Tips | KanDew Yorkies

Helpful Tips & Topics

Keep the Puppy Culture experience going for your puppy

Questions To Ask Any Breeder

When choosing a breeder, you should feel comfortable working with them and confident that they will be available for you should you have questions or problems now or in the future. You are entrusting your puppies health and happiness to this person. Do not pick the first cute puppy that you run across, the puppy with the saddest story, or the smallest sick puppy because you feel sorry for it. Take a little time to find the right breeder and they will help you find the right puppy. The right puppy is worth the wait.

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Health Screening

Confused about all the talk about Health Screening?

Ask your breeder exactly what health screenings they performed.

Routine Health Care

VETERINARY CHECK-UP

* Can Be performed by any veterinarian.

* When available, reproductive specialists are the gold standard for care for breeding animals.

* A general exam will tell you if the sire/dam are of overall good health.

* A breeding exam will tell you if the dam/sire are expected to be physically capable of producing a litter.

*Breeding specific testing, such as Brucellosis Testing can assure you that the dam/sire are not carrying the disease and are healthy to breed. This should be performed when using animals outside your own breeding program.

* Veterinarians do not specialize in the breed standard of each breed and do not generally know what is considered a good breeding candidate to maintain the parent club written standard.

* Clearance by a veterinary health check-up barely brushes the surface and lets you know a dog is healthy, not whether or not it should be a breeding candidate.

DNA Testing For Inherent Conditions & Traits

GENETIC HEALTH SCREENING

* There are several companies offering Genetic Health Screening. I use Embark and therefore that is what I am the most familiar.

* This is a fairly new science and is changing rapidly. More tests and traits are being added as they become available.

* The purpose is to look at any possible conditions or traits the breeding pair may pass on to offspring.

* Of specific interest to Yorkshire Terriers are:

Primary Lens Luxation

Progressive Retinal Atrophy, prcd

* There are over 200 markers in a panel screen but not all are relevant to Yorkshire Terriers. This is not an all inclusive list, but other notable items can be:

Degenerative Myelopathy, DM

Dilated Cardiomyopathy, DCM1

Copper Toxicosis

Proportionate Dwarfism

* Testing allows breeders to select safe clear/clear or clear/carrier pairs. Two carriers of any given genetic trait should not be breed.

Orthopedic Foundation For Animals

OFA TESTING & REGISTRATION

* Promotes and records health testing results.

* Testing is performed by private licensed veterinarians.

* After completion of breed recommended testing, which varies by breed, The Canine Health Information Center number is assigned. Each dog has an individual CHIC number.

* Testing and registration is voluntary.

* Records are made public.

The recommended health screeings for Yorkshire Terriers are:

ACVO Eye exam (1 year, 3 years, 6 years)

Patellar Luxation (knees)

Does The Registry Really Matter?

Yes, it does!

There are three registries in the US and there is a clear difference.

Here is my unofficial take on the three.

Purebred Registry

AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB

Founded in 1884

* Has a strict registration policy of only AKC registered dogs with a proven pedigree.

* Dogs must be purebreds produced by registered parents.

* Dogs can have a registered DNA profile that proves lineage.

* Focuses on conformation of breed standards as set by the individual breed clubs.

* Does kennel inspections and breeder education & emphasizes ethical breeding.

* Promotes public education, sponsors The Canine Health Foundation, promotes conformation & sporting events.

Purebred & Mixed Breed Registry

CONTINENTAL KENNEL CLUB

Founded in 1991

* Has relaxed registration requirements, and will register dogs without pedigrees.

* Will register dogs as purebred with a picture and statement that the dog is purebred.

* Will register any mixed breed dog and does not register DNA profiles.

* Founded by breeders who could not register their dogs with the AKC or UKC.

* Does not perform kennel inspections or breeder education.

Purebred Registry

UNITED KENNEL CLUB

Founded in 1898

* Registers dogs with UKC & AKC registration but not recognize CKC registrations.

* Dogs must be purebreds produced by registered UKC or AKC parents.

* Does not keep a DNA profile registry for verification of parentage.

* Focuses on performance sports instead of breed standard conformation.

* Does not perform kennel inspections or breeder education.