A cute puppy has all it needs to snag local buyers so for decades, health problems meant nothing as long as a bitch could pump out litter after litter.  Then pet shops, tired of being sued for vet bills on sickly puppies, began to demand health guarantees from their suppliers.  Puppy mills scrambled to stay solvent by buying "certified" breeding animals.  Ahh, but then they discovered how easy those certificates are to get.

It followed that show breeders were told it was wrong to breed a dog unless it had a portfolio of certifications.  Predictably, that became the criteria by which unscrupulous breeders, (later to include Toy Fox Terrier breeders) duped the public.  After all, it's a lot easier and cheaper to get a health "certificate" on a crippled, shy, or ugly Toy Fox Terrier than it is to take that dog out in public to try to get a championship on it!

Health Certifications.  There are two types.  A "Health Certificate" is for air shipment and states only that the dog is free of any observable communicable disease at the time it was examined.  As revealed in www.TheDogPress.com most commercial breeders employ vets who routinely fill out health certifications without ever having examined the dog. 

The other kind of health certifications are gilt-edged pieces of paper that many breeders offer in lieu of an unattainable Championship title.

To criticize the authenticity of any health test is to invite the wrath of those who in some way profit by the procedure.  Thank God for the courage of leaders like Dr. Jonas Salk (yes, the polio vaccine guy), Barry Goldstein, DVM (vaccines, natural health authority), and Jerry Schnelle, DVM (discovered canine hip dysplasia). 

Conscientious vets, having learned of the clinical studies in Great Britain, began re-thinking the need for yearly vaccinations.  My Canine Chronicle columns of the eighties repeatedly questioned the risk-versus-value of vaccinations, which is why Dr. Bob Rogers (Class Action Vaccine Suit), came to call me. I'll try to provide links for more on vaccines, thyroid, VWD, CGH, OFA, etc. but for now, let's just deal with the basics. 

Genetic tests can be used to fine-tune a breeding program; but should never be used as a marketing tool! What I'm going to tell you is something few Toy Fox Terrier breeders care to discuss but nary a vet will deny it's truth.

The Certificate Game began because people were led to believe health certification was: a) predictive and b) conveyed long-term assurance.  How ridiculous is that?  Health conditions can and do change, just like in people.  A month after a clear checkup, we can have a heart attack or be diagnosed with diabetes. 

A certificate based on anything other than a proven genetic marker is only a checkup, meaning the dog was clear of that problem at that time.  Eye-to-eye, any vet will admit that it in no way implies the dog will remain free of that problem.

For example, x-raying two joints (hips) out of two hundred is ridiculous.  OFA, the official sounding Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, was nothing more than a one-trick pony headed by a despot.  For over twenty years, I publically challenged Dr. Corley to certify elbows, stifles, knees, etc. The organization gained new life when AKC bought into it, Corley retired, and it subsequently came under the leadership of the very capable "Beagle Man" Eddie Dzuik.

Unlike CERF (Canine Eye Registry Foundation), OFA still does not require yearly re-checks so an OFA certificate is just a short-term orthopedic health certification that is rarely repeated!  Once the OFA certificate is issued, very few breeders repeat the x-ray, even in the face of deteriorating joints.  The excuse offered is the anesthesia risk but a good vet can do the x-ray with it.  If a breeder does x-ray again and the dog is found to be dysplastic, do they notify all the people who were misled by the first x-ray? 

The same applies to the plethora of other certifications with the exception of CERF but again, few breeders re-certify eyes. Saying a dog is "CERF Certified" may be true but now you realize that may have been before it went blind.  I speak with absolute authority here.  Remember, Bill and I had Mini-Bulls.  The heartbreak of a dog dropping dead from a heart just certified clear of aortic stenosis and another who's lens luxated exactly two weeks after being CERF certified is why we no longer own that breed. 

But that isn't why I'm sharing these disillusioning insights with you.  And we could go through the list of oft-required health checks depending on the breed but since we're talking about Toy Fox Terriers, let's move on.

The Other Deception: To further diminish the validity of health certifications, unscrupulous players consistently break the rules.  It's easy with no requirement for positive identification... Dogs known to be clear of a problem are simply substituted for afflicted dogs!  It is so common, breeders joke about dogs that "glow in the dark" from having been repeatedly x-rayed in place of dogs that couldn't pass OFA.  It isn't funny.

The obvious solution?  A dog should also be at least major pointed to prove it is of sufficient breed type, soundness, and proper temperament to warrant contributing to the gene pool!!!  Those that remain sound and in good health can continue to be shown...

Toy Fox Terriers should have a pre-breeding or yearly checkup to detect any overt health problems.  But any reasonable person would question the need to test for obscure, rarely seen problems like Congenital Hypothyroidism with Goiter (CHG). 

That's suddenly the big deal in Toy Fox Terriers, just as von Willibrands Disease (VWD) was in Akitas some twenty years ago.  So let's address CHG . 

Congenital Hypothyroidism with Goiter (CHG) is by its nature, extremely rare.  So rare in fact that the "study" that got everyone all hyped up was done in a foreign country where there couldn't have been over a dozen Toy Fox Terriers....  I have yet to talk to or hear from a single Toy Fox Terrier breeder that has produced this fatal genetic defect.  And surely they would know, I mean puppies who have CHG are born with it which is why it is called "congenital."  And here's the catch line in this ridiculous but profitably promoted affliction....

Afflicted Toy Fox Terriers die.  Period.  They rarely make it past two weeks of life.  They cannot survive past three weeks.  Truly this is a "self limiting" disease.  So what's the big deal you ask?

There will be those who wish I wouldn't answer but here goes.  If you breed a CHG carrier to another CHG carrier (remembering there is no such thing as an affected dog) you could get an affected Toy Fox Terrier puppy.  It will promptly die. Okay, now you know you have a bitch who is a carrier.  This is where the test comes in because now you want to breed her to a Toy Fox Terrier that is not a carrier.  Chances are excellent that there will not be a carrier in the resulting litter. 

The Real Health Test.  Go to any show and note the bad toplines (back problems) twisted joints (guaranteed future arthritic suffering) bad mouths (can't eat normal food and gum infections lead to death from heart problems) slipping patellas (arthritis) and a whole host of serious, painful, even deadly conditions being proudly shown by "concerned" Toy Fox Terrier breeders. Yet an increasing number of them have Health Certifications. Gimme a break!

Makes you wonder how the Toy Fox Terrier and other breeds survived before all these tests came along.  Most health certifications require expensive lab work, DNA analysis, "reading" or interpretation by some other vet, and are just part of the everyone-gets-a-piece of the cake system that is so rampant in human medicine today.  If you have a good vet who is through in examination of  your Toy Fox Terrier, and he doesn't pick up on the possibility of a specific problem, be grateful.  He's just saved you a bunch of money and spared you and your dog the stress of unnecessary tests.

In defense of the system, I must say that vets would be financial fools to refuse to help breeders obtain health certifications.  So maybe we should look at the breeders who innocently (or otherwise) have given rise to a whole new industry of veterinary services.  An industry which does not prevent problems.  Indeed, it is welcomed by those who seek to sell poor quality, shy, or defective puppies. Think about that.

 The I.D. Factor.  This one is not up for speculation.  We have established there's substantial profit for vets and organizations that administer, read and certify test results.  There is however, one compelling piece of evidence that says it all.  If positive I.D. were required on each dog, it would dramatically reduce the rampant fraud and uh oh, here's the catch, it would reduce the number of dogs presented for clearances.  Could there be any other reason for the industry's steadfast refusal to require tattoo or microchip?

Maybe, just maybe, if I keep harping about positive I.D. requirements in various publications it will happen some day. Maybe more  breeders will be shamed into bringing their Toy Fox Terrier into the public eye, to be scrutinized for temperament, physical soundness, good mouths, plus overall health and condition.  All of that is determined by not only expert judges but by one's show ring competitors. 

Unfortunately, that won't erase the fraud which has permeated many breeding programs and consequently, destroyed the hopes and dreams of unsuspecting owners.