Breeding
Under the supervision of the Finnish Kennel Club The Australian Cattle Dog Club of Finland has given itself rules and regulations, in order to take good care of the health condition of Finnish ACDs. Over and above the Club has issued a set of PEVISA-rules (agenda to fight congenital faults and diseases).
In order to get litters officially registered by Finnish Kennel Club, breeders must take care of that both dam and sire of the litter must meet the PEVISA-rules.
PEVISA rules 1.1.2017-31.12.2017 are
To register a litter the following health examinations of both dam and sire are requested: valid hip-(HD) result, elbow (ED) – and eye (HC, PRA) examinations. The hip dysplasia results should not be worse than HD D, nor should the elbow examination results be worse than ED 1. The eye examinations should not show any signs of HC- or PRA-presence. Eye examination results should not be older than 24 months.
The Breeding panel recommendation:
Breeding of the Australian Cattle Dog
An Australian Cattle Dog that is used for breeding should be balanced in character, health, condition and meet as well the official breed standard.
An Australian Cattle Dog should match the following requirements:
– He should have passed the health examinations stated in the PEVISA-regulations
– should be gun-proof (passed any one of these tests: BH-, Working Dog- or Search and Rescue Dog- or Mental Test)
– he should have won the 1st price in a Dog Show
An Australian Cattle Dog with any of the following faults should not be used for breeding:
– A dog who is gun shy
– A dog who is deaf
– A dog who has some known congenital illness/ deficiency of the breed
– A dog with a born kinky tail
– A dog with a congenital heart failure
– A dog with others than a correct scissor bite
– A dog with epilepsy
– A dog with patella luxation
– A dog with a result worse than HD D
– A dog with a result worse than ED 1
– A dog with a congenital eye disease
Following dogs should not be bred together:
– offspring should not be bred to their own grandparents, parents or parents’ siblings or even siblings to each other -> the percentage of inbreeding should not be higher than 6%.
– inbreeding percentages: breeding to grandsire or granddam 12,5%; breeding to parents’ siblings 12,5%; breeding to either own sire or dam 25%; breeding to sibling 25%; breeding to half sibling 12,5%; breeding to cousin 6,25%.
– dogs that have the same structural or other defect
A dog who produced already offspring of 5 % or more of the country’s breeding population should not be used anymore in breeding.
Dam and sire with a hip examination result (HD) of FCI C (or worse) shall only be bred to a dog with (HD) FCI A or B.
A notice on a newly discovered disease – NCL
Ceroid lipofuscinosis, CL, is a sickness in the dogs’ metabolism that affects the dogs’ nerve cells. The disease has been proved to occur in numerous breeds of dogs but also humans, cats, cattle and sheep can acquire this disease. The CL is a congenital disease and it is believed to be inherited recessively.
CL is caused by an enzyme deficiency, which results in accumulation of lipofuscins to cells. In a normal situation the lipofuscins are a “waist product” that is carried out of the cells by an enzyme. In a CL condition this enzyme is not being developed and the lipofuscins pile up in the cells. Ceroid lipofuscins pile up mainly in the nervous system, especially in to the nerve cells. In the brains the cells have a very limited space so this causes the fast destruction of healthy brain cells in certain areas. The disease inevitably leads to death but very often the dog has to be put to sleep because of the severity of the symptoms within a year of the earliest signs of the CL condition.