Ian Millar writes on behalf of The Schipperke Club

” There can be few people in the dog world who are still unaware of the T.V. programme “Pedigree Dogs Exposed” which was shown in the autumn. Part of the fall-out from that programme has been an increased resolve on the part of dog breeders to be seen to be doing their utmost to produce animals which are healthy, have a good quality of life and are “fit for function”. In support of this determination, the Kennel Club has issued directives to all breeds to establish health committees, to appoint a named health co-ordinator and to draw up a health plan for their breed.

The Schipperke Club committee appointed Diane Forknall [Avidore], Club chairman John Allington [Rexford], secretary Melanie Reed-Peck [Byquy] and vice-president Ian Millar [Turnlaw] to act as the health committee, with the latter as the named co-ordinator.

We are lucky in that the Schip is generally a healthy, robust little dog with many living active lives well in to their teens and even beyond. Health problems are rare and hereditary conditions are few but we cannot afford to be complacent.

At the time of writing, we await further guidance on the format of the breed health plan but have already informed the K.C., as required, of the three most prevalent health conditions in the breed. “Most prevalent” does not mean that there is, necessarily, a high incidence of these conditions in terms of the overall breed population, merely that they are the ones most frequently encountered.

In Schips, we have nominated MPSIIIB, Epilepsy and Legge-Perthes Disease. It seems probable, therefore, that the breed health plan will need to include proposals on how the breed intends to address/monitor these conditions, while not overlooking the efforts which many breeders have already made to identify and tackle any issues in their breeding stock. Matters on the health ccommittee’s agenda are likely to include the dissemination of information on health conditions in the breed, testing for known hereditary conditions, creating health registers and exploring treatments/management regimes. We are at a very preliminary stage at this point and the way forward is not yet clear, so if you have issues about the health of our breed, suggestions about what needs to be examined and how, or would like anything else brought to the health committee’s attention, please get in touch with me.

Finally, as part of this overall exercise, the K.C. has not only considered actual health conditions but has also looked at the fundamental structure of each breed as called for in the Standard. This has been done to ensure that no Standard requires features which might adversely affect an animal’s health or prevent them from living a normal, active life. In Schips, there has been one minor alteration in the section of the Breed Standard describing “hindquarters” where the word “lighter” is to appear instead of “finer”. It is not clear if this change was prompted by fears that the original wording might promote weediness or whether there were anxieties that bitches with finer hindquarters might be more likely to experience whelping problems. Neither condition seems at all common in the breed but now does not seem to be the time to argue! It is unlikely that the change will radically alter the traditional Schip outline and we must be seen to be acting reasonably and responsibly in relation to anything, which might just be seen to have implications for health. Many breeds will be forced to review their perceptions of essential breed features and we must be grateful that we have such a “natural”, healthy dog as the Schipperke. ”

Results of the Survey:

“80 questionnaires were issued in March / April but sadly, only 18 were returned. It is impossible to draw any firm conclusions from such a small study sample, particularly since almost half of the respondents had never bred a litter and the committee now needs to consider carefully what the next step should be.

As requested by the K.C., the Club had already specified the three main conditions which appear to affect this breed; epilepsy, Legg Calve Perthes Disease and MPSIIIB. About half of the respondents had owned the breed for more than 20 years and so, arguably, a reasonable experience of health issues was captured. Epilepsy / fits / seizures was reported in 19 animals, 3 dogs were identified as MPSIIIB carriers {no affected animals} and 2 had Legg Calve Perthes Disease. Other health conditions were such as one might expect to find in any population of living organisms. A few dogs had died of cancer but virtually all were in their teens when the condition was diagnosed. One might be permitted to conclude, therefore, that the choice of these three conditions was warranted.

On a positive note, much as we all suspected, almost all the respondents reported that their dogs usually died aged over 10, many in their teens, with 15, 16 and 17 plus years being not unusual.

The Kennel Club has yet to issue detailed guidance on drawing up a breed health plan but the sub-group will meet later this year in advance of that, to consider what to do next. Surely the health of this breed is important to us all? Whatever action is taken in the future, I hope that as owners and as breeders, each of us can make more of an effort to participate! ”

This article has been reproduced with permission of the Schipperke Club (UK)