ARDS Action Program

Dalmatian Club of Finland decided at the annual meeting 13.11.1993 which dogs should not be used in breeding to avoid the risk of getting ARDS. The decision was made in accordance with the proposition of the breeding committee:

• dogs who have transmitted ARDS = known passers
• offspring of dogs, who have transmitted ARDS = passers with at least 50 % probability
• dogs, whose littermates have transmitted ARDS = passers with at least 50 % probability

The club tried to exclude the most propable passers of ARDS from the breeding program, without endangering the genetic variation of the breed too much. The procedure was consulted with PhD Anna-Kaisa Järvinen, and with her help Danish genetic Dr Andresen. Some discussions were also made with the genetic of Finnish Kennel Club, Päivi Rantasalo.

New restrictions

After the last ARDS-litter -97 decision about some new rules were made in the annual meeting 15.11.1997, based on assumpiton about O'Soul Escada as the 'source' of ARDS.

In a planned litter, that has O'Soul Escada in the background of both parents, the 'risk factor' is counted as the sum of generations from the dam and the sire of the planned litter to the 'nearest possible passer' of ARDS. This sum of generations from the dam and from the sire should not be smaller than 10 (the smaller it is, the bigger is the risk to get ARDS in the litter).

'Possible passer' of ARDS are defined as follows:

• known passers (dogs who are parents of puppies died of ARDS)
• assumed passers (dogs who are the only way in the pedigree from O'Soul Escada to a parent of ARDS-litter), marked with ring or square with shadow in the chart
• possible passers (dogs who are between O'Soul Escada and a parent of ARDS-litter, but there excists also another possible route, where ARDS can have been passed), marked with 'plain' square or ring

See the document ardstree

In the annual meeting 28.11.98 list of dogs, that should not be used in breeding was updated by adding there dogs, that are the only way from O'Soul Escada to an ARDS-litter ('assumed passers'), and their offspring.

Dogs, that should not be used in breeding (updated 11/98)