GOLDEN RETRIEVER HEALTH MATTERS
Golden Retrievers are generally a very healthy breed and as long as they are fed well and exercised correctly should live long, healthy and happy lives.
The most exciting development of recent years is the ‘Give a Dog a genome’ project, an initiative launched by the Kennel Club Genetics Centre at the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, to create the UK’s largest canine genome bank which will help to improve dog health in future generations by radically increasing understanding of the canine genome, by sequencing the entire genome of a large number of different breeds.
The most up to date information can be found on the website: http://www.aht.org.uk/gdg.
Like most breeds, Golden Retrievers are subject to some genetic disorders and for some of these, health schemes organised jointly by the Kennel Club and the British Veterinary Association have been in operation for many years.
Hip Dysplasia
Golden Retrievers are subject to Hip Dysplasia and a BVA/KC scheme is in operation to assess the degree of hip dysplasia a dog has. Dogs are X-rayed and the plates are scored by a panel of specialists. This only needs to be done once in the dog’s life and it is recommended that the dog is at least 12 months of age before assessment. Each hip is assessed independently and a separate score is given for each hip (eg 8-9 = 17). Some people will quote the combined score (17) and some the score for each side (8-9). The best score you can get is 0-0 (which is very, very rare); and the worst is 53-53 (also very, very rare). The average score for the breed is a cumulative score of just under 20.
It is recommended that ……..
Elbow Dysplasia
This is a relatively new scheme that was introduced: breeders are increasingly using it but some may have had their breeding stock checked and some not. This entails X-raying the dogs elbows and submitting the plates to a panel of specialists for assessment. A score is given for each elbow from 0 to 3: 0 being completely ‘Clear’; and 3 being badly ‘Affected’. The current recommendation is that ………..
Hereditary Eye Disease
There are various conditions that Golden Retrievers are susceptible to, some more serious than others: eg Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) and Glaucoma can be blinding, whilst Hereditary Cataract (HC) may not necessarily be too damaging? However, both of these conditions are sight affecting and no dog with these conditions should be bred from.
There are some other conditions which are not sight affecting but which are also included in an Eye screening examination, eg Multifocal Retinal Dysplasia (MRD) and Post Polar Cataract (PPC).
Again there is a BVA/KC Scheme for ‘Eyes’ and breeders are strongly recommended to use this. There is also a European Scheme in operation and dogs may be assessed under this scheme.
More information on these Canine Health Schemes can be found on the BVA website:
https://www.bva.co.uk/Canine-Health-Schemes/.
Above all else, please remember that a Golden Retriever's temperament is its biggest asset and that is the most important point of all!
