HEALTH SCREENING

mobile navigation health center
HEALTH TESTING...the Hallmark of this breed!

Breeding the best possible candidates is the pride of a Shiloh breeder.  Many go above and beyond the minimum requirements of their registry.

  • Parent’s full names, call names, their sire/dam, date of birth, health testing results should appear in all litter announcements.
  • Passing health testing as required by the breeder’s registry and the actual results should always be expected and posted with their litter announcement, not simply that they have been tested and pass.
  • Your prospective breeder should have no problem producing health testing results for the breeding pair.
  • Once you have familiarized yourself with the health testing below, visit our Buyer’s Checklist [HERE] to learn about what questions used to find the Breeder that is right for you when looking for a new puppy.

Required Health Testing

  • Heart/Cardiac- 
    • OFA Normal, 12-24M+ required by TSSR & WSSBA
    • Cardiac Echo for structural defects (SAS, etc.), optional, highly recommended by TSSR
    • Cardiac Holter Monitoring for electrical activity (VT, IVT, GSD/IVA, etc),
      recommend 7-9M for breeding dogs (by Dr Sammarco, Alba Medical), 
      required by ISSA, NSBR, & TSSR, recommended by WSSBA
    • Practitioner auscultation testimony (minimum), required by ISSA
    • learn more about OFA’s heart certifications [HERE]
  • Hips –
    • one of the following is required
    • PennHip 18M+
      (0.50 or less with no DJD/OA required for TSSR, NSBR, & WSSBA; 0.50 or less with no DJD/OA at 10M is required for ISSA)
    • OFA 24M+ with a Fair, Good or Excellent rating with no DJD/OA, (required by TSSR & WSSBA)
    • OFA 18M+ (required for NSBR)
    • OFA 12M+ (required for ISSA, ISSR)
    • OVC Normal 24M+* (required by TSSR, NSBR, & WSSBA); note OVC discontinued hips/elbows services in 2012

Additional Testing 

  • Cardiac Holter Monitoring (EKG)
    • required by ISSA, NSBR, & TSSR; recommended by WSSBA
    • Recommended and/or Required by many Breeders 
    • Typically tested between 4 to 9 months, no later than 12 months (required by ISSA & TSSR)
    • Testing between 7 to 10 months (required by NSBR)
  • DM – Genetic Degenerative Myelopathy
    • optional test; recommended by TSSR & WSSBA; required by ISSA
    • each dog has 2 copies of the gene to contribute to progeny
      • Clear (Normal/Normal) ; 
      • Carrier (Normal/Carrier) ; recommend breeding only to a normal
      • Affected (Carrier/Carrier) ; recommended not to breed; only a very small percentage of those tested; does not guarantee the disease will present
      • Normal/Normal via parentage (both parents have been cleared); to-date there has been no data that shows a dog tested as a carrier after being deemed normal via parentage
    • breeding options:
      • Clear to Clear (Normal to Normal) – will only produce progeny clear of the gene
      • Clear to Carrier (Normal to Carrier) – each progeny has a 50% chance of being either clear or a carrier ; this does not mean that 50% of the litter will be clear or carrier (i.e. 10 pups and 5 are clear and 5 are carrier), you can see a litter that is 50/50 split, 60/40, or even 100% of either clear or carrier
    • learn more [HERE]
  • Elbows
    • optional test; required by ISSA, NSBR, and WSSBA; recommended by TSSR
    • OFA Normal, preliminary tests accepted, finals (24M)
  • Eyes
    • optional test, not required; recommended by ISSA, TSSR, WSSBA
    • CAER (formerly CERF) Normal, OFA recommends annual testing
    • checks for pannus and other eye related issues
  • Thyroid
    • optional test, not required; recommended by TSSR
    • this is a blood test and results are only valid for the date of the test
    • OFA Normal or practitioner test showing normal results and year tested
  • TLI (EPI screening)
    • optional test, not required, recommended by ISSA
    • this is a blood test and results are only valid for the date of the test
    • 5.7 to 45.2 considered normal

CHIC Certification

  • OFA created the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) designation [DETAILS]
  • Awarded when dogs achieve tests recommended specifically for our Breed. [read more]
  • Health Testing requirements specific to Shiloh Shepherds:
    • Hips
    • Elbows
    • Cardiac Evaluation
    • DM (Degenerative Myelopathy)
  • Additional requirements:
    • Dog must have permanent identification (microchip or tattoo)
    • Test results must be released on ofa.org public database
HOW TO add DM DNA testing results to ofa.org database (click here)

Many use outside labs for DM DNA testing. It is possible to add these results to the ofa.org database so your dog is eligible for the CHIC certification. 

  • Eligible labs performing the test:
    • Animal Genetics
    • DDC Veterinary
    • Embark
    • GenSol
    • Helica
    • Labgenvet
    • Laboklin
    • OFA/University of Missouri
    • Orivet
    • Paw Print Genetics
    • UC Davis – VGL
    • VetGen
    • Vetnostic
    • Wisdom Health
  • Complete the OFA Form for submission [HERE]
  • Cost (per 1/2020 fee schedule ofa.org): 
    • Individual dog:
      • Submission fee/individual disease test result $15
      • Single dog/multiple tests (3 or more DNA tests submitted on a single dog) $7.50/per test
    • Kennel Rate (individual dogs submitted as a group, owned/co-owned by same person):
      • 5 or more individual dogs submitted for the same DNA test $7.50/per test
HOW TO add PennHip testing results to ofa.org database (click here)

Submitting Non-OFA Health Screening Results from ofa.org Policy page [HERE]:
PennHIP: The OFA will record PennHIP results on request. The dog must have an existing OFA record of some type. To submit, the owner should email or mail a copy of the PennHIP report to the OFA at: ofa@offa.org, or 2300 E Nifong Blvd Columbia, MO  65201. The fee to record these results is $25, and payment must accompany the request. The OFA will record the left and right DI’s only, not the percentile. The OFA reviews all requests on a case by case basis, and reserves the right to not to record or publish any evaluations from outside organizations.”

Additional requirements for breeding dogs

  • DNA for parentage
    • required for TSSR, NSBR, WSSBA; recommended for ISSA
    • note: DNA for sire & dam must be on file with UC Davis & their number(s) submitted with your application in order for UC Davis to match to parent(s)
    • DNA testing, general
      • this is NOT DNA for parentage
      • ISSA requires DNA to be on file with UC-Davis, however, they do not require a parentage match to be made
      • provided by Embark, Wisdom Panel, MydogDNA/Optimal Selection, etc. and screens for a variety of genetic diseases 
        • Embark will confirm parentage IF both parents are also tested with Embark (health+breed)
  • Height Certification
    • required for TSSR, NSBR, WSSBA & ISSA
    • 28″+ for males
    • 26″+ for females
  • Temperament Testing
    • at least one of the following is required for TSSR, ISSA, ISSR
    • Approved Temperament Test
    • Canine Good Citizen (CGC)
    • Canine Good Neighbor (CGN)
    • Therapy Dogs International (TDI) or equivalent

Age Requirements

  • Following is a list of requirements for breedable registrations by the individual Shiloh Shepherd Breed Registries:
    • ISSA – 12+ Months
    • ISSR – 12+ Months
    • NSBR – 18+ Months 
    • TSSR – 24+ Months 
    • WSSBA – 18+ Months (males), 24+ Months (females)
Go to top

HEALTH CLINIC CALENDARS

Health Screening:

General Health

Hips


PennHip – What is it?

Shiloh Shepherd Breed Registries, their Rules & Requirements

  • ISSA (International Shiloh Shepherd Alliance) – http://www.shiloh-shepherd.com/pages/testing.html
  • ISSR (International Shiloh Shepherd Registry) – http://www.shilohshepherdclub.com/issr-rules-and-regulations.html
  • NSBR (National Shiloh Breeder’s Registry) – https://www.nsbr.website/registry-rules
  • TSSR (The Shiloh Shepherd Registry) – http://tssr.info/registry/registry-regulations/
  • WSSBA (Worldwide Shiloh Shepherd Breed Association LLC) – http://www.registermyshiloh.com/rules.html

To learn more about the various registries and their history go [HERE]

Breeder Code of Ethics

  • The following registries have a Breeder Code of Ethics as part of their registry program:
    • ISSA
    • NSBR
    • TSSR

footnotes (*):

  • OVC discontinued their hip and elbow certification in 2012 [www.ovc.uoguelph.ca]; 
  • CERF is now known as CAER; results posted in ofa.org