Lafora Testing of MWHD announced by WHDC

Post date: Feb 27, 2010 9:40:6 AM

The following announcement was released on Friday 26th Feb. 2010:

The WHDC will be arranging a saliva testing session at our Limited Show at Horspath on Saturday 27^th March, 2010. Swab samples will be taken from the mouth, and sent to Canada for testing, so results will not be available immediately.

The test will cost £50 per dog, and at first will be limited to members (there are no restrictions on membership) as the Club will be subsidising the costs. The Club would like to encourage all miniature wire haired dachshund owners to have their dogs tested, if they are planning to breed from them, so that affected or subclinically affected dogs can be identified. The parents and offspring of any dogs identified by the test as affected would then be known to be either affected, or carriers, with no testing necessary.

Ideally, those dogs identified by the test as affected should be removed from the breeding pool, immediately reducing the incidence of Lafora’s disease. The Club hopes to test enough dogs to help identify the incidence of the disease in the miniature wire population.

Anyone interested in having their dog tested at Horspath should contact Lesley Patton on 07736-431090 (after 8pm only), email:lpatton@lesandnic.fsnet.co.uk, or come to the WHDC stand at Crufts. Tests will need to be booked – on a first come first served basis – and KC registration documents will have to be produced for each dog tested.

Lesley Patton; email: lpatton@lesandnic.fsnet.co.uk phone: 07736431090