I will start by apologising that I have not progressed things since the last meeting and have seriously considered standing down from the role. I do have a very busy life with a demanding job, two children still at primary school, and of course, my own animals. Adding to what is the norm for me, I have not been very well this year and simply have not had the energy to do this ‘job’ justice. However, things are now improving significantly following successful treatment, and I am back at work.
A summary of the current health picture;
Hearts – I have been promising an accessible list of clear/innocent murmurs (confirmed by Doppler list) for far too long. Keeping the database up to date has been hampered by having someone suitable to do it, and also having long delays between tests being done and my receiving the results. The inputting will be worked on over the summer holidays. Being realistic, I have set the main priority for the remainder of 2026 as to get this resource available on the Breed Council website. What I ask for is some understanding when it does go live. I can only publish the results I have received. So your dog may well have had a 0/6 auscultation test or has a low-grade murmur that’s been confirmed as innocent on Doppler – but if I haven’t seen the results, it can’t go on. I will include dogs tested in 2025 and 2026.
Whilst on this subject, I need to make it ‘clear’ (excuse the pun!), what a clear heart test is. A clear heart test is the detection of no murmur at all – a grade 0/6. I have recently seen examples of people advertising their dogs as ‘heart tested clear’ when the results I have indicate that this is not the case. If you have had a Doppler due to a previous murmur being detected, please look at the certificate carefully. I have included a photograph to illustrate this. The dog in question has a confirmed grade 1-2 heart murmur, but the Doppler shows there is no heart disease, and the murmur is an innocent one. However, it is incorrect to state the dog is ‘heart tested clear’. This result will be on the public list as a grade 1-2 innocent murmur; it is not the same as being clear. When using a stud dog on your bitch, or if you have a stud dog and someone has asked to use them on their bitch, or if you are buying a puppy, please, please ensure that you see the heart testing certificates first. Also, remember that it is the most recent test that will be displayed in the results. I will write up some more information around this subject, ready for the next group testing session – WCOS later in the year. So it is fully understandable what your options are and the next steps.
I am also aware of people having some frustration with heart testing results and the accuracy of auscultation. I will again cover this in the information I write up. However, to summarise, auscultation is cheap and reasonably easy to access with the support of our Clubs putting on group sessions. Many years ago, the first cardiologist to work with the breed made the following comment: ” You can’t fake a clear’. So if no murmur is heard, that’s it. So 75%+ of people will get a clear heart test for a low cost. If there is no murmur, there isn’t a problem. I think that calling for Doppler-only tests is a backward step. The higher costs make it less accessible, and with no mandatory testing for the breed, I think the number of tests would significantly decline. Yes, it’s frustrating to get a murmur on auscultation which later isn’t there (yes, I’ve been there too), but personally, I am happy to
be able to have the option of an auscultation test first and not spend hundreds on a Doppler unnecessarily.
Since the last meeting, a very successful group session was held at the Boston Championship Show. I’ve heard lots of positive comments about the cardiologist and the setup. Thank you, Alayna, for getting this off the ground. When I get the results, I will provide a summary. The Doppler session organised by NWA a couple of months ago had 16 dogs for testing. Of those 16, 12 were clear. As above – this means that no murmur was detected. The other 4 had murmurs, and Doppler confirmed that, in each case, this was due to varying degrees of Mitral Valve Disease. There were no innocent murmurs detected during this session.
At this time, the group sessions confirmed are WCOS at their autumn open/limit show and SWWC at their championship show in Feb 2027.
LTV – I have had no one else approach me to say that their dogs have been tested or are under investigation for this. Several people have read the documents, but I haven’t had anything back. I do feel that calling a meeting at this point wouldn’t achieve anything. Happy to expand on this during the meeting, but in essence, I think it’s a watch-and-wait at this point for the UK.
I continue to field a significant amount of emails from members of the public. I do prioritise these and have ensured throughout that people get a satisfactory response. Again, apologies, I’ve not done more.
Jo Whitehead, Breed Health Coordinator
Example of a Grade 1 – 2 murmur confirmed as a physiological murmur (normal) by Doppler. The dog/bitch is not clear, but the murmur is not an indication of heart disease.
