Health Matters

The Glen of Imaal Terrier generally suffers from few congenital or hereditary diseases, certainly no more than your average breed.

However, the Glen does have a primary hereditary condition diagnosed within the breed.

GPRA/crd3, is a degenerative eye disease that can eventually lead to blindness and must be tested for as soon as possible, there is no effective treatment but early diagnosis will render information to prospective breeders as to the dogs suitability for breeding.

It is recommended that all Glens are DNA tested for crd3.

The Association can only recommend puppies from DNA tested parents.

For information about DNA testing visit the calendar page, as dates will be posted as testing sessions become known.

Here are some useful links we have found on the internet regarding canine GPRA/crd3 -  OPTIGEN .. - Bochum See DNA Results

Recommended Breeding Policy to eradicate crd3 from The Glen of Imaal Terrier

One parent must be clear. Optigen/Bochum testing results will be printed in The Kennel Club Breed Supplement and the eye status of the parents will be printed on the puppies registration papers.

The Association strongly recommends that prospective owners only purchase puppies whose parents have been DNA tested.

Allergies

With modern living/diets and processed dogfoods, more and more dogs may be susceptible to allergies and skin complaints, A common problem in terriers, and the Glen is no exception, are skin irritations. In most cases, the eruptions are a result of different allergies. There may be a genetic predisposition to such allergic reactions. Your breeder can provide information about the history of this problem, if such a problem exists, in the lines of his/her breeding programme.

Professor Peter Bedford
B.Vetmed, PhD, DVO phthal, DipEC

Writes for the Association on the primary health issue concerning Glens

PICTURE LEFT
a healthy eye

Progressive Retinal Atrophy ( PRA ) is perhaps the most well known of the inherited eye diseases that are seen in pedigree dogs. Sadly it is just one of many severe defects that occur, but it is known so well because it always causes blindness. In fact there are several retinal degenerations which are all called PRA, some occurring early in life and result from actual congenital defects whilst other do not occur until middle age. Most are inherited as single gene defects and sadly the normal dogs related to afflicted dogs are often carriers of the genetic defect required to produce the disease.
"Sadly - and I keep using this word - the Glen has PRA, the type known as crd 3 (cone-rod dysplasia 3), but the good news is that now a DNA based test has been developed and is available to UK breeders. It will make a huge difference in disease control and I would ask that you all avail yourselves of this development as soon as possible and that all future breeding is based upon the test results. In the past we relied upon regular ophthalmoscopic examinations to detect the clinical signs of the disease, but this meant that we had to wait for those signs to develop in later life and that we could not detect the carriers of crd 3 until their offspring developed the disease. With late onset PRA disease control is always going to be difficult, but now that an individual Glen`s disease status can be determined at a very early age as a result of the DNA based test, we will know whether or not that dog will develop the disease,be a carrier or be genetically normal. In practical terms this means that the eradication of crd 3 from our breed is a reality.
So no more crd 3 -- however the presence of the test does not mean that regular eye examination should stop. Sadly - that word again - the eye is not immune to the development of other inherited diseases. The mutations for all the other nasties are in the genome already and its our way of breeding that can bring such mutations to the fore. For example, the Labrador Retriever has five inherited eye diseases, the Border Collie three, the Miniature Schnauzer three -- the list goes on. Awareness of the potential for disease is an essential part of disease control and at the moment for many diseases regular eye examinations represent the only way of early detection. As a breed you have already developed the discipline of eye examination and you should continue to be certain that another problem does not become entrenched within the breed. Without the crd 3 test the Glen was in a mess, but the feeling of euphoria that the test`s advent has created should not allow common sense to be thrown out with the bathwater.Eye examination is essential to ensure that our delightful breed remains free from other potential ocular disease.