I sent for another test today, Paula. I'm testing my Cluny puppy. I don't care that I haven't bred these dogs--I have to know. Upon researching the pedigrees, 2 of the dogs have similar ancestors, whereas the other 2 don't. I never want to go through the horror of DM again. My Obie (CH ptd. Landsend's Obie of Jeenellyn, CD, OFA) had to be put down in 1990 due to DM. He was 10. It was awful watching his body deteriorate, while his mind stayed keen. I WAS HIS breeder and every puppy in that litter got DM. I will not ignore the results--I will be very careful when it is time to breed the 3 bitches. They MUST be bred to DM tested CLEAR dogs. Penny in NC The Farm Dog On Mar 27, 2012, at 7:06 PM, Paula M. Cooke wrote: > Well, let's see. Care to hazard a guess at how many GSD's are > being bred? Only 1,641 have been evaluated, through December, > 2011, for the DM marker with OFA. Of those very few animals tested, > 50.8% are Normal; 17.7% are Abnormal; I assume that means that 31.5% > of those few animals tested are carriers? Not really a large enough > base to work with, statistically. I fear that most GSD's are at > least carriers, if we had more breeders testing, perhaps there would > be quite a lot of kennels sharing your same results. > > Like Mary-Anne and Deb said, this is a tool to WORK WITH! Please > don't throw the baby out with the bath water, but, > also........PLEASE DON'T IGNORE these results, like too many > breeders that I know of, are doing. This is a terrible disease, > which, with the tools we have today, could be eradicated in 2 to 3 > generations, without losing the type and attributes you are trying > to maintain and even improve upon. > > Congrats to you for testing your animals. You have more courage and > integrity than many. > > Paula, 196 days and counting > ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2011. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in any post. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org SUBSCRIPTION:http://showgsd.org/mail.html NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================