One step (or radiograph) at a time...

I often get inquiries from clients, and breeders, on OFA (Orthopedic Foundation of America) testing and how to get started. My go-to response is to send people to crowdpleazerfrenchies.com and her blog on "Guide to Health Testing Your French Bulldog: Genetic and OFA." Heather has broken down the steps on how to get started and some common misconceptions surrounding what 'health tested' actually means.

If you haven't already, go take a peek at the Crowdpleazer blog (and don't miss her outstanding work bringing to light how color shaming our "fad color dogs" by preservationist breeders has a very murky history...), to get acquainted with DNA panels and OFA Examinations and Certifications.

One of the key takeaways from CrowdPleazer's article is how to look at the dog as a whole. Health testing (I'm speaking of not just DNA testing, but submitting radiographs to the OFA for evaluation) is a TOOL for us ethical breeders to look at the entire dog: Structure, movement, temperament and other traits that are important for the future of our breed. "Health needs to be evaluated as an entire system in combination to what the dog brings as a whole to the French Bulldog breed. You can have a health tested clear "donkey" that does not meet French Bulldog standards," she says.

For instance, if a dam owner had a spine report done on her girl, and she had a less than perfect evaluation but the rest of the dog as a whole looked great, the dam owner could choose a stud who had a stellar spine. This can be applied to any other aspect of the dog, within reason, EXCEPT temperament. A dog with a poor temperament should never be bred, in my opinion. It's not something you can easily "breed out." BUT, you can breed for better when knowing the structural integrity of your dam and sire with OFA evaluations.

It's a timely, and a bit expensive, proposition to fully health test and certify your dogs BEFORE breeding. I suggest to my clients who want to use Bucky, and haven't done any submissions on their dam (I offer a $500 reduction in his fees for any OFA or PennHip evaluations) to just start with a basic cardiac and patella exam. It costs $15 to submit to the OFA (plus vet costs & make sure your vet has an OFA account...) and I've found it to be like jumping into a cold pool. You're a little hesitant at first, but after a few laps, you're all in.

From there, once you've got the hang of how this all works, go for it! Test those hips, spine, trachea and eyes! ESPECIALLY if you have a potential stud! Think of all the offspring he will produce in his lifetime. You wouldn't want to be passing along potentially harmful genes, right? Ah, but I'm not here to shame anyone. I'm not the "Frenchie Police" - I'm here to help and to guide anyone who wants to get started on this path, just as CrowdPleazer Frenchies did for me.

So when you see an add for a cute puppy and it says "health tested and clear" make sure you're doing your homework and asking for test results. If the breeder is claiming the dog is "OFA tested" jump on the OFA database (www.ofa.org) and research the results. Study what breed standard looks like and then at the dam and sire (and the 3rd generation pedigree) of the puppy you're interested in.

Like Heather says, "The more and more breeders who do this, the easier it will become to make an informed, thoughtful, ethical decision when choosing and/or breeding your French Bulldog."

Knowledge is indeed power. Confidence is key. I'm able to look myself squarely in the eye and know I'm doing everything in my power to breed healthy dogs for my families and for the future of the breed.