| Icelandic Sheepdogs in Canada |
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| Icelandic Sheepdogs Health Information Overall Health of the Icelandic Sheepdog is a very postive thing indeed, most of the time within my own kennel and for my puppy owners, we only see the vet for our regular check ups. However like all dogs there are common health issues that effect the dog population as a whole and because the ISD is a small rare breed population, some known health issues effect the breed as a whole and some known health issues effect family lines. The most common thing that effects the Icelandic Sheepdog is Hip Dysplasia, this is a whole breed issue, there is HD in all the different family lines of ISD world-wide. We see a much lower rate of HD in OFA then what you see breed wise in the other countries that test their breeding dogs, this is because of two main reasons. The first being that in Canada or United States, we as breeders can choose to send in our X-rays or not.. So if you can clearly see HD in your dog, there is no reason to send in the X-ray for a extra cost to have it confirmed. The Second Reason is that in OFA, you can check a box that means that any Negative results are not published, this means that even if the person did want to know the rating of the HD, they can just check the box and no one else will know that the dog is tested. In Iceland and Europe, if they take the X-Ray it gets sent in and the results get published.. This means that the overall HD rates seen in Europe/Iceland reflect a much more "Real" picture of the true HD rates, then our own N.A stats do. When looking for a Icelandic Sheepdog Puppy for adoption, and you are talking to the breeder, its a good idea to ask them if the parent dogs are HD free, thats always a good thing, but the true telling question for me, is to ask your breeder what the overall family index is, and if they tell you that the "line" is HD free (parents/grandparents etc) ask them to break down the family index and if they can't, I would personally worry, because it means they are looking only at the direct line dogs, and they are missing the big picture, which included, siblings/half siblings/ aunt/uncles, and Great Aunts/Uncles, because if you look at the whole family, there are NO HD free lines, there is always someone that has something, and as a knowledgeable breeder, they should know and understand what a family index is and have a idea of what the odds for HD within any given breeding and litter. So going to address one of my biggest pet peaves when it comes to Icelandic Sheepdogs and HD, and that is the common statement I see- that because the ISD is a smaller breed that they are not effected by their HD. This personally upsets me greatly! I live with a ISD that has Moderate HD, and she is effected by it, and I see the issues daily. While we need to understand that "some" ISD may not be effect by mild or borderline HD, Moderate or worse HD does effect the dogs and we should work as breeders to try as much as possable to not produce puppies that will be affected. Eye Health within the Icelandic Sheepdog Overall, the eye health within the Icelandic Sheepdog is excellent, I think as a breed we are very lucky to have such great eyes. To the best of my knowledge, I was the first Icelandic Sheepdog Breeder in Canada to start CERF testing my dogs and as far as I know, I was the first breeder in Canada to start CERF testing their litters and I have a large database on the eye health of my lines, and while I have found things, overall the stats are clear, in regards to issues that effect the life quality of the ISD, I have only found one to date. (This dog was Altered and is a loving pet, livng a normal life with limited vision in one eye) While a few thing have been found worldwide, truly when you look at the stats, there is very little issue within the breed as whole in regards to eye health. I personally at this time, given the fact that I have generations of results on my own lines and having access to fellow Canadian Data, don't feel that we have eye health issues within canada at this time.. I will continue to test all my breeding dogs and my litters and track the eye health of my lines. My puppy owners get a photo copy of their puppies CERF exam so that they can see for themselves that puppies results. I do not pay extra to have my results posted online, I don't see the point personally, when I have a hard paper copy in my own records. Information on other health Related Issues Allergies This is rare within the breed but I have seen reports on the breed related yahoo groups with some dogs having issues with allergies, and needing to be given special diets to deal with the issues. Issues with Anentesia This one is not as rare, both myself, my puppy owners and fellow breeders that I work with, that seen that the dogs can have trouble coming out of anentesia, it seems to take the dogs longer to deal with the effects of the drugs then it should, and in my own puppies, have had one pup who's heart stopped on the table, (was restarted but scary) and one pup that had seizures after being put under quite deeply for his alter, and while it can be proven, its is considered a factor, as when when this dog grew up, he did not continue to have Seizures. I highly recommend that you don't put your ISD under for yearly teeth cleaning or unnessary surgery's and to watch your dogs carefully afterwards. Please let me know if you have any issues in this regards. Heart Murmurs Thankfully this is very rare both in my own kennel and breed-wise. I have been thrilled to have only one puppy over the years that had a heart murmur.. and it was mild enough for the puppy to grow up and have a normal life. Dilute Coat Color Factors There are a number of health issues that are linked to the Dilute genes, but in truth, I am unaware at this time of any Icelandic Sheepdogs being effected by this.. I have seen some dilute dogs that have allergies but is that dog related, line related or coat color related? Not enough info available yet to say. Certainly something to keep a watch on. White Coat Pattern Deafness Like most breeds that work with the White factor Genes, if you breed to much white on your dogs, you increase the chances of Deafness in the puppies. We have had proven white ISD puppies that are Certified Deaf The odds of Deafness increase with pure white ears, however even siblings that have colored ears are at a increased risk Deafness if both parents are pied being breed together, and in our breed if you add in the white face factors, it appears that the combo of the two produce unwanted results. If you are looking for a puppy, and its pied or extreme peid, the breeder should! talk to you about the possabilty of hearing issues in puppies with total white heads or total white ears, and if they don't bring up, I hope you will, and if they don't know anything about it.. might be time to look elsewhere or at least know you are taking a risk..The higher the white factor(the less color on the body) the higher the chances of a issue. Crypotorchidism This is common in our dogs, we have a higher rate within our breed then most breeders worldwide, its not really a issue in the sense of our pet puppies, other then our males will cost more to alter like a female as the retained testicle needs to be removed. There is a slight increased risk of cancer if you don't alter the dog at a young age on a retained testicle, but if the surgery is performed on time, there is really no higher risk at that point. No male icelandic sheepdog who is lacking a testicle should be used for breeding, as they will pass it to their offspring, including the females who become carriers. |