I think we also need to take into account how relevant the tests themselves are and how prevelant those diseases are in our breed. As a proud member of the GSDCA Health and Genetics committee we were asked our opinions on how we could increase participation in the program as well as what we thought of the tests themselves. I do believe the committee's recommendation to the Board contained more tests than it currently contains. I believe that hips and elbows should definitely be a requirement but I am not opposed to the elimination of thyroid and cardiac, making those optional. First, the cardiac certification only requires that the doctor hear no discernable murmur. There are heart diseases that you can not detect a murmur, so in my opinion the test's merit is in question. (BTW I have cardiac certif's on 2 of my dogs, so it's not that its an affordability issue, the cardiac certif is very cheap to get). Second, the thyroid autoantibody profile... I question this test as well. It needs to be done yearly, but I so think it has merit for some clinical disease. It does more than check for low thyroid for reproductive purposes, and it fluctuates. I question how this test maintains credibility without yearly testing and subsequent reporting. What about the DM test? I think those tests have more relevance to our breed. I guess it's in the eye of the beholder as to whether are standards have been lowered. I think parts were justified looking at those tests clinically and its too bad others weren't added but I have strong confidence they were discussed in depth and considered. Oh well. I wasn't at the meeting, and I will continue to test my dogs in the manner in which I feel is relevant. I am pleased participation will increase in general, and we also have the GSDCA Health Award of Merit to consider and be proud of. Catherine Morton LVT Mana Shepherds Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2010. 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 NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================