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UK Breeders of Performance American Bulldogs
Est 2000

 

 

    Health tests

    All our breeding stock is hip- and ellbow certified, NCL tested .

  • Hip dysplasia (HD)
  • Hip dysplasia is a significant and crippling problem in the American Bulldog as in many large breeds, It is a genetic condition  i.e passed on from its parents, although there can be environmental factors that could cause the onset of the condition within a dog
  • A hip is dysplastic when the joint socket and the ball do not fit together. Either the ball ist too small or deformed or the socket is too shallow or deformed or both. This will cause an abnormal movement of the ball in the socket when the dog is walking, running, jumping and lead to more deformation, inflammation and pain. If the angle of the ball to the femur-bone is not correct and too straight this will also cause demage of the hip joint as the power while the dog moves will lead to deformation of socket and ball.
  • To determine hip-dysplasia usually the joint is judged for the Norberg Angle, Subluxation, Cranial Acetabular Edge, Dorsal Acetabular Edge, Cranial Effective Acetabular Rim, Acetabular Fossa, Caudal Acetabular Edge Femoral Head / Neck Exostosis, Femoral Head Recontouring.

 
  • In Europe the common system for hip-evaluation is the FCI system:
  • HD-A: normal hip, no signs of dysplasia
  • HD-B: almost normal hip conformation
  • HD-C: slight abbrerations between socket and ball,
  • HD-D: abberations between socket and ball are obvious.
  • HD-E: heavy abberations, very shallow socket, subluxation.

 
  • Only dogs with HD-C or better are seen as breed worthy. only dogs with HD-B or better are recommanded for breeding. Dogs with HD-C should only be bred to dogs with HD-A.
  • In the UK it is the BVA which does the hip-evaluations and they use a score for the result. The smaller the score the better the hip. In the USA they have to systems, the OFA system that works comprable the the FCI and BVA system and the Penn Hip system that is also available in the Netherlands and the UK. Dogs that have been evaluated in different systems showed that those are not directly comparable iin their results.

 

    Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis.(NCL)

    NCL is a neurological disease that is found in a number of canine breeds including the American Bulldog.

    It is passed on genetically from dogs that are affected or carriers to their offspring. Testing and research is currently being undertaken at veterinary colleges in the United States, whilst testing is available in Germany as well now. A blood test is available to determine if a dog is affected (CCL +/+), carrier (CCL 0/+) or clear (CCL 0/0).

    The main research body in the USA states that whilst all efforts should be made to eradicate the disease a dog that is shown to be breed worthy should not be excluded from your breeding programme if it is a carrier of NCL But it can only be bred to clear partners and all offspring should become tested as well.

    Presently many UK and European vets are unaware of NCL, so you may find the information below useful when approaching on the subject

    It is a disease that does not have to happen!

    Responsible breeders will test their dogs for this recessive gene and will avoid breeding “affected†dogs -- meaning dogs that will manifest the debilitating disease and ultimately require euthanasia at a young age.

    Responsible breeding can occur between a dog carrying the recessive gene and another dog that is clear of the gene. However, responsible breeding practices require testing all puppies produced from that breeding for NCL, disclosure to puppy purchasers of the genetic status of that animal, and agreement of the puppy purchaser to follow good breeding practices if they intend to use the animal for such purpose.

    No dog has to suffer the effects of NCL as long as good, responsible breeding practices are maintained. The University of Missouri offers inexpensive testing services to find out if a dog is a NCL carrier, clear or affected, as does a company known as Vetgen. In Germany the “Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover†offers the test.

    Many veterinarians, just seeing the dog in the early stages, will guess that it has hip dysplasia, as most vets do not have a clue what NCL is. Within the next 1 to 3 years, the dog won’t even be able to keep from falling down. When walking the dog will tend to stagger and move randomly, especially down a flight of stairs or over uneven ground. When running, the rear will show very little control. Just standing will be very difficult, much less trying to walk. Normally, by the time the dog is 5 years old, it will need to be euthanized. If your American Bulldog exhibits any of these symptoms, please inform your vet about NCL. Information provided to the University of Missouri from affected dogs, including pedigree information, is most helpful in their research relating to both the canine and human forms of the disease and how it is inherited.

    Here are some relevant links: