The Importance of proper health testing in Japanese Akitainu breeding dogs

Most people are completely unfamiliar with what proper health testing actually means, some people assume that health tested dogs are somehow immune to every possible health issue that could develop in their life, while others believe that health tested means the dog got an Embark DNA test and it was health checked by their regular vet.

If you are also a dog enthusiast or a beginner trying to make informed decisions this post is exactly for you!

OFA TESTING AND WHAT THIS ACTUALLY MEANS:

The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) was founded in 1966 by philanthropist John M. Olin, after his own prized working dogs were sidelined by canine hip dysplasia. Originally focusing solely on radiographic evaluations for hip dysplasia, the OFA's goal was to gather hard medical data, standardize testing protocols, and help dog owners limit debilitating joint diseases.

ITS PURPOSE IN DOG BREEDING AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE JAPANESE AKITAINU

In the dog breeding world, reputable breeders often use the OFA to test their breeding stock for breed-relevant health issues like hip and elbow dysplasia, eyes, Autoimmune Thyroiditis, patella etc. The OFA maintains an open, public database of test results. This allows both breeders and owners to track the health lineage of their dogs or prospective puppy's to avoid doubiling up on genetic defects.

The OFA formally introduced the Japanese Akitainu breed into the CHIC program when the breed entered the AKC Foudation Stock Servise (FSS) estabilishing explicit, breed-relevant testing requirements. Now, because the Japanese Akitainu gene pool is relatively small in North America, breeders heavily rely on imports from Japan and Europe (FCI) to maintain genetic diversity and avoid severe inbreeding. Overseas registries utilize different screening protocols- such as the FCI letter-grade system for hip dysplasia or the European ECVO for eye exams, instead of the standard American OFA categories.

This is why puppy buyers and preservation breeders are often unable to trace a dog's health lineage through multiple generations on the official OFA database portal, simply because those ancestors were tested under foreign systems and their passing certificates were never manually imported or back-registered into the OFA database.

Preservation breeders play a crutial part in the breed history in the US, by properly health-screening their dogs and submitting the results to the US we are not only aiming to produce healthier puppies but we are also contributing to the breed's database in the US without the OFA database it would be hard to check in general how many dogs in our breed are affected by health issues and how many are free.

Does that mean that my puppy won't develop any health issues?

The short answer is NO, IT DOES NOT MEAN YOUR PUPPY WILL NEVER DEVELOP HEALTH ISSUES.

While buying a puppy from a preservation breeder who properly health test all of their breeding dogs, drastically loweres the risk of severe hereditary diseases, it cannot completely eliminate them. Genetics are incredibly complex, and several crucial factors play a roll on a dog's health. Conditions like hip dysplasia are polygenic, meaning they are caused by a combination of genetics, and strenuous exercise or injury during puppyhood, other breed-relevant health issues like Sebaceous Adenitis (SA), Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) there are currently NO predictive DNA test for SA or VKH, a dog could potentially produce a puppy that later on in life develops on of this health issues at no fault of the breeder.

Even health test dog's can become ill later on in life, genetic testing and OFA testing also does not prevent or track common health issues like Liver Shunt, Cancer, Food Intolerances, Dermatitis, Pancreatitis, Chronic Kidney Disease etc...

So, no breeder on earth could offer you or anyone a guarantee that your dog will never develop any health issues for the rest of its life. If they do, either they do not fully understand what this statement means or they are they to scam you into buying a puppy with them.

It's extremely important to have an open conversation with your breeder, ask what type of health-testing they do on their dogs, ask to see their health results and ask what exactly they mean for your puppy.

Link to the Japanese Akitainu OFA database: JAPANESE AKITAINU

Link to the OFA Japanese Akitainu chich requirements: JAPANESE AKITAINU

Anne Vitoria M. Arnold