Optigen is the name of an company in America which have recently managed to find and isolate the gene that causes hereditary diasess in dogs, one of the most promanent being pracd-PRA. This means that even in pups, it is now 100% possible to tell if the pup is likely to suffer form pracd-PRA later on in life. The DNA test can be done either from a blood sample or mouth swap from the dog and you’ll recieve the result within 2-6 weeks.

The test will give you one of these three results:

Normal \ Clear The dog doesn’t have the gene and will never get pracd-PRA nor is it not possible for the dog to pass on pracd-PRA to any of it’s offspring.

Carrier The dog carries one pracd-PRA gene and will never develop pracd-PRA but will be able to pass on the gene to its offspring.

Affected The dog has pracd-PRA and is very likely to go blind. This also means that the dogs offspring will be either ‘carrier’ or ‘affected’. A dog needs to have the gene twice in order to be ‘affected’.

To find out of other tests and range of breeds they are suitable for click here.

The British Veterinary Association have a hereditary eye disease screening programme. The scoring system categorises the eyes as either ‘affected’ or ‘unaffected’ for a range of conditions. The test is only indicative of the state of the eyes at the time of screening. Some conditions may show no clinical signs until later on in life, so dogs used for breeding should be tested annually.

To read more on the eye testing click here.

Hip scoring is a procedure used to determine the degree of hip dyplasia in dogs.The hip score is the sum of the points awarded for each of nine radiographic tures of both hip joints.The British Veterinary Association uses the following criteria to determine hip score:

1. Norberg Angle
2. Subluxation
3. Cranial Acetabular Edge
4. Dorsal Acetabular Edge
5. Cranial Effective Acetabular Rim
6. Acetabular Fossa
7. Caudal Acetabular Edge
8. Femoral Head \ Neck Exostosis
9. Femoral Head Recontouring

The lower the score, the less the degree of dysplasia present. The minimum (best) score for each hip is zero and the maximum (worst) is 53, giving a range for the total of 0 to 106.

To find out the average score of your breed click here.