My boy is now 18 months old and I am wondering where to start with his health testing. Both his parents were Ataxia clear but I was informed I should test for that any way. Other than that what should I test for and when should I start?

At this point I have no plans to breed him but I haven't ruled it out in case he ends up being a good candidate.

You do not have to for Ataxia. If both parents are clear then the pups are. Anyone one that tells you that you have to then don't believe in the test anyway. I am not 100 sold on it anyways but I listen..lol My top tests are Heart and Hips... But I will bet you will get a LIST of the Amstaff laws of the tests you HAVE to do.. Some you probably never heard of.. hahal

Like Larry said no need to Ataxia test. I do Pennhip, OFA Cardiac, DNA(not health test) after 2 years. They are tools for me and my breeding program. Work with your breeder.

Standard health testing for me is HD & ED to start with, 18 months is the ideal age for it.
Dogs with HD/ED need special care and special supplements (ED, not always with HD if mild) so it should be high priority to test for these things in your dog even if it's only a pet and especially if it's a working dog or future stud.

Thank you guys for the input. What is HD/ED?

HD = Hip Dysplasia
ED = Elbow Dysplasia

Ok thank you for the explanation. I will definitely be doing hips but I hadn't thought of elbows.

Since we started to check elbows here in Scandinavia and the Nordic region we realized there is as big problems with ED as there is with HD. And the problem with HD is extensive. It's very rare a breeder gets all dogs from a litter with clear hips and elbows.

Only way to breed better dogs for the future is to eliminate dogs with moderate to severe HD/ED and only breed fair/mild to excellent. Only way we can do that is when all breeders and owners of studs start to test both HD & ED so we have a better view of what is out there and a better variety of tested dogs.

In Sweden and Finland it is now standard to test HD and ED and has been for some time. If you are going to x-ray the hops why not take couple extra pictures of the elbows too while the dog is laying there. It's so easy and does not cost much extra and of course always send the pictures for official reading OFA or FCI. Over here in Europe the results are not considered official unless the dog is at least 12 months old at the time of the x-rays.

My only thing is that I am going to test for issues that I have seen or I have known of others with. I am not going to test for something that someone might have started to test for just because they had the money to do so or they did because they "heard" of a dog that had something and then go around preaching that it is a issue in our breed and we have to test for it. For ED.. Yes, I will test for it if my vet has time to do with hips but if it gets done or not, I don't care. In 20 yrs I have NEVER had on with those issues or known of anyone and I known alot in those 20yrs.. But that is how I feel on ED..

I typically test for the following at two years:

Cerebellar ataxia, unless the parents are both clear
Hips
Elbows
Cardiac
CERF (eyes)
Thyroid

If the dog passes all these tests, then I consider them fit to breed.

Temperament is also a primary issue. A poor temperament rules the dog out for breeding before any testing is done.

If you don't test, you don't know what you are breeding. Sometimes a breeder can get a rude awakening! These conditions can get passed on for generations before someone tests for them and then they appear and everyone wonders what happened and they don't know where it came from. My philosophy is to rule everything out before breeding and if something appears in the line, eliminate that dog from the breeding program immediately.

A serious passionate breeder with the best interest for this breed will have their breeding material well tested and evaluated before breeding and they will eliminate dogs with significant flaws from future breeding - health wise or in mentality. Breeders who do not, are not quality breeders. They belong with the rest of the puppy peddling backyard breeders.

I have to disagree a tad on that. Most backyard breeders don't believe in ANY testing.. Because you don't believe in testing that you feel is not needed does not make you a backyard breeder at all.. If someone believes in 5 tests and someone else believes 10 does not make one better than the other.. It is all base on beliefs and what they have seen in their own yard in most cases. Testing is a TOOL for each breeder..

Testing is a way to determine the quality of the dog. Without testing there is nothing that tells if a dog is suitable for breeding or not.
A breeder that for example eliminates a succesful show dog from breeding due to bad health results and/or mentality is someone that earns my deepest respect. You always have to keep the best interest of the breed as general and the dogs as individuals closest to heart. When you breed two untested dogs, or two dogs with bad health/mentality, you contribute to the destruction of the breed and you gove bad odds to the dog having a long heatlhy life. And what about the owner, who gets a sick or unbalanced dog. Selfish convenient reckles breeding is wrong on so many levels.

There has to be something that separates the backyard breeders; who breed for money, for convenience, for selfish reasons - and serious reputable breeders; who use selective breeding only using the best of the best in their breeding program based on official health and mentality tests. If you do not use selective breeding as a strategy and goal in your breeding program then I am sorry, but that makes you a second class breeder. Testing is a tool to determine quality, testing is not a reason for breeding just by itself.

Sure, you dont have to use every test ever invented for canines but at least test for the health issues known to the breed.

Oh and I agree to a point.. There are limits though. To down someone that does a test or two less than you just is not right to me. That is all i am saying.. Backyard breedersdon't believe in any testing.. Like I said. I know personally I don't believe in testing for everything out there it if is not known in our breed. There are MANY out there that is living very nicely and test for everything not because it is a must. Then they push it and say it is a issue in our breed and we all have to test for it.. Just like thyroid. I have tested many of my dogs for it and never had a issue but did it because the vet said an issue could be that. Why would I test thyroid if I NEVER had an issue in 20 yrs? Just because others do and they try to make a law. I don't down ANYONE for testing for everything.. More power to them! but to say someone is better because they test for unneeded things is foolish.. Any breeder that test hearts, ataxia, hips has ALL my respect! anything above that is a bonus.

The most important and basic tests in my opinion is HD & ED. To breed ataxia clear dogs today is so easy that mentioning the importance of ataxia tested breeding material seems redundant. What upsets me is when people test their females for HD & ED, get really bad results (moderate+) and still use the dog for breeding, as if the fact that the dogs are tested makes the dogs suitable as breeding material. What's even worse is if they breed those females to untested males or males that also have bad results. But, as long as there are people willing to pay for puppies from untested parents there will always be breeders producing litters. Puppy buyers should be more demanding and choosy that way they force us breeders to step up our game and make better choices in our breeding programs.