I was gonna say - I'm talking about Cataracts. Hips isn't a problem within the breed among show dogs.

Ha - i think I need a nap.

Is the reason JC isn't so strongly controlled because it doesn't have much effect on the relative health dogs besides being a minor visual obstruction? Just curious. Both of my Chihuahuas have congenital juvenile cataracts which are not progressive in either dog. Both dogs are rescues however I am lucky enough to have their papers and their background information. Faith comes from one of the litters of a successful show breeder and has a nice pedigree with many champions in her lineage and she has hereditary JC. Glory (Faith's daughter) comes from a BYB and her sire's pedigree shows nothing worthy of note and of course her dam is Faith. The JC do not impair them and will not keep them from living long, healthy lives which is the reason for my question.

It depends on who you talk to Val - but I think the reason it is so prevalent in Siberians is because before we could test it in our breed, we bred and bred certain dogs that were winners. These dogs were carries and we didn't know until we had already spread it everywhere.

Siberians are from a relatively small gene pool originally, things like this just happen.

JC can be much more than just a 'minor' vision impairment, it can also be quite painful and even more so to surgically correct. I agree the reasoning behind why it's so predominant and feel the reason the numbers remain so high is due to the fact many of these BYB and 'hobby' breeders don't bother to health check because that's "only for show dogs".

Agreed Lani - CD is minor in comparison. JC can be very scary.

mheath0429 wrote:

Agreed Lani - CD is minor in comparison. JC can be very scary.

My dog has CD. (I have no clue about his origins, but most likely a BYB somewhere in NC). It may or may not progress according to my vet (just a regular vet - not a board cert ophthalmologist). So far his vision seems unaffected. (He was neutered before I got him, so hopefully never had an opportunity to pass it along)

I was in contact with a show breeder a while back and was asking about their breeding stock's CERF and OFA status (among a bunch of other questions.) I was asking things beyond whether or not their dogs are tested because I was curious about things like how old was the dog when he had his last eye exam (because some eye conditions don't show up until later); OFA fair versus good and excellent. Things like that. Anyway, they didn't even acknowledge those questions! Does anyone else find that odd, or could I have offended them somehow? Gahhh I need to find a good mentor near me. (and eventually a good show pup)

I wouldn't go to a breeder that wouldn't answer my questions, Samantha. You may just need to travel outside of your area to find a decent breeder.

mheath0429 wrote:

I wouldn't go to a breeder that wouldn't answer my questions, Samantha. You may just need to travel outside of your area to find a decent breeder.

Most definitely! I immediately scratched them from my list. I was just really disappointed because the hubby is a higher up in a certain breed club, so I thought they might be more helpful.

I would love opinions on Kale! I'm not very good with conformation and haven't done much research in that area. I would love to know his faults.

Side View







Side of face





Front of face

I will reply abotu Kale in a bit - but that watermelon pic was ADORABLE

Thanks! He love's watermelon I just realized that I don't have a pic of his tail, it does curve into a sickle in the middle of his back when standing still, and the tips of his fur touches but his actual tail does not. When walking his tail curves slightly to the left side over his back, still not touching (only his fur touches).

Realistically the main faults I see are eyes too round, the tail set in the first pic looks too high (which is where the drastic curve carriage would come from), to me he looks down on his pasturns a bit in the front. I'd like to see a movement shot personally to really be able to judge that. He's cute though, and the watermelon pic is precious

He has a permanent limp from his left shoulder. I haven't gotten a CT scan yet to see what the cause is. He's had 4 X-rays of his elbow and paw, and all came back clear. You are so right, his eyes are more round than show dogs I see. So interesting to compare! When I get home I'll try and find a movement pic, or I'll take one

Jennet&Embry wrote:

Okay I'll post So I don't think Ares is too bad, when he was younger he had a nice ear set, but I don't know, he's not really growing into them

Ares gaiting


7 months


his front


and a self stack at 10 months

Can you guys tell me what you think of Ares, he's the only one I've considered showing. The only fault I've been told was his lack of coat, but I've only had one person give me an opinion that bred huskies.

Jennet, is he out of standard? I know you had said he was pretty tall

Nope he's actually shorter then both Embry and Zoey, I think he's pushing 21" at 55lbs

Hmm well,

Faults - I think Ares is a bit narrow in front, but could just be the picture. Pretty straight front. large ears. high set tail. could use a bit more coat, I don't think that would keep him too warm in the tundra!

Advantages: Nice stop. really dark nose. nice top line. nice markings.

He would do decent in UKC altered, i'm sure.

Yeah I was told before he was altered that he could probably get his CH pretty easily. but I wouldn't even both putting him in AKC

Thanks Megan

Altered they CAN be more forgiving, but you can get some really good dogs in it. Linda, out of Qudos, had a dog that was structurally wonderful and had a great coat, nice face, just a great dog. He would have finished so fast - but he was cryptorchid. now he is with Kevin and has his first show in UKC altered this weekend. He will probably win it all.

This was supposed to be the sire and dam of my puppy, but Ares crashed those plans. But I wouldn't trade him for anything

Sire: CH Kristari's Black Tie Affair


Dam: CH Kristari’s Sneak Attack


I love Tie so much

Jennet, are they not OFA/CERF tested? I can't find them in the database.

I'm pretty sure they are, I asked her and she said they were. Sneakers isn't owned by Kristari, just co owned but I know Tie was

Her site says he's clear CERF and OFA excellent
http://www.kristarisiberians.com/html/tie.html

I found him, in OFA she lied on her site though. His OFA score was good
http://www.offa.org/display.html?appnum=1275883#animal

but I found nothing on CERF