Genetic Health Issues
The Bordoodle may be the healthiest of all “doodles” because it is mixed with the Border Collie, which has long been bred for health and temperament rather than looks. Border Collies are considered one of the healthiest purebred breeds. Bordoodles are a hyrid dog bred from a Border Collie and Standard Poodle. Because there are two parent breeds involved in the creation of the Bordoodle, this means that there are possible conditions that come from both Border Collies and Poodles. Below is a compilation of health issues that are commonly found in both breeds.
Addison's disease
Dogs and humans (among many other species) have a pair of glands called the adrenal glands. These glands are located on each kidney. Addison's disease is a more common name for Hypoadrenocorticism which is a hormonal disorder that affects the adrenal gland’s ability to produce the glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids that are critical to your dog's life. Some signs of Addison’s disease can include an increase in thirst and urination, unexplained weight loss, lethargy, diarrhea, and vomiting. Some dogs may exhibit episodes of uncontrollable shaking.
Addison’s disease is typically diagnosed using clinical testing. Blood tests and urine tests can check for electrolyte imbalances, and decreases of sodium and increases of potassium in the blood. Dogs diagnosed with Addison’s disease need long-term treatment going forward. But the good news is most dogs with this condition can be stabilized with the appropriate medications, or in some cases glucocorticoid replacement therapy can be a valuable treatment option.
Allergies
Allergies are when the dog’s immune system goes into a state of hypersensitivity or reactivity to a substance. Border Collies have inhalant allergies and food allergies more often than some of the other forms allergies can present in. Poodles are more prone to skin allergies or “contact allergies”.
Treatments for allergies can vary depending on the type of allergy. For example, food allergies may require a change in diet, aiming to avoid the allergen. Dogs with skin allergies may have to have lifestyle changes to avoid the allergen or be put on an allergy relief medication to mitigate their condition. Luckily, allergies in dogs typically are not life threatening.
Cancer
Cancer is a disease that affects the afflicted animal's body by dividing cells uncontrollably and spreading them into surrounding tissues and organs. Cancer can be caused by changes to the genes in a dog's DNA. Unfortunately there are many things that cause cancer.
Below are some of the most common forms of cancer found in dogs.
Bone Cancer or Osteosarcoma
Bone cancer or osteosarcoma is a type of cancer that grows as a tumor that is found in the bone tissue of your dog. Bone cancer can affect any breed of dog but is more commonly found in larger breeds of dog. This can be due to both environmental causes or genetic/hereditary causes.
Melanoma
Melanoma is a type of cancer in dogs that typically affects the mouth. Most commonly developing into a malignant tumor inside of the oral cavity. However, malignant melanoma can also develop as skin cancer in dogs, affecting pigmented cells on the head, forelimbs, or anywhere that has hair.
Hemangiosarcoma
Hemangiosarcoma is a rapidly spreading cancer that is highly malignant. This type of cancer can cause tumors almost anywhere in the body, including common places such as the heart and spleen of the dog. This form of cancer is often found in the advanced stages when it is diagnosed because many of the symptoms can be easily missed.
Mast Cell Tumors
Mast cell tumors are also a form of skin cancer. Mast cells are found in the connective tissues and many of the vessels and nerves that are near the external surface of your dog. This would be the skin, nose, mouth and lungs. Veterinarians grade mast cell tumors from in levels of I-III, level I being considered less aggressive than a level III tumor. The more aggressive a tumor is, determines how quickly it is estimated to spread to other parts of the body.
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer that affects the blood cells (also known as lymphocytes) of a dog, as well as the lymphoid tissues. This cancer can affect anywhere lymphoid tissues are located such as the spleen, liver, lymph nodes, gastrointestinal tract, and bone marrow.
Ovarian & Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer in a dog is most commonly found as mammary tumors underneath the skin of the abdomen, near or within the nipple along the mammary glands. Ovarian cancer similarly, is when tumors are formed in the ovaries of the dog. Luckily ovarian cancer can be completely eliminated by spaying your female dog. Spaying also reduces the risk of breast cancer as well. To learn more about the benefits of spaying your female dogs, click here.
Prostate & Testicular Cancer
The prostate is located near the neck of the bladder in male dogs. Prostate cancer occurs when the cells of the prostate grow out of control and begin to affect other areas of the prostate or nearby organs such as the testicles. Testicular cancer occurs inside the scrotum affecting the testes, but more commonly only affects one testicle. These types of cancer are both highly treatable and can be prevented or reduced by having your male dogs neutered at an appropriate age.
Seizures
A seizure is a burst of uncontrolled electrical activity between nerve cells in the brain. These cause a disturbance of the normal brain activity resulting in uncontrollable muscle activity such as stiffness, twitching, or limpness.
A single seizure is often not a danger to the dog. However, multiple seizures within a short period of time, or a seizure that is too long in duration can cause the body temperature of the dog to rise to an unsafe level. If hyperthermia develops due to a seizure it’s likely to require immediate medical attention.
Canine epilepsy
Canine epilepsy is a neurological condition. It is characterized by two or more seizures that occur unprovoked. Canine epilepsy is diagnosed by ruling out other diseases that manifest as seizures. This is because of the unprovoked nature of seizures caused by epilepsy. If a cause of the seizures is determined then this would not be considered canine epilepsy.
Drug treatment is one option to mitigate the seizure disorder, but this is determined based on the risk of recurrence, seizure type and the side effects of the medication in question. In dogs with frequent seizures therapy is most successful if therapy is initiated after early onset seizures.
Canine hip dysplasia
Canine hip dysplasia typically occurs during the growth of your dog’s ball and socket joints (head of the femur and socket in the pelvis). When the two bones don't grow at equal rates the result is looseness of the joint. The body then tries to stabilize the joint naturally causing degenerative joint disease or osteoarthritis.
Although any dog can develop hip dysplasia, it is seen much more frequently in the larger breeds of dog such as Great Danes, Saint Bernards and German Shepherds.
Some common signs of hip dysplasia are:
Decreased activity
Decreased range of motion
Difficulty or reluctance jumping, climbing, or running
Loss of muscle mass in the thigh
You may notice the shoulder muscles enlarge as they compensate for the hind end
Lameness in the hind end
Pain or stiffness
Swaying, “bunny hopping” gait
Grating in the joint while moving
Collie eye anomaly (CEA)
Collie eye anomaly is when a mutated gene that determines the development of their eye is inherited from either parent dog. The blood vessels that support the retina don't fully develop in dogs with CEA and this results in the dog ultimately becoming blind. It can also have more obvious effects on the eye, such as shrunken eyes, or eyes that have sunk into the sockets, cloudiness of the eyes and even retinal detachment.
Gastric dilatation volvulus
Gastric dilation volvulus, also known as “bloat”, gastric dilation, twisted stomach, or gastric torsion. This condition can result in loss of blood flow to the lining of the stomach, and can cause the stomach to become overstretched or rotated. The pressure of this can prevent the diaphragm from expanding properly affecting the dog’s ability to maintain regular breathing or even rupture the stomach wall.
Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism is not a life threatening condition. It is a condition where the thyroid gland is “underactive” or does not produce enough of the hormone “thyroxine”. Signs of hypothyroidism include hair loss, dull or thin coat, flakey skin (but not itchy or red, which is usually allergy related) black patches of skin, weight gain in combination with decreased appetite, muscle loss, lethargy, slowed heart rate, ear infections, toenail infections, and intolerance to cold.
Juvenile renal disease
Juvenile Renal Disease, or sometimes called renal dysplasia, congenital hypoplasia, or familial renal disease, is a hereditary disease that is caused by a simple autosomal recessive gene. Juvenile Renal Disease can affect young dogs of many breeds. Symptoms can include drinking copious amounts of water, frequent urination, dilute urine without odor or color, bladder incontinence, vomiting, weight loss, anorexia, lethargy, muscle weakness, chemical odor on the breath, discolored teeth. Some young dogs may appear as failures to thrive, others may appear perfectly normal.
This disease is often fatal once diagnosed. The treating veterinarian should conduct bloodwork to check for an elevated blood urea nitrogen or BUN, and test the urine for protein to creatinine ratio. Once this disease has progressed it eventually leads to kidney failure, and death. Most commonly occurring between 10-24 months of age.
Lens luxation
Lens luxation is a condition in dogs that is the result of weak threads holding the lens of the eye in place. Lens luxation can also be a secondary issue caused by other eye diseases such as cataracts, inflammation of the eye, or chronic intraocular pressure (pressure from inside the eye) also known as glaucoma. Lens luxation is not life threatening but it is a very painful condition that requires surgical removal of the lens to have the best chance at preserving the dog’s vision.
Osteochondritis dissecans
Osteochondritis dissecans is a condition that occurs inside of a dog's joint. The bone underneath the joint cartilage doesn't get enough blood flow, causing it to die. This dead bone can then break loose and cause pain for the dog and disrupt the joint’s natural motion. While the cause is not entirely known, it is believed to have potential to be hereditary, involve stress to the bone over a period of time, or repetitive trauma.
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)
Patent ductus arteriosus is a medical condition where the blood vessel that connects two major arteries before birth (which normally closes itself after the dog is born) fails to close allowing some of the oxygenated blood from the left heart to back flow towards the lungs from the aorta. This creates a higher pressure to the pulmonary artery. If the PDA is small the dog may not show any symptoms at all. However once the PDA becomes larger, symptoms may include breathing difficulty, abnormal pulse, loud heart murmur, as well as exercise intolerance. In puppies you may notice them sleeping more than usual, growth may be stunted, or they may be underweight as a result of a PDA.
Progressive retinal atrophy
Progressive retinal atrophy or PRA is an inherited genetic disease. A common symptom of progressive retinal atrophy is night blindness that over time progresses into day blindness as well. Night blindness may go unnoticed or be manifested in different ways such as the dog being fearful when entering a dark room, getting lost in their own house when the lights are out, or hesitant to leave the house after dark. The pupils in a PRA affected dog may be dilated or have a slow response to light. Blood tests can reveal dogs that are affected by this defective gene, in addition to carrier dogs who aren't affected, but could still pass the defective gene to offspring.
Tracheal collapse
Tracheal collapse occurs when the cartilage rings lining the windpipe or trachea (the tube that transports air to and from the lungs) lose strength and that cartilage can no longer support the trachea. As a result the trachea becomes flattened, or sagged, restricting the airflow into the lungs affecting the dog’s ability to breathe. Tracheal collapse is most commonly recognized clinically by a persistent cough, typically described as a “goose honk” type of sound.