Willows 2021 Litter

Put simply this means that both parents of a puppy have been tested for the disease and the result of each parent is normal. Normal meaning that both parents are free from the mutant gene responsible for the disease, and therefore, the puppies will not become afflicted by or carry the disease. However, puppy buyers should note that in order to legally claim a puppy is Normal by Parentage History (sometimes referred to as Clear by Parentage) several conditions must be in place and it is in the puppy buyers best interest to ensure that the documentation and paperwork are in place:

1. Both parents must be normal and in the case of Fanconi Syndrome this must be by the ‘direct test’. Normal by the linkage marker test resulting in a probable result  (‘probable normal/clear’) cannot be used in a ‘clear by parentage’ scenario. The word probable is indicative of the fact that the linkage marker test does not test for the precise mutant gene responsible for a condition. Linkage marker tests invariably give inaccurate results.
2. Both parents must be DNA profiled (DNA fingerprint) – the DNA certificates should be available for buyers to review.
3. The dog in question must be DNA profiled (DNA fingerprint)
4. The dog in questions’ parentage must be proven by DNA. Research by the American Kennel Club found that (across all breeds) 10% of sires were not the sires of the dog in question noted on pedigree documentation; often a non-witnessed mating with another dog had taken place either before or after the desired mating was witnessed.  In the case of Normal by Parentage History, the verification of parentage certificate should be available for puppy buyers to view.

In short, accidental matings unbeknown to the owner can and do take place. This means that it is possible for a litter to be sired by a dog other than the one intended by the breeder. This unwitnessed mating might be one that is most undesirable for the health outcomes for the puppies. A female may also be mated by multiple  sires and successfully deliver puppies sired from such a multiple mating. DNA profiling of each puppy for parentage is the only certain method to ensure (where as mentioned below, DNA tests are available) that there are no unexpected health issues.

Desirable and Undesirable Matings?
To maintain genetic diversity it is important, especially in a breed with a relatively small gene pool, not to discard carriers of recessive diseases from the breeding pool. A desirable mating is one where the health outcomes for puppies are positive. A carrier can be mated to a normal or even an affected safely, without the offspring having the potential to be afflicted for the disease.  However, mating a carrier to a carrier, carrier to affected or affected to affected does have the potential to produce the disease in the puppies and these breeding combinations should be avoided and are therefore undesirable.  In the case of recessive disease both parents must carry the disease for it to be produced in the puppies. One can imagine the outcome if that accidental or non witnessed mating was between two carriers. Without DNA profiling each puppy no one would be any the wiser, until that is, a puppy unexpectedly produced the symptoms. Tambuzi provides puppy buyers with proof of parentage - this ensures some certainty and confidence to puppy buyers that (where there are DNA tests available) there will be no unexpected health issues.