Formosa's Elegant Border Collie kennel

英文原文如下. 

The Border Collie stands alone in its exceptional ability to work livestock. ABCA defines the breed by this working ability. The main goal of any Border Collie breeder should be to produce sound, useful, working dogs. While Border Collies also excel in many non-herding activities, they should be bred primarily to work livestock. The ultimate responsibility for maintaining the integrity of this as yet unspoiled breed lies with the breeders. Breeders are urged to take this responsibility seriously. Puppy buyers are encouraged to buy only from those breeders who do take this responsibility seriously.



Both breeders and buyers should understand there are risks involved in any breeding, regardless of the amount of care taken to avoid problems. In order to ensure a healthy gene pool for future generations of Border Collies, breeding prospects should be evaluated with reasonable concern for potential problems and realistic goals for what will be produced. The breeding prospect should be considered as a whole being, with positive and negative aspects of the individual being weighed and balanced for an overall picture of a dog's suitability. Breeding should be undertaken with thoughts of what the parents have to offer to their pups that could benefit the breed.



Genetic Diseases


To be considered a genetic disease, a health problem needs to have been demonstrated to be heritable, that is, passed on through one or both parents. Some diseases have high heritability, which means if the genes are present, the individual will have the disease, and some diseases have low heritability, meaning both genetic and environmental factors are involved in whether the disease occurs. It is generally easier to control diseases with high heritability because all individuals with the genetic makeup for the disease can usually be identified. The term heritable disease should be distinguished from the term congenital disease, or problems that are present from birth, which may or may not be heritable.



Border Collies are considered to be a generally healthy breed. However, as in all animals, there are some potential health problems. This information is presented to help both breeders and buyers to become more aware of some of the health and genetic issues in the breed at this time.



The primary genetic diseases currently thought to be a problem in the breed are as follows:


Hip Dysplasia (HD) HD is by far the most prevalent known genetic disease that affects Border Collies. Factors that contribute to the development of HD ultimately cause the hip joint to be damaged. Joint damage called osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD) is manifested by cartilage and bone breakdown and irregular bony remodeling in response to stresses and inflammatory processes in the joint. DJD is, in effect, the identifiable result of factors that cause HD. The standard for diagnosing HD at this time is still the front extended-leg view of the hips on x-ray such as that evaluated by The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA). OFA reports a 12.6% affected rate for Border Collies evaluated from 1974-2000. This HD incidence ranks them somewhere in the middle of the dog breeds. Pre-submission screening and selection for probable favorable OFA results by owners and their veterinarians very likely skews this percentage significantly to the low side. Therefore, the true incidence of HD is probably much higher, possibly as high as double the OFA figure. If true, this would mean, on average, one out of every four Border Collies has HD.



Despite what some may claim, data from numerous scientific studies provide overwhelming evidence that HD is an inherited disease. It is thought to be caused by at least three and possibly as many as six primary genes. The number of genes involved, combined with the high incidence, means it's probable that most Border Collies are at least carriers of one or more of the genes that can contribute to the development of HD, even if they don't have the disease themselves. To confuse matters more, the expression of the disease is affected by environmental conditions such as the type and amount of food a dog gets at critical growth stages, as well as the type and amount of exercise and activity it gets. It must be remembered, however, that these environmental factors do not cause HD. They merely affect whether the HD genes present in that individual will be expressed to the fullest. Even if the expression of HD in a certain individual is suppressed by careful control of environmental factors, you have not changed the dog's genetic makeup. That dog will still pass on the genetic tendency for HD just as if it actually had the disease. Conversely, if a dog does not have the genes for HD, it won't develop the disease no matter how it's raised.



The possible incidence of one in four dogs may seem falsely high if the presence of HD is defined by dogs showing significant lameness. The clinical symptoms of HD do not always correlate well with the severity of the disease as judged by radiological findings. Border Collies with HD that are fortunate enough to show few if any symptoms may have progeny that are not so fortunate. The exact complex combination of genetic and environmental factors that contributed to an individual's lack of symptoms will not occur in its pups. Therefore, it is important to remember that a high tolerance of an individual for the effects of HD does not mean that individual is suitable as a breeding prospect.



The best way, at this time, to avoid producing puppies with a predisposition to develop HD is to test both parents and be aware of the hip status of other related dogs such as the parents' other progeny, the parents' parents, and the littermates and half siblings of the parents. The more tested, unaffected dogs there are in the pedigrees, the better the chances of producing unaffected pups. Unfortunately, even following the most stringent guidelines, puppies may still be produced that will develop HD. This does not mean there's no point in testing parents before breeding them. This line of false reasoning is akin to arguing that, because working parents will occasionally produce pups that won't work, there's no point in testing the working ability of breeding stock. Selection for good hips will increase your chances of producing pups with good hips, but it's unrealistic to expect that puppies with HD will never be produced from tested, unaffected parents. Likewise, it is unrealistic to expect every dog who has ever produced a pup with HD to be banned from breeding. Since it's likely that most non HD-affected Border Collies are carriers of one or more of the genes for HD, most dogs will produce at least one pup with HD if bred enough times. Sooner or later, a cross with another carrier will produce the wrong combination of the HD genes and an affected pup will result.



Given the incidence and complexities involved with HD in our breed, the recommendations at this time are to breed only hip tested, unaffected parents. Also, try to plan crosses having as many tested, unaffected dogs in the pedigrees of both parents as possible. If an affected puppy is produced from a cross of two unaffected parents, at the very least, don't repeat that particular cross because that affected puppy has proven that the two parents can together provide the right combinations of genes to create more puppies with HD.



The ABCA Health and Genetics Committee is investigating a promising new technique that measures several factors involved in the development of HD. This procedure involves taking hip x-rays on a sedated dog while the dog is in a kneeling position. This angle is favorable for identifying strengths and weaknesses in the hip joint in a more natural, weight-bearing position. This type of measurement is called a Dorsolateral Subluxation (DLS) measurement. ABCA is planning a study to evaluate this technique in 8-12 month old Border Collies. 




The Border Collie stands alone in its exceptional ability to work livestock. ABCA defines the breed by this working ability. The main goal of any Border Collie breeder should be to produce sound, useful, working dogs. While Border Collies also excel in many non-herding activities, they should be bred primarily to work livestock. The ultimate responsibility for maintaining the integrity of this as yet unspoiled breed lies with the breeders. Breeders are urged to take this responsibility seriously. Puppy buyers are encouraged to buy only from those breeders who do take this responsibility seriously

當前在邊境牧羊犬這一犬種中基本的基因疾病

如下：

HD 是對邊境牧羊犬影響最普遍的基因疾病.隨

著HD病情的發展將最終導致髖關節壞死.髖關

節損壞稱為骨關節炎,也被稱為關節變性病

(DJD), 它被証明在經重力和激烈性運動,其臨床

表現症狀為髖關節結合出軟骨病,骨質疏鬆和骨

骼異常生長.  DJD實際上,可以被確認的結果便

是直接導致HD.目前最權威的診斷HD的方法仍

然是用X 光透視後腿延長部分.比如象動物整形

外科協會 (OFA).  OFA 報告稱從1974-2000年

診斷的邊境牧羊犬中有12.6%經受此種疾病折

磨.  HD這種疾病的影響範圍在所有犬種疾病中

排在中間位置.  OFA的報告結果受獸醫和飼養

者的影響,報告結果的百分比數被大大減低了. 

因此, 實際上這種疾病的影響範圍可能非常之

高,基本是OFA報告數字的1倍以上,即平均, 1/4

的邊境牧羊犬具有這種疾病.

不管有些人怎麼說, 無數的科學研究資料都壓

倒性的証明 HD是一種遺傳性疾病。它被認為

是由於至少3個最多6個的初級基因引起的.

以上資料來源為美國邊境牧羊犬犬協網址 http://www.americanbordercollie.org/Health%20and%20Genetics%20of%20Border%20Collies.htm