COUNTRYSIDE ANIMAL CLINIC

Dr Jennifer Lortie
I met Jen in 2005 when I began working at the King Animal Clinic.
She knows all my dogs, cats and kids by name!! No small feat!!
She has been a wonderful listening ear and gives me wonderful advice.
She has helped me along the way and I value her opinion.
She provides wonderful care at her clinic. She is not only a wonderful Vet,
I am fortunate to call her my friend! We have had some interesting adventures along the way!  I might add her daughter Addie is the cutest assistant ever!!
Clinic reference:
(260) 635-1700 WWW.COUNTRYSIDEANIMAL-CLINIC.COM

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ALPHA VET ANIMAL CLINIC

Dr Greg Ashley and his staff also provide vet care to my dog. This bunch do a fantastic job and we spend time together in and out of the vet clinic. For vet reference call (260) 768-9103 www.alphavet.clinic

Here at Yankeeland we do health testing on all of our breeding dogs.  We think it is a good starting point when trying to provide you with a healthy puppy.  Keep in mind that even with health testing there is no guarantee that a puppy will never develope a health problem in its life.  I have purchased many dogs myself and have come to the knowledge that there is no 100% guarantee. 

Here is a list of some of the diseases we currently test for:

PRA 1 & 2 Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) in dogs is the canine equivalent of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in humans and is characterized by vision loss due to degeneration of the photoreceptor cells in the retina. This degenerative disease eventually leads to complete blindness. PRA affects more than 100 dog breeds, and is caused by numerous mutations. One variant, prcd-PRA, only accounts for a very small proportion of PRA cases in the Golden Retriever breed. Two new causes of PRA in Golden Retrievers have been identified and are refered to as GR-PRA1 and GR-PRA2.  GR_PRA1 and GR-PRA2 are inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. This means that both forms of the disease will occur only if two copies of the identical mutation are present; carriers of one copy of the either mutation do not show disease.  By ensuring that at least one parent is Normal/Clear either variant then no affected offspring will be produced.  See below for expected breeding outcomes when the GR-PRA1/GR-PRA2 genotype have been determined by DNA testing.


PROGRESSIVE ROD-CONE DEGENERATION (PRCD)
 The genetic disorder,
prcd-PRA  , causes cells in the retina at the back of the eye to
degenerate and die, even  though the cells seem to develop normally early in
life. The “rod” cells  operate in low light levels and are the first to lose
normal function. Night  blindness results. Then the “cone” cells gradually lose
their normal function  in full light situations. Most affected dogs will
eventually be blind.  Typically, the clinical disease is recognized first in
early adolescence or  early adulthood. Since age at onset of disease varies
among breeds, you should  read specific information for your dog. Diagnosis of
retinal disease can be  difficult. Conditions that seem to be prcd-PRA
might instead be another  disease and might not be inherited.

Von Willebrand Disease (vWD) is a common genetic bleeding  disorder that can occur
in dogs. In fact, it is not a single disease, but a  family of related diseases
of variable severity. All the different types in  humans and in dogs are caused
by a problem with the Von Willebrand Factor  (vWF). This is a protein in blood
which is necessary for proper blood  coagulation, or clotting. When there is not
enough of the protein in the blood,  bleeding can be uncontrolled and sometimes
life threatening. Symptoms can  include undue bleeding of the umbilical cord at
birth, extended bleeding at the  time of tail docking, blood in the urine, or
swelling in various body parts.  Not all animals show clinical symptoms.

 WHAT IS CERF?
The Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF) is an organization that was
  founded by a group of concerned, purebred owner/breeders who recognized that
the  quality of their dog's lives were being affected by heritable eye disease.
CERF  was then established in conjunction with cooperating, board certified,
  veterinary ophthalmologists, as a means to accomplish the goal of elimination
of  heritable eye disease in all purebred and recently hybrid dogs by forming a
  centralized, national registry.
The CERF Registry not only registers those dog's certified free of heritable
  eye disease by board certified Veterinary Ophthalmologists (A.C.V.O. ), but
also  collects data on all dogs examined by A.C.V.O. Diplomates. These data are
used  to form the CERF research database which is useful in researching trends
in eye  disease and breed susceptibility. Not only are these data useful to
clinicians  and students of ophthalmology, but to interested breed clubs and
individual  breeders and owners of specific breeds.



Hip dysplasia is an abnormal formation of the hip socket that,
in its more severe form, can eventually cause crippling lameness and painful arthritis
of the joints. It is a genetic (polygenic) trait that is affected by
environmental factors. It can be found in many animals and in
humans, but is most commonly associated with dogs, and is common in many dog breeds,
particularly the larger breeds.