Finnish Kennel Club Updates GRD Breeding Guidelines
We share with our member breeders a health related update from the Finnish Kennel Club.
06/26/2018
Official eye examination of dogs in Finland follows the recommendations of ECVO (European College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists). ECVO has previously recommended that GRD diagnosis (geographic retinal dysplasia) would exclude dogs from breeding. That recommendation has now been updated.
According to ECVO's current recommendation, GRD should result in a dog not being bred with, at least with the following breeds: Samoyed, Labrador Retriever and English Springer Spaniel. These breeds may involve significant deterioration of vision. For other breeds, the Kennel Club recommends that if a dog with a GRD diagnosis is used for breeding purposes, it would be used with a RD healthy dog.
If in a breed clubs current PEVISA program, a GRD result excludes a dog from being used in a breeding program, the breed organisation may, if desired, take into account the changed recommendations and notify the Kennel Club if it wants to mitigate the condition for GRD.
The article on hereditary eye diseases has been updated with the new recommendation. The article has also been updated with the current classification of findings .