Health

Breeders & owners combined are responsible for the quality of life of a dog. Many health conditions are fully controllable and preventable with conscientious breeding practices. Ethical breeders WANT you to ask more questions about their health tests. Results are public. 

In North America, the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals recommends appropriate health certifications as relevant for each individual breed, and holds an open database of results which are evaluated and submitted to them. Pet buyers can access this database to search for breeders and their dogs’ names to verify results.

DNA Testing is not complete health testing.  Neither “vet checks”, nor a DNA-kit are the equivalent of certifications sufficient to prove a dog’s ability to produce healthy off-spring. A breeder of any breed that lists only DNA or “Embark” for their breeding screenings has not certified the health of their dogs. The Embark kit is not complete for the Coton de Tuléar‘s relevant conditions. The Embark laboratory tests for markers of a broad spectrum of diseases that can appear in many breeds, but do not occur in others. There are two conditions excluded from the Embark list that affect the Coton which must be completed with other laboratories. Most breeds have 5-15 DNA based diseases which can affect them. Any breeder of any breed bragging dogs tested for 100-200 genetic diseases are misrepresenting their level of care. 

Health certifications are specifically described assessments, many done by specialists, or involving radiographs or scans, which adhere to a rubric to ensure that breeders are doing everything within their power to produce puppies which are healthy, sound, and will have the highest chance of a high quality of life, not suffering unnecessarily. Each test will produce an evaluation and certificate.

Every member of Team WonderCoton qualifies for a Canine Health Identification Number (CHIC), this is identified by a certificate as well as a stamp in the OFA database. We are evaluated for the following conditions which affect the Coton de Tulear breed:

Cardiac

Eyes

Thyroid

Elbows

Knees (Patellas)

Hips In recent years, Hip Dysplasia rates in the Coton de Tulear have risen significantly from <7% before 2010, up to 13% since 2016. Despite these statistics, the breed’s Canine Health (CHIC) number, of which is components are determined by the USA Coton Club, does not currently require Hip certifications.

Gathering Hip data from breeding stock is critically important for the current and future health of our breed. It is important to note that Passing Hip results cannot be withheld from the OFA database- when the OFA provides an official grade, they are automatically posted for public view. This means that if dogs from a North American breeder do not have a hip score recorded, they are either officially untested or have received a failing grade. If you are told that the hips are officially scored, but not posted, this is impossible, and false. Hips can be legitimately assessed by Antech PennHip, and not appear in the OFA system, but dogs evaluated in this manner will receive a measurement, and not a score. Dogs with a passing score will always appear in the database.       

Chondrodysplasia/Intervertebral Disc Disease & Chondrodystrophy

Recessive DNA-based conditions: von Willebrand’s, Neonatal Ataxia, Degenerative Myelopathy, Canine Multifocal Retinopathy, Primary Hyperoxaluria, Hyperuricosuria. The seven conditions listed are present in the  Coton de Tuléar as recessive conditions. A dog must carry two copies of the condition to be affected. Dogs in our program listed as “clear/clear” for recessive DNA are free of any markers from all seven diseases. Dogs listed as “carrier/clear” have one copy of the condition, but will never be affected or show symptoms.