The OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) recommends Irish Setters be tested for Hips, Thyroid and PRA. We have opted to have our foundation bitches tested for CLAD, DM, GLD, Hip Dysplasia, PRA-rcd1, PRA-rcd4 and Thyroid. We have recently added Elbows and Von Willebrands. All of our results are posted on the OFA website, regardless of results. We feel that the best way to improve the breed is to have complete and transparent information available to our future puppy owners and potential sire owners.

July 2023 Updates

**Update - Gwynnie's health test results and link to OFA webpage below**

Here is a summary of the results:  

PALARSET MEMORABLEGWENDOLYNBEE
EG707623
F MAHOGANY IRISH SETTER
Born Apr 6 2017
Sire: NC886317 Dam: BG582440

Registry	Test Date	Report Date	Age​(m)	Conclusion	OFA Number
THYROID	Jan 8 2020	Feb 26 2020	33	COMP. AUTOIMMUNE THYROIDITIS
CANINE LEUKOCYTE ADHESION DEF.	Nov 25 2022	Nov 29 2022	67	CLAD I NORMAL/CLEAR	IR-CLD381/67F-PI
DEGENERATIVE MYELOPATHY	Nov 25 2022	Nov 29 2022	67	CLEAR/NORMAL	IR-DM150/67F-PI
GLOBOID CELL LEUKODYSTROPHY	Nov 25 2022	Nov 29 2022	67	CLEAR/NORMAL	IR-GCL77/67F-PI
PROGRESSIVE RETINAL ATROPHY	Nov 25 2022	Nov 29 2022	67	CLEAR/NORMAL	IR-PRA801/67F-PI
RCD4 PROGRESSIVE RETINAL ATROPHY	Nov 25 2022	Nov 29 2022	67	CLEAR/NORMAL	IR-P4-360/67F-PI
VON WILLEBRANDS	Nov 25 2022	Nov 29 2022	67	CLEAR/NORMAL	IR-VW80/67F-PI
ELBOW	Jun 26 2023	Jul 5 2023	74	NORMAL	IR-EL1139F74-C-VPI
HIPS	Jun 26 2023	Jul 5 2023	74	FAIR	IR-13083F74F-C-VPI
CANINE HEALTH	Jul 5 2023	Jul 5 2023		CHIC	185112

Click here to see results on the OFA website:  Gwynnie's Health Test Results on OFA Website

Note: While we are aware that there is the possibility of Gwynnie's puppies having Thyroiditis at some point we did not take breeding her lightly. I discussed it with other breeders, our vets, even a geneticist, the researcher of the OFA study. We learned that autoimmune thyroiditis is thought to be inherited as a recessive gene and breeding a TgAA positive dog MAY produce puppies that are carriers or who may later contract hypothyroidism.We have bred her to a sire that tested negative for thyroid disease. Since Thyroid issues typically are easily controlled by giving thyroxine tablets twice a day, we decided in an effort to prevent the Irish Setter gene pool to continue to suffer, we wanted to breed her only to dogs who have been tested with no thyroid issues. While it may mean her litter might either have thyroiditis at some point or be born as carriers, we feel the risk is worth helping us learn if autoimmune thyroiditis can be controlled/avoided the same way PRA diseases are. Our hopes are that this might enable more Irish Setters that carry the gene to be bred with those that do not carry it in order to lessen the amount of Irish Setters that actually get it by utilizing wise genetic breeding practices. So, in all honesty, we have no way to determine at this time if any of Gwynnie's puppies will actually contract thyroiditis. In small studies that have been done in dogs with elevated TgAA when retested later 33% became hypothyroid, 51% remained the same and 16% returned to normal. So, all of this information was taken into consideration before deciding to breed Gwynnie. It is interesting to note that her sire did not test positive for hypothyroid until he was almost 14 years old and her dam, who is 9 years old at the time of this update has not tested positive for any thyroid related illness.Although Gwynnie's puppies will all come with Health Guarantees, this will not include thyroid issues. In fact, we do not guarantee against thyroid issues in any of our puppies. Much more research has to be done in larger studies first. 

March 2021 Updates

**Update - Whimsy's health test results and link to OFA webpage below**

Here is a summary of the results:

Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) Certified #156106. You can read more about the CHIC program by clicking HERE

The hip joint conformation was evaluated as: EXCELLENT - OFA # IR-TH994/36F-VPI.  According to the OFA an EXCELLENT rating means "Superior conformation; there is a deep seated ball (femoral head) that fits tightly into a well-formed socket (acetabulum) with minimal joint space."

Thyroid  NORMAL - OFA# IR-TH994/36F-VPI

DM (Degenerative myelopathy) N/N clear - OFA # IR-DM78/45F-VPI

PRA-RCD4 (Rcd4 Progressive Retinal Atrophy) N/N clear - OFA # IR-P4-293/45F-VPI

GLD (Globoid cell leukodystrophy) N/N clear - OFA # IR-GCL23/45F-VPI

PRA-RCD1 (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) N/N clear - OFA # IR-PRA712/45F-VPI

CLAD (Canine Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency) N/N clear - OFA # IR-CLD327/45F-VPI

Click here to see results: Whimsy's Health Test Results on OFA Website

All is looking great! Whimsy will now be our first foundation bitch!

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

In addition to excellent temperaments we are dedicated to the health of our dogs and puppies. OFA - CHIC health testing recommends that Irish Setters have the following basic health screening tests:

Hip Dysplasia (reportedly seen in about 12% of 12,000 Red Irish Setter OFA evaluations)

Auto-immune Thyroiditis (found in approximately 20% of tested Irish Setters)

DNA based testing for PRA

Since we are aware that Irish Setters can be affected by both rcd1-PRA (early onset rod cone dysplasia) and less often, rcd4-PRA (late onset rod cone dysplasia) which are specific PRA diseases that affects the retina - the membrane at the back of the eye - at different stages of life we will test for both. We have decided to start our breeding program with all new testing whether their parental tests indicate they need it or not. Therefore we are having DNA testing done on our foundation bitches prior to breeding which will include Canine Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency (CLAD), rcd1-PRA, rcd4-PRA, Degenerative Myelopathy (DM), and Globoid Cell Leukodystrophy (GLD). If you would like further information on these, drop me a line and I will refer you to some excellent information.

Updates will be posted on this page so be sure to visit often for the most up-to-date news!