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Deafness In Acd's


sheena
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raja - there were similar issues in NSW recently I think where the only BAER machine available was in disrepair! It does not make it easy for folk like yourself who are trying to tick all the boxes. I know the Dally Club in Vic really rallied around a particular country vet clinic to do the testing and advertise in the newsletter. That seems to have been a good outcome for all.

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I have a litter of 8, nearly 8 week old ACD's, and I am an ethical reg breeder. I'm in Tassie, and unfortunately we do not have a Baer machine here, so unless I pop my unvaccinated 6-8 week old babies, on a plane and go to Victoria, (at great expense), I'm not able to Baer test them. (Clearly this is against C of E, and Airlines would not accept them, either). I did find someone who would travel with their portable machine at my expense, from Vic, but they could only do it when the babies were 4 weeks old. This is too young, so we were not able to have them done. Mum has been Baer tested as bilateral full hearing, Dad is untested.

I do have one sweet girl who is deaf, discovered at about 4 weeks, and there was much heart v's head decisions to be made about her. Eventually we decided not to PTS, and as of today, she appears to have found the perfect home. This is only the second deaf pup we have bred, the first being in our 1st litter, a plain faced red girl. This girl now has double face masks, which suprised me a little, as it's often the plain faced pups that are deaf. I don't know if there are any pups with unilateral hearing, but I know the rest have good enough hearing.

I would Baer test in a heart-beat, if I had access to a machine. The disadvantages on living on an island :mad.

I flew to Melbourne to Test my dog after the Uni lied about there machine for over 8 months,i found out this year one of the emergency clinics/referral centres has a machine in the Dermatology section which they allow for testing litters /breeding stock ,had to find that one out after seeing it on FB .

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raja - there were similar issues in NSW recently I think where the only BAER machine available was in disrepair! It does not make it easy for folk like yourself who are trying to tick all the boxes. I know the Dally Club in Vic really rallied around a particular country vet clinic to do the testing and advertise in the newsletter. That seems to have been a good outcome for all.

TSD, we have previously tried to get a couple of different Vets to purchase a Baer Machine, and then train up a few staff members to read the info, but unfortunately it was all a bit too hard, and apparently too expensive to purchase, for the limited amount of breeders, (i. e. Dally, Bull Terrier, ACD etc), that would use it. I'm off to vaccinate my babies on Monday, so I might actually ask again, see what outcome might come from that. It was just sooo frustrating. Might talk to some breeders at the next show, and talk to Dogs Tasmania as well.

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Its an interesting topic ,vets are the first to complain if deaf puppies appear but then they can't be bothered getting the equipment .

Its not like BAER testing sole purpose is for breeders so its amazing that such a simple & needed to tool is often put into the to hard basket

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Could perhaps the Tasmanian ACD, Koolie, Border Collie, Dalmation, English Setter, Bull Terrier etc. etc. (all breeds which have a high incidence of pigment lack associated deafness) breeders get together and raise funds towards one or two BAER machines to be operated by a teaching university that has a veterinary medicine course? Perhaps one in Launceston and one in Hobart?

Fund raising could include looking for sponsors etc.

Perhaps by the time you got enough breeders to say they would use one if it was in the state, theN some enterprising vet might decide that there was money in it and buy one! smile.gif

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Sorry guys, I've not been in here for a few days...

Just to answer you all individually...

DDD yes there are 3 I'm thinking of too, I will have to catch up with them, at the next show, gauge the enthusiasm... Along with other breeders with dogs affected by deafness.

TSD, thank you so much for that offer, give me a few months, and I might be contacting you :) ... No shows down here till Aug, and not friends on FB with a few of the people I need to contact.

Showdog, yep living with constant frustration down here. Vet prices are exorbitant, along with all pet supplies, fresh fruit and vegies etc, etc... This Baer machine issue has been going on for many years, and it's just knock-back, (read disinterest), after knock-back, after knock-back :mad...

RuralPug, as far as I'm aware there is only a B. C. Club of Tas, no other single breed club, affected by deafness down here. I will contact them, though, see if I can get their help/input. Again, unfortunately our one and only Uni does not have Veterinary Science available for us down in Tassie... I hadn't thought of sponsorship, but that IS something I could look into...

I love living down here, mostly, but at times like this, I could move to the 'big island' in a heartbeat, lol...

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BAER machines (even the basic ones) are not cheap + the vet would probably need to go on a course to be able to use and interpret the print out.

I understand that the Vet School in Sydney is the only (?) place where they have the full range of BAER equipment and can even test for unusual "selective" hearing problems :laugh: :laugh:

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