Nicki
Moderator
I was talking to a breeder earlier this week, who does MRI scan her breeding dogs and bitches for Syringomyelia. She is trying to encourage as many breeders as possible to scan, as at present, this is the best way available to reduce the incidence of affected dogs.
A friend of hers who breeds wholecolours was reluctant to scan. She recently had a litter of puppies, and had quite a few enquiries for them. Several of the enquirers asked if the parents had been MRI scanned - sadly they hadn't, but due to these enquiries, this lady is keeping a couple of pups from the litter and running them on to 6 months, when they will be scanned...hopefully they will be clear and will then go into her breeding program.
I think the message here is very clear...we all need to be asking for the parents of our puppies to be MRI scanned...the breeders will then be encouraged to do this.
I know it's expensive and access to facilities is limited, but breeders can and are putting pressure on breed clubs to help fund lower cost MRI schemes. I think many puppy buyers will also be prepared to pay a higher price for puppies coming from scanned parents.
A friend of hers who breeds wholecolours was reluctant to scan. She recently had a litter of puppies, and had quite a few enquiries for them. Several of the enquirers asked if the parents had been MRI scanned - sadly they hadn't, but due to these enquiries, this lady is keeping a couple of pups from the litter and running them on to 6 months, when they will be scanned...hopefully they will be clear and will then go into her breeding program.
I think the message here is very clear...we all need to be asking for the parents of our puppies to be MRI scanned...the breeders will then be encouraged to do this.
I know it's expensive and access to facilities is limited, but breeders can and are putting pressure on breed clubs to help fund lower cost MRI schemes. I think many puppy buyers will also be prepared to pay a higher price for puppies coming from scanned parents.