British Dalmatian Club

Kalvadene spotties · Joined: 10 Apr 2011 Posts: 40 Location: Derby

Well our litter of gorgeous puppies are going for their hearing tests tomorrow. Fingers crossed all goes well. Very Happy

donothing · Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 1190 Location: North

Let us know how you get on, and can you post details of what happens from walking through the door to leaving with your pieces of paper as I was asked today what happened, and while I could explain because others have told me it occured to me that many hear of BAER (hearing) testing but not the dynamic behind it. Ours is booked for a couple of weeks and I thought I would write a piece for my website but it would be good to compare your experience as I assume different practices do the test slightly different, and have different ways of getting the litter in to the vets - all at once or one at a time, and how to tell which have been done, which need to be done - can you imagine the same pup being tested several times Smile

thanks in advance

Jeangenie · Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 2208 Location: Denial

When I had my last litter done the vet had a wax stock-marker crayon and put a mark on the head of each puppy she tested. The whole litter was in a pen in the room and they were taken out one by one and returned to another one after testing.

Flygirl · Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 8:14 pm Post subject:

Surely the safest way is to have all pups microchipped before the BAER test, so no mistakes are possible?
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Liz, Jack, Rosie, Merlin, Sally and Jazz

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Maggi · Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 2880 Location: Derbyshire

I took a litter of 10 pups here recently. Here it is obligatory for the pups to be identified before testing (the vet will microchip them at the time of testing if not already done) and to be honest if they are not the test is worthless as the new owner has no real idea whether the bit of paper they receive relates to the dog they've bought. You can have pups either microchipped or tattooed but the dogs papers and BAER certificate should contain that information. Unfortunately it is not yet obligatory in UK, but really it makes sense as that way there can be no errors
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Maggi, Caper & Poppy (Hon. Spot)- Banjoliers, Faithful Followers and Forum Wanderers.

Jeangenie · Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 2208 Location: Denial

At work we've noticed that puppies microchipped young are more likely to have migrating chips, and I'm adding to that statistic - Daisy's is already low down on the left side of her neck near her shoulder. I'll be taking bets as to where it ends up!

Maggi · Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 2880 Location: Derbyshire

Interesting Jeangenie - here the dogs are chipped at top of leg on the front of shoulder anyway. they are all chipped young and don't seem to have too many problems. I'm always being picked up at shows etc cos my dog's chip is in a 'funny' place between the shoulder blade! Even though i tell them the location they obviously think I'm barking.

The new generation chips do seem to move less (though I advise everyone to get them checked each time they go to the vet). If worried about that you can have the pups tattooed instead (or as well) for hearing test purposes.
A hearing certificate without any ID is a bit pointless after all as it could belong to any dog of the right sex and colour.
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donothing · Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 1190 Location: North

When we phoned round for the cost of BAER testing we were quoted £25 to £57.80 per pup for the basic test, if sedation was required the cost jumped to around £104 per pup, though one did quote £124 per pup! only one practice stated they micro-chipped at the same time, some told me they did not micro-chip.

Spotalot · Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 2927 Location: Essex

Daisy was done at the same time as being tested and I could be wrong but I got the impression that the breeders local vet accompanied them and chipped them there!
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Carol and Daisy X

Anne Gurnsey · Joined: 03 May 2004 Posts: 624

Although I agree that unscrupulous breeders could fudge the results it is actually very easy to distinguish puppies at the age they are hearing tested. Many people use mini collars in rainbow colours for this. All mine had pet names as soon as they are distinguishable and I could always recognise them.

y Josh' hearing certificate says "red wool" as his breeder had tied a piece of wool round his neck.

Maggi · Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 2880 Location: Derbyshire

I realise that Anne. However elsewhere in the world they will not accept paperwork which does not identify the dog. Unfortunately (even though I asked for it to be otherwise) Caper was chipped AFTER his test so I have to have it re done if I want him confirmed here or if I want to use him at stud as his BAER paper is simply not acceptable as it gives liver dog and the pet name the breeder gave him, not even Caper!

I trust the breeder, but let's be honest if I was using a stud dog from another country whose owner and breeder I did not know well I too would not be that happy with a paper which simply identified the dog as 'liver dog'. It could be the paperwork for any dog at all. If the testers do not insist on ID then dishonest people could simply take the same pups a couple of times to different centres to end up with full hearing papers for all their puppies. Identity such as Josh had i.e. coloured collar could mean that an unscrupulous breeder could simply change the collars so that all his or her 'show' puppies had perfect hearing and by chance the less perfect ones were unis! Unless someone had the dog re-tested they would never know

It really is high time ALL dogs were properly identified. I've been tattooing my dogs for more than 20 years and now those who have a passport have to be chipped.

Dalmatians are very distinctive but the same cannot be said of all breeds. If we are all to work towards healthier dogs it is important that the health tests are meaningful.
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Maggi, Caper & Poppy (Hon. Spot)- Banjoliers, Faithful Followers and Forum Wanderers.

Flygirl · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:46 pm Post subject:

I absolutely agree with you, Maggi, and I believe there was a case in France recently where the hearing tests were fiddled by the breeder.

Because Merlin was imported from America, this was one of the requirements for registration with the Kennel Club, that all documents including his rabies test had to bear his microchip number and also he is jointly owned by someone in Italy, and this is important for European breeders.
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Liz, Jack, Rosie, Merlin, Sally and Jazz

www.elizabethsampsonpiano.co.uk
www.dalstorm.co.uk
www.nuadalseurope.co.uk
http://tyrodal-nuagene.blogspot.com/

Kalvadene spotties · Joined: 10 Apr 2011 Posts: 40 Location: Derby

well all went well on our trip up to chester last thursday for the puppies hearing tests. All 8 puppies allowed the test to be done without to much bother and results were 7 fully hearing puppies and one with eharing in his right ear only. Very Happy

Evejames · Joined: 13 Aug 2011 Posts: 253 Location: West Wales

Fantastic news! x
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Evie & Lilly
www.prettypawsponies.com

Evejames · Joined: 13 Aug 2011 Posts: 253 Location: West Wales

Fantastic news! x
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Evie & Lilly
www.prettypawsponies.com