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Testing

CHD (Chondrodysplasia - also called dwarfism)
From the AMCA website:
Chondrodysplasia is a genetic disorder in the Alaskan Malamute which manifests itself in puppies born with crippling deformities, eventually evident in the abnormal shape and length of their limbs. Chondrodysplasia is present in adult carriers as an auto-somal or simple recessive gene. Therefore, both sire and dam must carry this gene in order to produce an affected (chondrodysplastic) puppy.

Certification is done by checking a five generation pedigree of the dog. If this examination reveals the dog's ancestors are certified (or certifiable) a certificate is issued to that dog bearing an AMCA number (AMCA-XXXX). Each dog is assigned an individual number.

Sometimes the pedigree reveals the dog to be non-certifiable with regards to Chondrodysplasia. In such cases, the AMCA recommends these dogs not be bred. The owner may feel the dog to be a great asset to a breeding program, or the dog may already have offspring who are themselves now affected by the un-certifiable status of the parent. In such circumstances, the owner may choose to apply for a further screening process known as "Test Breeding".

CHD clearances are dumb in my opinion. There used to be a lot of CHD TEST breedings. So many of the dogs way back when were test bred with an infected dog to find out if the unknown dog did carry the gene. So now people have not kept up with the CHD clearances. And the CHD testing is not allowing anyone to go back more than five generations. So even if way back your dog pedigree can be cleared then you still can not get clearances by that. So the only way I can get a CHD is to TEST breed my dogs with an infected dog (and to the best of my information they've run out of infected dogs to breed to) to make sick puppies to see if my dog carries that gene. Sorry, but I am not going to let someone do some test breeding on my dogs to see if they may or may not carry a gene for a disease that is extremely small in percentage. What would you do with that litter of Infected pups? No one seems to have a good answer. So, NO I will never have CHD clearances. Also there is only a 2% chance. You can get hit by a bus and you have a 15 % chance of that. And you can get hit by lightning and there is a 12% chance of that. So to me that testing is ridiculous.

HD (Hip Dysplasia)
My testing is with my pups and what they produce. I have health happy pups. Thumper is well proven. Along with many of my other dogs. I out of Standard malamutes several years ago because I seemed to have nothing but problems and genetic issues with them. Also finding with years of breeding that it is was hard to find a Show breeder that doesn't't have overly inbred dogs. The main problems I had with Standard Malamutes was Hip Dysplasia. I know there are standard lines fairly free of it, but I seemed to hit the jackpot on the dogs I purchased from show breeders. Hip Dysplasia is not proven to be genetic. There are environmental factors that also contribute to the health of your dog. Exercise, Diet, Jumping out of the back of a truck wrong at a young age all can cause hip Dysplasia among other things. I do OFA testing on my dogs for HD and use that as a tool in my breeding program. Shiloh Shepherd's web site explains in great detail about HD. I believe in her way of thinking and her research. I do my best to do my research like she has. I keep up with all my pups to the best of my ability.