note of them on the OFA form. GeneSearch
- DNA General Books And Services
Canine Hip Dysplasia and Other Orthopedic Problems
by Fred Lanting. Practical Genetics for Dog Breeders by Willis. Genetics Of The Dog by Willis. Successful Dog Breeding - The Complete Handbook Of Canine Midwifery by Walkowitz and Wilcox.
Publications
Breeding Services And Supplies
Canine Cryobank International Canine Genetics (ICG) |
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