HEALTH

The overall health of the Dobermann is very good. The average lifespan, is not so good averaging 9 years of age. Fresh genes from new bloodlines with easy access to European bloodlines now available to introduce hybrid vigour, this may be slowly improving. The average lifespan of Aritaur Dobermanns is 10.95

In Europe, dogs and bitches must pass a ZTP (or equivalent according to their country) ~ Fit for Breeding Test in order for their progeny to be registered. The ZTP includes health tests on Hips, Eyes and Heart and the dog must pass a character test. Only dogs and bitches who pass a ZTP can become Champions. Although the scheme does have it's drawbacks, there are unfortunately no such restrictions on breeding and registering from untested animals in the UK. Therefore a dog with severe heart problems, Hip Dysplasia, Von Willebrands Disease, who is going blind from PHPV could become a Champion and be widely used as a stud dog. Some breeders who like to see some 'red' (denoting Championship status) on their pedigrees, could take their (untested) bitches to a (untested) Champion, produce a fine litter on paper, but the puppies could suffer serious health problems. Kennel Club registration is not an indicator of the true quality of a dog as puppy farmers are still registered by the KC. Dobermann puppies could cost a great deal more money in the short term. There are still breeders who don't care about health testing. The Accredited Breeder Scheme was put in place by the KC as a means to ensuring Accredited Breeders (anyone can be - even if you have not bred a litter before), health tested their breeding animals. Unfortunately we are aware of at least two of the most prominent Dobermann kennels who have joined the ABS, but who are abusing the system by failing to health test. Until this is rectified, we will not be applying to join the scheme as our policies considerable outweigh those of ABS members.

Aritaur is one of the foremost health testing Dobermann kennels in the UK. We test AND PUBLISH all results from our dogs whether shown or not. The law of averages dictates that there will be good test results and poor. We sincerely believe in health testing and will never knowingly sell a puppy with serious health problems. However, we also feel equally as strongly that to remove a top quality dog from the gene pool due to one poor test if all other health aspects are excellent is detrimental. If the dog is a superb example of breed type, has an outstanding character and otherwise excellent health, to remove him or her would be idealistic and would utlimately result in no Dobermanns being bred!

There are breeders currently selling puppies for £800 + whose parents have not had one health test. No-one can test for cancer, but we can all do our best to test for those diseases we can identify and act rationally and logically on them. Our only exceptions to that above, are that we will never compromise on DCM or to breed a dog who may bleed from VWd. Other tests remain highly variable without factual definition.

VWd is an recessive bleeding disorder (similar to haemophillia) where the blood fails to clot. There is a specific DNA test now available (Finnzymes - Finland). There are 3 status' ~ clear, carrier and affected. The chart below details possible breeding pair combinations in order to reduce the significance of the disease in a breed. There is no risk in producing carrier animals (eliminating a large proportion of those dogs from a breeding pool in the short term is extremely deleterious to the breed). Carriers cannot bleed or suffer from VWd complications. All our dogs at home are tested for Von Willebrands Disease. We have mostly clear and some carrier animals in our kennels and will not knowingly breed to produce affected animals. Just because a dog is affected, it does not mean they will necessarily bleed. Bleeding depends on other health situations and the levels of Von Willebrands 'factor' in the blood.

Breeding Pair Combinations for eradication of Von Willebrands Disease

                    Clear Male           Carrier Male                    Affected Male

 Clear Female    100% clear            50/50 carrier/clear              100% carrier

 Carrier Female  50/50 carrier/clear   25/50/25 clear/carrier/affected  50/50 carrier/affected

 Affected Female 100% carrier          50/50 carrier/affected           100% affected

Ideal Breeding Pair : Puppies will not have the disease gene either as carrier or affected

Breeding is Safe: No affected puppies will be produced. However, some or all puppies will be carriers. Accordingly, it is recommended that carrier dogs which are desirable for breeding, be bred with clear dogs in the future, which will produce 50% carrier dogs, and 50% clear animals, to further reduced the disease gene frequency. These offspring should be tested for this defective gene, and if appropriate (alongside other considerations), only the clear animals in this generation should be used.

High Risk Breeding : Some puppies are likely to be carriers, and some puppies are likely to be affected. Even though it is possible that there will be some clear puppies when breeding carrier to carrier, in general, neither this type of breeding pair nor carrier to affected are recommended for breeding.

Breeding Not Recommended : All puppies will be medically affected. It is estimated that around 70% of dobes in the UK are carriers. The only option for breeding from an affected animal, is to a clear animal as the ultimate goal has to be to produce clear animals. However, each time a dog is eliminated from a breeding program it minimizes the genepool. The purebred population of a breed cannot afford to downsize their population - ie choice of mate by avoiding carrier animals completely, as other serious problems would quickly arise by restricting breeding to a small selection of only clear dogs. If a small genepool of affected animals is frequently bred from, the lower the clotting factor in the offspring therefore producing greatly increased risk of bleeding.

We will never knowingly breed to produce a VWd affected puppy. Before DNA testing was available we produced a VWd affected bitch. She is now coming up 9 years old and apparently has remarkable clotting actor, but it is not something we would like to risk again. Some years ago, we were considering using semen from a dog in the US, however, they had a huge VWd problem I spoke to Mary Rodgers (the world famous breeder of Marienburgs Dobermanns) for her advice and she said "I must have put VWd Affected to VWd Affected so many times, but it's hard for me to get excited about something I've never had a problem with". It's not something we would want to risk and fortunately we only produce Clear or Carriers, but it does show the value of real experience over breeding by numbers.

Click HERE for Aritaur VWd results

Hypothyroidism is a hormonal disorder of a lack of thyroid hormone in the Dobermann, usually occurring around 2-5 years of age. Symptoms can be lethargy, hair loss (usually bilateral on the flanks) and coarseness of the hair, and obesity. Dogs who are affected will be lethargic, feel the cold and often shiver, huddling close to a source of warmth. Diagnosis is by means of a blood test. Treatment is by means of a daily dose of Thyroxine for life. There may be a link between onset Hypothyroidism, Auto Immune and 'Acquired' VWd. However, this appears not to be 'true' VWd, possibly another bleeding disorder prompted by the above. At this stage it is pure supposition, but it does demonstrate the need for wider Hypothyroidism testing.

Do not just dismiss Thyroid as an irrelevant test or condition. Thyroid affects everything from mood to fertility and other organ failure and has (in one UK bloodline ofwhich we are aware), caused the dog to die. One previously Top Breeder currently offers a dog he bred, who receives daily thyroxine medication for his clinical hypo-thyroidism, at stud, obviously not caring how many of his offspring he may afflict with the disease.

A dog may be clinically clear of hypo (producing insufficient thyroid hormone) or hyper (too much) thyroid-ism, but may be genetically affected - Canine Thyroglobulin Autoantibodies (TgAA). For some years, we have tested our breeding bitches and stud dogs for TgAA - in order not to pass the problem onto progeny. It is not therefore acceptable to just test and claim your dogs are free from clinical symptoms if you are a breeder/stud dog owner. An estimated 80% of cases of canine hypothyroidism result from heritable autoimmune (lymphocytic) thyroiditis. The presence of elevated TgAA levels confirms thyroiditis and promotes early recognition of the disorder

Hopefully those who copy much of our web content will understand this, and whilst we do not object to you copying health data, this might help you avoid the issue in your breeding programmes which you currently do not and unless you start over, you cannot!

Click HERE for Aritaur Thyroid and TgAA results

This subject has become of great interest to us, having produced some unexpected high scores on superbly moving animals. How can a dog who moves so perfectly and never shows any sign of aching or pain, have a score which everyone suggests is synonymous with hip dysplasia? We therefore did a great deal of research to discover if we had more of a problem than anyone else or if the supposed* 'average' UK score of 10 was, truly reflective of the state of the breed? We reviewed statistics, talked to other breeders (in different breeds - few Dobe breeders test to our extent and no others publish their 'poor' scores, only their good - that is if their vets are ever allowed by their clients to send them off - who can really blame them when they are afraid of a backlash), and spoke with Jeff Sampson, Geneticist at the KC and AHT and Malcolm Willis, Geneticist (Ret) for the BVA. We did our thorough research and did not act on hearsay or on a minute sample of the breed population. We didn't just follow blindly as many do saying 'that's the score and we should stick to it.' (If that was the case everyone would still be eating BSA burgers - be'cause we were told by the government it was ok!)

FACTS: *With an average of 3,000 registrations annually, and around 30 dogs scored annually, 1% is wholly insufficient to gain a true average. Considering how few breeders/owners test, and that some breeders will not let the vet submit any poor results to the BVA, it is unsurprising that the UK has such an apparently low and stable score average.The BVA state that: "Breeders wishing to reduce the risk of HD should select their breeding stock (both dogs and bitches) only from animals with hip scores well below the Breed Mean Score. Many clinically sound dogs may have high HD scores and should not therefore be used for breeding". Ideal in theory, but reducing the gene pool of otherwise healthy dogs by removing a dog with one comparatively 'poor' score wouldn't leave us with many decent dogs from which to choose, and in the current state of affairs, probably only a handful of stud dogs as so few test. It may very well be that those handful of dogs have other far worse problems, indeed.

Why then, would we consider using a dog with a 'high' hip score?

It is uncommon to see severe dysplasia in Dobermanns. HD is primarily hereditary, although environmental factors such as a high protein diet and over exercise in puppies may play a large part in the development of the disease. X-Rays can be carried out usually from one year of age. The mode of inheritance of Hip Dysplasia is unknown, as identifying the gene marker responsible for HD is not currently possible given the variable scores of each factor. The pelvis and surrounding area is also taken into consideration on the overall score. Parents with excellent scores can produce progeny with very poor scores - ie two GSD brothers we knew of who were raised in the same household, on the same diet with the same environmental factors. Parents were 0:2 and 2:2, grandparents were 1:0, 2:1, 1:0 and 3:2, produced the brothers - one was scored at 2:2, the other at 86. Malcolm Willis, the internationally respected geneticist produced a BMD litter with two siblings - one scored at a total of 8, the other at 88. He later repeated the mating. In any breeding programme it is the overall health status which is fundamental to good breeding. Generally higher scoring parents produce a higher average. Generally the higher the score, the higher probability of clinical signs of the disease in the dog. Scoring is not an exact science. Is 15; 20; 25; 30; 40, 50 a 'bad' score? There is no figure at which anyone can state that a dog becomes clinically dysplastic. As Jeff Sampson, KC Geneticist himself says; "the Sussex Spaniel has an average score of 45, but the breed will work all day and rarely develop osteo-arthritis". Lab Retrievers have just reduced their breed average down to 15 from 16. All the effort to reduce the AVERAGE down by just one fraction is not eradicating the disease.

Aritaur have had excellent scores and poor scores. Rather than turn a blind eye and ignore results, we will continue to score our dogs to enable us to identify any real issues we have from the dogs we breed from. Regrettably one silly girl who had a dog from us who had a poor score, recently suggested that we "have a problem with hips". It is interesting how much focus there is about hips, yet how few breeders and owners score! Such comments are what causes most people not to test, because they are afraid of something imperfect being discovered on their dogs (preferring to live in blissful ignorance). According to Jeff Sampson, "we have no more of a problem than anyone else - some people focus on the negative - but the more research you do, the more things you unearth which can make you look like you have a problem". A healthy breeding line is not one which relies on just two dogs in the kennel having a good result.

Today, we had three results back. Chelsea on 2:2, Tess on 5:4 and Ella on 13:13. The breed average in our kennel from the 14 dogs tested to date is 15 out of a total possible score of 106. Our range is is averaged on the basis of dogs scores 4, (2:2) to 39 (19:20). The dog with 39 moves just as well as the dog with 2:2 and his daughter has been scored at 3:4. It is know that nutrition and early exercise has a large effect on hips. Whilst it can’t of course alter the shape of the socket, the degree of laxity could be altered. The Americans work on a system of Penn Hip Scoring which does measure exactly that, the degree of laxity. Two UK vets now offering the PennHip, we would recommend Mike Guillard at Nantwich Veterinary Hospital.

Talking with another Top Breeder for many years of a large breed which has has it's fair share of HD problems, I asked if he tested his dogs. Emphatically no, was the answer. One of his reasons was that for over 40 years, Germany have strictly refused to allow any dog scoring over the breed average to be bred from. The result there is that his breed in Germany "is a disaster, with cow hocked dogs, so straight behind they're walking on stilts who look like they are in pain when they move". This experienced breeder has seen no correlation between high scores and poor movement which should be the defining factor in assessing dysplasicity.

Between 1984 and 1991, the BVA only sent score results over to the KC for publishing of scores below a total of 8! Apparently the release forms only allowed the BVA to send for publishing scores 8 or below - presumably so owners weren't embarassed with high scores, but the breed ‘average’ score is therefore only since 1991 – around 822 dogs. To put that in perspective, 31, 654 GSD’s were scores in the same period with an average score of 19. 37, 440 Lab Retrievers have been scored with an average result of 16. That sort of sample we can believe in. 822 we can’t.
Gary Johnson at the KC informed me that Lab Retrievers have now reduced their average score to 15. However, despite the numbers tested, high scorers - the 'outlyers' are being produced. A one point reduction out of a possible 106!!!!! That's it!

Although Jeff Sampson stated that a plate scoring 10 can be re-assessed again and return a score of 15, if idealists were heeded, they would eliminate all dogs scoring over 10 (even those at 11 one presumes?), all dogs who are carriers of VWd, (although they can't bleed), all dogs with low thyroid, those with an imperfect shoulder layback, light eyes, bad movement, flat feet, low croup etc etc. And how many dogs will be left?! Perhaps the ones with defective characters. Not for us thanks. Fred Lanting writes about the Penn Hip method: "While the hip-extended position is best for discovering DJD (Degenerative Joint Disease - real hip problems), it is not best for uncovering latent laxity, or what I call "covert laxity". False-negative means that a passing grade is given because the true laxity was not observed, and that is the biggest drawback of the hip-extended methods worldwide. There are some individuals (usually of certain giant mastiff-family breeds) that do not develop DJD but are OFA-assessed as dysplastic because of laxity at two years' age. But even more importantly, there are a greater number of dogs of other breeds that are adjudged "normal" at one or two years but later develop DJD or produce an unacceptably high percentage of dysplastic descendants.
Thus, the accuracy of the hip-extended methods is gravely flawed. The gene pool is hurt most by these false negative diagnoses".

Click HERE to see Aritaur hip results.