Thought you might be interested in how we do PRA testing here in Oz. We use mouth swabs, the dogs must be positively identified (i.e. chipped or tattooed, mostly chipped), the swabbing must be done by an "authorised collector" (all vets and anybody else that has applied and been granted authorisation - they must have been trained in the collection protocols), people are not allowed to do their own dogs.
When the samples are tested, they are automatically DNA profiled as well, so any "funny business" or mistakes will become apparent very quickly. A Clear By Parentage certificate will only be issued where the dog in question and both its parents have been DNA profiled, so the parentage issue cannot be questioned. As the PRA test is a genetic mutation test, if both parents are clear/normal, then by definition the offspring (proven as such by profiling) must be clear/ normal also, except in the case of another form of PRA, which as far as we are aware doesn't occur in Labs, or in the case of a spontaneous mutation, which wouldn't be detected by this test anyway.
It's also a lot cheaper to have dogs Clear By Parentage, as the DNA profiling of the dog you want cleared costs only $65; the cost of the PRA test is $204.
I know that it's not yet common practice to positively identify your dogs in the UK, so maybe this way won't work for you yet. We have had to ID our dogs for hips/elbow xrays prior to breeding since 2003 and this year it is required that all dogs (and cats) are microchipped.
Regards,
Sylvia
PS Hope your arks are standing up to it and all are safe.
Mmm! You know I'm not happy with the situation Di, as we talked about it some time ago. I'm interested in Sylvia's comment, because I believe I have said in the past that maybe DNA profiling might be the way to go. Let's face it, Optigen already have the DNA sample, so it would be a simple matter to do a Profile at the same time. I realise there may be problems implimenting the scheme, a blood sample from the pups at registeration time maybe?? But food for thought. Thing is, I guess it might deter many people from testing, which would then make the whole thing counter productive.
Although I have no intention of keeping a potential 'stud' for many years / generations to come - I think I would be looking at testing every other generation even when clear by parentage. Any function that requires human intervention carries the potential for a margin of error, and I am pretty sure this is mentioned on Optigen's own website.
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because I believe I have said in the past that maybe DNA profiling might be the way to go. Let's face it, Optigen already have the DNA sample, so it would be a simple matter to do a Profile at the same time
I too am a big fan of the idea of DNA Profiling, although I must admit I hadn't considered it in relation to the health testing element, but more to do with the issue of theft.
Mandatory DNA profiling of all registered dogs, combined with a permanent ID record (ideally visible) could have a major impact on the level of dog theft but as in Oz, could be very beneficial from a health perspective as well - particularly as the genes for increasing numbers of genetic conditions are isolated
I'm not one to know much about this Optigen testing but as someone looking into getting a pup next year, I'm quite paranoid about all the health testing.
My thoughts are that 1st generation 'clear by parentage' would be acceptable, but would be wary of any generation after that. I'm particularly interested in getting a fox red lab and I believe the gene pool carries a much bigger risk in this line.
A great post, Sylvia! really interesting to learn about the approach in Ozzy land
I think that here in the UK, it might be sensible to do the optigen test on every 3rd. generation of 'cleared by parentage'. Just as with so many other breeding issues, the only control carried out are 'self control' which means that, again, it is wide open for dishonest people
I had two dogs tested recently and opted for the mouth swap (saved me £50 PER DOG!). My dogs are chipped but, God, it would still have been so easy to cheat. And then another issue is of course also risk of contamination of DNA from both human and other dogs if you're not careful...
Agree Natasha on the mouth swabs and corss contamination / cheating. i took a firm stand on it and will only be accepting blood sampels for my 20/20 in August. I might lose a few for it, but I just don't like the mouth swab route, and so have to vote with my feet I suppose
Di
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The boys!
Read: Wylanbriar Dog Blog on the website: Updated! 1st February 12´!
Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:17 pm Post subject: clear?
recently northumberland and durham labrador retreiver club had jeff sampson the kc geneticist come to the north east to give a seminar re optigen and forthcoming genetic tests .
one fact which stood out above all others re testing was that 15% of kc registrations are thought to be incorrect re parentage he went on to state about cases where a yellow dog and a yellow bitch were supposed to have produced a litter of black pups.he regularly gets involved in disputes about parentage wher the sire has to be decided by dna testing.
in fact a guy who runs a choc lab in working tests here in the north east has been involved in a court case re the sire of his dog suposedly a famous ftch from one of the uks leading kennels.the seller of the pups had not used the stud dog he claimed on the paperwork of the dam of this pup,case settled in the owners favour.
clear by parentage is fraught with problems the biggest as ever the breeders and not the dogs
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but as in Oz, could be very beneficial from a health perspective as well - particularly as the genes for increasing numbers of genetic conditions are isolated 
