Health (common health problems in the breed and life expectancy)

 

 

 

Caucasian shepherds continue to become more and more popular.
A lot of really bad breeders that are involved in this breed for all the wrong reasons are slowly but surely ruining Caucasian shepherd dogs.
So if you want to avoid heartache only get a CO from breeders that health & temperament tests (more on how to locate an ethical CO breeder click here).
Look for breeders whose main goal is to breed stable, healthy dogs, with a correct temperament as according to the breed standard.

And avoid breeders who claim that CO's are a very healthy breed with no/very few health issues.

Several health problems occur in this breed.

The most common ones are: Hip/Elbow Dysplasia, Hypothyroidism, Heart diseases, Skin issues, Ectropion & Entropion, Bloating etc.
To any potential buyers I will say this: this breed is quite expensive, avoid breeders who breed mainly for looks (unfortunately there are way too many Caucasian shepherd breeders out there who breed for the massive size, which leads to even more health problems).

 

A note on hip dysplasia, HD is a polygenic disease, but there are environmental (i.e. non-genetic) influences as well.

Recent studies have shown that by keeping your growing large puppy lean and by providing daily exercise out in gently undulating terrain, it can dramatically lower incidence of hip dysplasia.

Whereas the daily use of steps while puppies are growing up increased the risk of HD.

Also, avoid breeders that are purposely breeding giant CO's. This breed is not supposed to be giant even though there is no maximum height or weight set in their breed standard.

So look for a breeder that really pays attention to correct structure and functionality.
Most males in this breed tend to be between 29 and 32 inches tall at withers and most females around 26-28 inches.
Their weight should be in proportion to the height, giving a balanced, imposing appearance. This breed is supposed to be agile and long living.
Well bred Caucasian shepherd dogs generally live around 12 years.

 

Avoid breeders that regularly inbreed, avoid inbred litters

 

Studies show there is more of a chance that your puppy will be healthy if it doesn't comes from inbred parents.

It is generally agreed that any dog whose COI (Coefficient of Inbreeding) is over 6 % is inbred.

A COI of 12.5% is equivalent to a half brother/half sister mating. And a COI of 25% is equivalent to a parent/child or brother/sister mating.

People new to the breed won't be able to tell much by just looking at the names in the pedigree, but at the very least the future buyer should try to avoid litters from parents that have a lot of ancestors in common.

 

And nowadays there are free COI calculators out there (like this one for example: http://www.czerwonytrop.com/inb/ ). All you have to do is fill in the names from your future puppy's pedigree, and this program calculates your future puppy's COI for you.

 

You don't have to inbreed to get dogs to look alike, you don't have to inbreed to get the type and traits you desire.

If you breed like to like in looks with dogs that are relatively unrelated, you will be able to maintain type without damaging the gene pool.

Too much inbreeding can be a catastrophe to the gene-pool and the health of the dogs.