THACKERY'S KENNEL'SÂ DNA TESTING
Healthy Dogs Are Happy Dogs
Thackery's Kennels Performs all DNA Testing including PRA AND FN testing that is needed to ensure your dog is healthy and safe. Thackery's Kennels puppies all are sold with DNA PRA and FN clear Laboratory Certificates. PRA and FN are serious diseases, when buying your puppy from any breeder do ensure you are getting a DNA tested bloodline.
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Two Diseases in Dogs that You Must Understand
Do you know about the different types of diseases that dogs may have? This article outlines some information about diseases and other important considerations whenever you’re looking to adopt a puppy.
To ensure your dog is safe and healthy, Thackery’s Kennels Performs all required DNA testing, which also includes Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) and Familial Nephropathy (FN) testing. All puppies sold from Thackery’s Kennels meet the appropriate health and safety tests to ensure your puppy is high quality.
What are these Diseases?
PRA is a condition that is inherited by dogs. Unfortunately there are multiple dog
breedsthat are predisposed to this condition. PRA is a condition in which causes the
retina degenerates over time, and therefore a loss of vision and eventually total
blindness. Currently, there is no known treatment for PRA. There are also several
different mutation strands of PRA, and it’s not clear how it can produce different
forms.
Early signs that a dog has PRA include night blindness before moving on to day
blindness. You may not notice it in the dog immediately because they may be used to the layout of our house, know where objects are, and will not be impacted by the PRA. However, you may notice hesitations towards going into dark rooms or outside at night.
FN causes dogs to have significantly high levels of protein in their urine in young dogs. FN is caused in dogs which have a genetic defect in their glomerulus. The glomerulus is a part of the body which filters out certain proteins and objects through the kidney. Thackery’s Kennels will test all dogs for FN. The disease appears to be the most common in English Cocker Spaniels. Not all dogs are tested for this and if it were done, you could more easily identify the disease and stop it from reproducing in new puppies.
The FN disease exists when it’s passed on from the mother and father to their offspring. It can cause chronic renal and kidney failure over time. It’s very important to research and understand this disease because it could cause significant health issues in the future for your puppy. Thackery’s Kennels is trained and knowledgeable of this disease and wil ensure that the proper tests are performed to identify only healthy dogs.
Results from DNA Tests
When taking on new puppies or when new puppies are bred, they should get the test results from both tests for evaluation. The results are indicated as follows:
CLEAR: If the test results indicate clear, then the puppies do not have mutated DNA indicative of PRA or FN. This test indicates that they will not develop PRA through one known strand, GR_PRA2, but it is possible they could develop another strand of it later on in life. Unfortunately, the test cannot detect each strand due to the mutation possibilities of the disease.
CARRIER: These diseases alter the dog’s DNA into two strands, and if identified, it will mean that the dog has one copy of DNA carrying the disease, and a normal unaffected copy of DNA. This indicates that the dog does not have PRA itself, but they carry the disease in their body. Therefore, it is possible that they could pass the disease on to any offspring. In fact, there’s a 50% probability. Further, although the dog is only a carrier and the disease is not affecting the dog, it is possible that the disease could mutate in the body and affect the dog later in life.
GENETICALLY AFFECTED: If the results come back as genetically affected, the dog is sick with the disease. They will have two copies of the DNA, and one of which contains the GR_PRA2 mutation strand. Over time, it is highly likely that the dog will develop PRA and you will see the affects during their lifetime. While there is some variation, the average age of a dog with the mutation is approximately 5 years.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, these diseases exist in dogs and can impact their lives. We at Thackery’s Kennels will do everything to ensure all puppies are tested for these diseases and are clear of any of them. We hope this article has helped you make a better informed decision when looking to purchase or adopt a puppy.
Two Diseases in Dogs that You Must Understand
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