Deanna

The Importance of Genetic Testing

All of my Shih Tzu puppies for sale come from parents who have gone through genetic testing to rule out health conditions they may carry in their lines. I take pride in my responsible breeding program. As a result, I am very careful when choosing which dogs I choose to include in my program.

I look at everything including temperament, confirmation, and health testing results. It is my goal to positively contribute to the breed and produce healthy, even-tempered Shih Tzus that will provide their new families with many years of unconditional love. 

Genetic testing is imperative to know what breed-specific health conditions my Shih Tzus carry in their lines. For instance, if I have two breeding dogs that are both carriers for a thyroid condition which is common in Shih Tzus, I wouldn’t want to use them as a mating pair. When a breeder pairs two carrier dogs they have the possibility of creating offspring with the actual disease.

Ideally, I breed clear dogs. Or, I breed a clear dog to a carrier which would only produce clear or carrier puppies. This is perfectly fine since the offspring will only be carriers and not be at risk of inheriting the actual disease.

The only exemptions I will make are if the disorder is benign and will cause no harm to the offspring or if the disease is not breed-specific and hasn’t been shown in research to be a problem in the breed. Responsibly pairing dogs for mating allows me to create healthy offspring instead of producing at-risk puppies.

Genetic testing also allows me to get an inside look at the different unique traits that my breeding adults carry. I use Embark genetic testing. When I DNA test my breeding adults, I receive a wealth of information including coat color and pattern genotypes, body size, muzzle length, etc. I also found out with certainty that my breeding adults are purebred Shih Tzus which is important! To learn more about the Embark genetic test that I use with my breeding adults check out the link: https://embarkvet.com/.

Each puppy in my responsible breeding program is sent home with a two-year congenital/genetic health guarantee as well. I am very confident in doing so because I have done the health testing suggested by the Shih Tzu National Breed Club. I go to sleep every night knowing that I did my very best to create healthy, purebred Shih Tzu puppies that will go on to hopefully live a long and healthy life.