Health Testing

I feel strongly that health testing should be done on all dogs that are going to be used for breeding. Breeding should be done only to improve the breed.

For this reason, I test my Danes for these genetic abnormalities. The advantage of my dog being a purebred is that there tends to be a select group of hereditary issues that may arise. Responsible breeders like myself can take some action to prevent those genetic problems from occurring in future dogs.

Below is a summary of some of the testing common in the health testing field for the Great Dane Breed.

CHIC - Canine Health Information Center - http://www.caninehealthinfo.org

In short, CHIC is a database of consolidated health screening results from multiple sources. Co-sponsored by the OFA and the AKC Canine Health Foundation, CHIC works with parent clubs to identify health screening protocols appropriate for individual breeds. Dogs tested in accordance with the parent club established requirements, that have their results registered and made available in the public domain are issued CHIC numbers.

Great Danes receive a CHIC number when they have completed testing for Hip Dysplasia, Eye Clearance, Autoimmune Thyroiditis, Congenital Cardiac Database.

KEEP IN MIND: Just because a dog has a CHIC number does NOT mean it PASSED the testing, but simply completed and submitted the testing results. Make sure and check the individual test results!

PennHIP - University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program - http://pennhip.org

PennHIP is a multifaceted radiographic technology (x-ray) for hip evaluation. The technique assesses the quality of the canine hip and quantitatively measures canine hip joint laxity. The PennHIP method of evaluation is more accurate than the current standard in its ability to predict the onset of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD), is the hallmark of canine hip dysplasia (CHD).

PennHIP uses a system to assign a value, or number, to the quality of the hips. In our readings and experience, we would say a PennHIP score of 0.30 or lower on both hips equates to an Excellent/Good rating from the OFA.

Hip Dysplasia - Dysplasia comes from the Greek words dys, meaning "disordered" or "abnormal", and plassein meaning "to form". The expression hip dysplasia can be interpreted as the abnormal or faulty development of the hip. Abnormal development of the hip causes excessive wear of the joint cartilage during weight bearing, eventually leading to the development of arthritis, often called degenerative joint disease or osteoarthritis. The terms DJD, arthritis and osteoarthritis are used interchangeably.

Hip Dysplasia can affect all breeds of dogs but large/giant breeds are more susceptible due to the amount of growing involved in such a short amount of time.

CERF - Canine Eye Registration Foundation - http://www.vmdb.org

The Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF) is an organization that was founded by a group of concerned, purebred owner/breeders who recognized that the quality of their dog's lives were being affected by heritable eye disease. CERF was then established in conjunction with cooperating, board certified, veterinary ophthalmologists, as a means to accomplish the goal of elimination of heritable eye disease in all purebred dogs by forming a centralized, national registry.

Cataracts - although not common, cataracts have been described in the Great Dane and can be blinding. Eyelid abnormalies (e.g. entropion) are also not unheard of in the breed. For breeding stock a CERF exam can insure that the eyes are normal in all aspects.

Hypothyroidism - in dogs is generally the result of a heritable disorder of the immune system. This condition results when the thyroid gland is not producing enough hormones to adequately maintain the dog's metabolism. Happily, it is easily treated with thyroid replacement pills. Thyroid testing (T4, TSH and autoantibodies) on breeding stock should be performed on a routine basis. Finding autoantibodies to thyroglobulin is normally an indication that the dog has autoimmune thyroiditis. Low thyroid dogs, manifested by a high TSH and a low T4, should be treated and monitored on a regular basis. Dogs with confirmed thyroid abnormalities should not be bred.

Cardiomyopathy - is suspected to be an inherited disease in the Great Dane and current (preliminary) research indicates that this disease may be sex-linked in our breed. Research is ongoing. An echocardiogram of the heart will confirm the disease but will not guarantee that the disease will not develop in the future. Regular exams on breeding stock are recommended. There are some congenital heart defects also occasionally found in the breed.