Chris, Thank you for sharing your personal experience concerning Tyler and heart clearances. How sad so many in this breed still think in black & white instead of shades of gray. I had to learn this skill and am always trying to be open and weigh the facts; and try not to let rumors cloud my judgement. Gil Jacobs, the cardiologist said in his last talk in Atlanta not to neuter or pull from the breeding program a dog that was heart clear at 3 years but at 31/2 has a murmur; they are still a breeding dog.The opposite is too restrictive and brings too many other negative traits forward. About breeding age: 1 is too young and 4 is too old. It is not realistic to expect change in 1 generation, it is genetic predisposition--impossible to wipe out since it is polygenetic. Stay the course, expect age of onset to rise. Had a 5% drop in new dogs with murmurs by age 3 from 1994-2001. By 10 years of age 80% of all cavaliers will have a murmur. Genetic breeding pool are ages 1-7 since MVD is polygenetic wise to wait and he prefers 3 years of age. Why?Worst 5% to 8% occurs by age 3--higher chance of reducing carriers of MVD by 4 years of age amplify other negative traits. All this is taken from my notes since he did not have a hand-out; the rest of the topics covered MVD treatment. Other breeders who were in attendance may want to add anything I might have overlooked. It was a very informative and based on his evaluation of new cavaliers from 1994-2001 in Atlanta COS health clinic. I hope this is helpful. Patricia Powers Pratt Cavaliers -----Original Message----- From: Chris Meager <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 7:59 PM Subject: Re: [CKCS-L] Mandatory vs Compromise
>Hi Dave and all, > I believe long time breeders have a problem with mandatory testing >because of past experience. I can speak from personal experience, many years >ago I was the proud owner and breeder of a lovely little dog named Fair Oaks >Moonspinner. He was fully tested and had all of the proper paper work. At 12 >1/2 months past his last heart exam I received a request from a well known >breeder to use him at stud and was asked if I would send him to the bitch >instead of vice versa. I agreed and also gave permission for the vet on the >other end to do a physical prior to the breeding. Poor Tyler got off the >ground minutes before a record breaking ice storm hit the East coast, he >spent over 20 hours being shuffled from airport to airport before he finally >made it to his destination. He received his physical within a few hours of >his arrival. The vet heard a noise, possibly a murmur and he was returned to >me the next day. So far, no problem, every breeder has the right to make >their own breeding decisions. However, even though I took him for a second >opinion and the concessus was that the stress of 20+ hours of travel in >horrific weather caused him to exhibit a sinus noise and not a murmur, I >begin receiving phone calls canceling his stud appointments. I had all of the >necessary paper work to prove that he had a sound heart and was told that >word had spread coast to coast about his supposed condition and no amount of >further testing could save his reputation. No one would risk being censored >by using him. I even received a 4 page letter asking me why breeders feel >they have to lie about their dogs health status. Tyler lived to past 12 and >he has children listed in the health registry. If he was the only dog >affected this way it would be a small loss to the breed, but he was only one >of many. That is truly tragic for this breed. > Not to long ago, any dog found to have a heart murmur at any age had to >be pulled from a breeding program, many of those dogs developed late murmurs >that failed to progress and lived to be quite old and some are still with us, >they were almost all neutered and genes that would now be prized are lost >forever. > Time passes and we all learn new things, I wish we could all be open >minded enough and wise enough to learn that there are no absolutes. > > Chris Meager > >========================================================= >"Magic Commands": >to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL >to start it up gain click here: >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL > > E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. >Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html > >All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author. ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
