20 Feb Health Testing at Club Autumn Garden Party Weekend 2025

Posted at 10:40h in BHI, BMD Health by

HEALTH TESTING AT CHAMPIONSHIP SHOW AND AUTUMN GARDEN PARTY 2025

PRELIMINARY NOTICE

We are very pleased to again be able to offer health testing at our big week-end event, again with the kind assistance of Bernese owner and breeder, Veterinary Surgeon Dr Rich Irvine who many will remember from our previous events. Exactly when this will be available over the week-end is still to be finalised  but we anticipate we will afford similar opportunity to last year when Dr Irvine  was present from late morning of the Garden Party and all/most of the day at the Championship Show to offer this testing. Thanks to a subsidy applied by the BHI from the health fund we will again offer reduced price health testing with no vet’s fees or postage costs (or the effort involved).

If you are booking either or both tests, please read the information below as by booking you will be deemed to have agreed to the conditions.

Please note that at this point, early February, we do not have all the details completed so booking is not available yet but we are making this announcement to assist people plan for their HS testing or Titre testing through the year.

When booking is available, in a few months time, this notice will be updated and an announcement made on the club’s Social Media.

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TITRE TESTING

  • This process checks your dog’s vaccine level for the three common diseases covered by the common DHP vaccine, namely: Distemper (CDV), Infectious Hepatitis (ICH) and Parvovirus (CPV) and Distemper (CDV). More information can be found at this link General Information about Titre testing
  • The test will utilise the market leading ‘Vaccicheck test’
  • This is a very proactive form of health care planning and is slowly being taken up and used by more and more owners and vets.
  • We are offering this for the bargain price of £40 per dog payable in advance.
  • As long as you are sampled early enough in the day you will receive a certificate showing your dog’s immunity levels on the day of the test. Please remember to collect your result before you leave if possible. (If there is no time it will be forwarded afterwards).
  • No results will be published and will only be known by yourself and Dr Irvine.
  • You will be able to book and pay for this in advance using the link below.
  • This test is available for all breeds at our event.

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HS TESTING

  • This test is only provided by French company Antagene in conjunction with the breed’s Histiocytic Sarcoma research based in France and the USA.
  • The test is included in a ‘suite of tests, from one blood sample, described by Antagene as a “Dog Genetic Check-up”, specific to our breed, grouping together the predictive test for Histiocytic Sarcoma, the traditional test (gives clear – carrier – affected/at risk results) for the autosomal conditions  for our breed’s two DMs, SoD1A/Exon 2 and SoD1B/EXON1 and Von Willebrand’s Disease and likewise for 3 morphological traits: curly hair, polydactyly, shedding. So, not only will you get the ‘Histio’ result but both the DM results that apply to Bernese, a von Willebrands disease test result plus a comment on three standard canine genes that indicate your dog’s propensity to have, or pass on, a curly coat, have, or pass on, extra rear toes and dew claws and whether or not he or she is likely to excessively shed hair or pass this trait on to any offspring.
  • OK, let’s be honest, we don’t get excited about the last few tests 🙂 and the real value of some of the latter tests for our breed is questionable BUT if you are wanting to take ‘Histio’ AND both DM tests with your Bernese this is a good value test for that reason alone and treat the rest as a bonus.
  • Antagene offer this test for 168€ (£145, lab fee alone) but we are able to offer it at our event for £135. (N.B. EXACT SUBSIDISED AMOUNT TO BE CONFIRMED FOR 2025)
  • This fee includes all costs, taking the test sample itself, equipment, veterinary cost, paperwork and postage (via Fedex) which also includes arranging French Customs clearance. So the saving in a vet’s fee, your effort and inconvenience only adds to the overall price reduction.
  • This is a predictive test for assessing breeding options, it is not intended for use by dogs with no intention of being used for breeding. It is purely for dogs expected to enter progeny into the breed’s gene pool or as a part of assessing if a dog might be suitable for this. There is no value and it is unnecessary expense for owners and our health fund in testing dogs whose owners have absolutely no intention of using them for breeding.
  • If all documentation is correctly prepared in advance, and your dog is relaxed and compliant with the vet, it should only take a few minutes for each test.
  • The certificate with your test results, A, B or C will be subsequently emailed, by Antagene, only to you and, in this case, Dr Irvine, as the vet who took the samples, who of course maintains professional confidentiality. No results are shared with the club. No part of the club, not the BHI nor the Health CoOrdinator  nor anyone else helping on the day receives any record of your results as a part of this process. Choosing to share them later, in whatever way you choose, will be entirely down to yourself. You do not have to make your result openly visible on the database and can choose only to briefly display at the time you are actually using it yourself.
  • You do not have to make your result openly visible on the database and can choose not to display it except at the time you are using it yourself.
  • In the booking follow up process you will be asked for your timing preference, Sunday afternoon or Monday, and we hope to accommodate everyone’s preferences as far as possible.
  • Your dog’s microchip has to be checked and validated as part of this process, so you will need to supply proof of your dog’s identity featuring its microchip number, e.g. KC registration certificate, if the number is included, for the vet to check.
  • If this is your first dog utilising the Antagene system you will be required to sign a Memorandum of Agreement.
  • As part of booking the test, on the Sumup system, you will be asked for an email address and more details and information requests will be sent to you (at some point) after booking, (as I write we have a few final details to complete). So please double check that your email address is entered correctly and clearly.

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HS TESTING SUPPORTING INFO

What is SH/HS and why the test?

Systemic Histiocytosis or Histiocytic Sarcoma remains by far the biggest single killer of Bernese Mountain Dogs. The occurrence of SH is influenced by many things, some we do not yet understand, but there are a number of genes that have been identified as implicated. How these specific genes combine with any potential mate’s matching genes has been found to be useful as an indicator as to the likelihood of SH occurring in that specific mating’s offspring. If enough breeders use the test and can use the results to positively influence choices the breed should begin to decrease the numbers of SH cases and over time reduce Bernese deaths due to SH..

  • Once you have your result you will be be able to include your dog on the HSIMS database and obtain specific predictions for the HS grading of any litters any specific mating will produce
  • Your A, B or C result has little meaning in its own right as how your dog combines individually with any potential specific mate on the HSIMS online database is the meaningful part of this system.
  • If you are not familiar with this system it is planned to be able to demonstrate it on request at the event. (Exact demo possibly subject to signal issues).
  • You do not have to make your result openly visible on the database and can choose not to display it except at the time you are using it yourself. Most people however, leave their dogs visible all the time.
  • The test’s creators have always been the first to stress, and the club wishes to remind everyone, that the HS test, or to be precise any HSIMS result that leads from it, is just one criteria to include in breeding choices alongside all the other well documented factors, as included in the club’s Code of Ethics and  Breed Health and Conservation Plan.
  • The test’s creators have also always been keen to stress that Grade C dogs should not be automatically removed from the gene pool, only that more care should be taken selecting a mate.
  • An explanation of the test and demonstration of how to use your result will be available on request over the whole extended week-end.

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GENERAL INFORMATION

  • If demand is low it might be possible to offer a limited amount of casual  booking capability on the day, but only if you have the necessary paperwork present of course. However to ensure you are accommodated it is essential to book in advance.
  • Bookings will close on a date to be confirmed but will be a few weeks prior to the event to allow planning.
  • There is no limit to the number of dogs any one person can take advantage of these offers with but please be aware of the above comments about the purpose of the SH test and it being created for potential breeding dogs.
  • ON THE DAY TIMINGS – Please listen for announcements on the day or check with the BHI stand for advice but we have to work around the main event and it is not the intention to delay any judging or events due to offering this test. We will be as flexible and accommodating as we possibly can be and this will be influenced by the numbers we are dealing with, but there will have to be a cut off time so please try and attend for your test at earlier opportunities rather than leave it to the end of the day. Experience has shown us that dogs are not traumatised or affected by this sampling and can undergo the testing at any convenient time, before they appear in the show ring.
  • Testing will only be undertaken after payment, even if possible to book on the day. (Card payment will be available on site).
  • We reserve the right to cancel this testing if demand appears too low to make it a viable exercise. In this case refunds will be paid but this is another reason to book in advance.
  • We reserve the right to cancel dogs if a sample cannot be obtained due to the dog’s uncooperative behaviour in which case a refund will be given.
  • If the whole event has to be cancelled, due to inclement weather or ground conditions for example, then (obviously!) the sampling will not be able to take place and refunds will be given.
  • The BHI/club will provide a private, screened off area for the testing to take place.
  • Dr Irvine will not be shaving dogs to obtain the blood samples, but in the unlikely event that any dog did require shaving to facilitate taking the sample, this will only be done with permission from the handler and if not acceptable, a refund will be given.
  • Dogs taking both tests will only need to have one blood sample taken.
  • Owners will be able to stay with their dogs for the sampling.

For any further queries contact  bhi@bernese.co.uk

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BOOKING A TEST

This is not yet available.

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By booking either or both of these tests you will be deemed as agreeing to the conditions listed above, notably the club’s right to cancel the testing, en masse or individually if necessary.

Please note, at the start of the online booking process use the drop down arrow to choose the test you desire and then click “Add to Cart”, and not “Buy Now” if you want to add a second test or further purchase.

After booking you will receive an acknowledgement email from the Sumup system and sometime after that a further email giving more information and requesting more details to assist our planning.

Link to the Booking & Payment for Titre Testing and ‘Dog Genetic Check-up’ Testing (N.B. Link not live yet)

I hope we get a good response to this opportunity to make it worthwhile offering this facility. Please do not assume it will be automatically be available every year as we also rely on the good will of Dr Irvine.

Thank you

Steve Green, Breed Health CoOrdinator