not doing the appropriate health checks. This goes for every breed of dog not just cockers.
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Forgive me if I am wrong and I sense the health check thing is quite big at the moment, but as a layman as I see it and I am by no means knowledgeable on the subject and correct me if I am wrong, but theres an old saying 'if it isn't broke don't fix it' now from my understanding working cockers historically have not suffered many of the health problems other breeds or show cockers have experienced, but there is a view that health issues are increasing. However, is this due to bad breeding and therefore goes back to the issue of working cockers becoming desirable for the pet market buyer. So its a bit of a 'chicken and egg' if the breeding was kept tight and potential owners did their homework would there be health issues. The more we check the more we find and we allow the bad breeders to continue about their business as there will always be people wanting to get a bargin, even for their long time companion and friend!. I think what I am saying is that as 'pet' owners of workers and I include myself in this, we are adding to the problem of the worker becoming less of a worker and more of a 'pet' thus losing many of the qualities that made it a worker in the first place. Oh god I am rambling I haven't posted for ages and now I am off!!!!
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there's a long thread on this
but briefly...no, working cockers are not exempt from any of the hereditary problems like FN and PRA - in fact PRA is now showing in a few lines (of the few dogs that have been tested) but the breeders (and some are considered very 'good' working cocker breeders, using FT CH as sire's etc) are sticking their heads in the sand and continuing to breed without testing.
The tight breeding IS one of the issues. The 'famous' working cocker breeders are just as much responsible as the hobby breeder or BYB's here because 99 percent of them (and there are very few exceptions to this) are testing their breeding stock.
my dog isn't tested...yet.