Health Issues

The Airedale Terrier Club of America conducted an extensive health survey in 2001.

The good news is that the breed is largely free from many of the debilitating and life-threatening diseases that are widespread within many other breeds. In fact, Airedales portray a better health profile than any of the other breeds for whom surveys have been conducted.

The bad news is that cancer is the leading cause of death for Airedales, and arthritis and hip dysplasia are prevalent within the breed.

There was an alarming association of skin problems to chemically treated lawns and flea dips.

What Questions Should I Ask?

When buying a puppy it is a very good idea to ask the breeder questions about the health issues in their line.

You should determine whether any dogs related to the puppy you are interested in:

1. have had any serious health problems before reaching 10 years of age; or
2. have died or have had to be put down, due to health problems, before reaching 10 years of age.

You should ask about the parents, the grandparents, any aunts or uncles, as well as any brothers and sisters, including half-brothers and half-sisters.

It is a very good idea to get this information in writing to avoid any misunderstandings.

Cancer

We have not seen any incidences of cancer in our line. To some extent this may be due to our management of the environment. We avoid over-vaccinating or over-medicating our dogs. We also avoid using any herbicides or pesticides on our lawn and garden.

We do know that some lines seem to have a lot of problems with cancer. This may mean that it is a genetic issue. We are always very careful to investigate the health issues in other lines before we use an outside dog.

Hip Dysplasia

The only common health problem in Airedales that breeders can screen for is hip dysplasia. Hip dysplasia is a serious problem and anyone breeding Airedales needs to take it seriously.

Our only firsthand contact with hip dysplasia was an Airedale we bought as a puppy in 1988. We were told that both parents' hips had been certified by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) and that the puppy was guaranteed to be free of hip dysplasia. When she was two years old we had her x-rayed, sent the x-rays to OFA and learned that she was dysplastic. When talking to her breeders about this they admitted that the sire had not been certified when he was used, and that when he was x-rayed after the fact, he was found to be dysplastic. Not only that, but many of the other pups in that litter had also turned out to be dysplastic.

The reason that I am mentioning this is to help others avoid making the same mistake. It is very important to make sure when you buy a puppy that both parents' hips have been x-rayed by a vet and certified by OFA. You should ask to see the certificates (we have provided an example at the top of the page) or go to OFA's website and verify that they have been certified by searching the Airedale database.

According to the OFA the incidence of dysplasia in Airedales was 13.6% from 1974 to 1998. This is based on 3,107 x-rays submitted to them for evaluation.

It has been proven that responsible breeders using only OFA certified stock have a significantly lower incidence of hip dysplasia than those who don't. In addition, those breeders that also investigate the family background before breeding have an even lower incidence.

We only use OFA certified stock in our breeding program and we always carefully investigate the family background for any signs of hip dysplasia.

We have found that this extra effort has been very beneficial. All of the x-rays we have sent to OFA have "passed" and have been rated either "good" or "excellent". Of the three brood bitches that we have produced, two have hips that are rated "excellent" (an excellent rating means that they are in the top 6.7% of all the Airedales evaluated) and the third one was rated "good". The first stud dog that we produced was rated the equivalent of "excellent" in Finland (he was certified in Finland because he lives in Russia and Finland is the nearest country that certifies hips). The second stud dog we produced was rated good and the stud dog we imported from Russia was also rated good.

This is not to say that all of our puppies will be free of hip dysplasia. No one can make that claim. Hip dysplasia is caused by multiple recessive genes, and there is no way of knowing if a dog is carrying these recessive genes, so a dog that certifies as "good" or "excellent" may still be a carrier. If you breed two carriers you will probably get some dysplastic pups. This is why we also look at the family background when deciding whether or not to use a dog. If all the close relatives are free of hip dysplasia, then the odds are good that the dog is not a carrier. Still not guaranteed, but the odds are improved considerably.

One day, the recessive genes will be identified and we will be able to do a simple blood test to determine if a dog carries them, but right now all a breeder can do is keep the percent of dysplastic dogs as low as possible by following good breeding practices.

What does it mean if you buy a puppy that turns out to be dysplastic? The dog could be in some pain for part of its life. Most likely this will be relieved by medication. In extreme cases surgery may be required. So when buying a puppy ask lots of questions and consider enrolling your puppy in a pet health insurance plan. One Canadian insurance provider is Petplan.

If a puppy does turn out to be dysplastic under what circumstances is the breeder at fault? Our view is that if the breeder took reasonable precautions to avoid the problem then he shouldn't have any responsibility. However, if he bred the dogs without certifying them, then he should take the responsibility for at least part of the cost of the treatment.

Don't let this put you off Airedales. They are not any worse than other breeds. In fact, several very popular breeds have a lot more hip problems than Airedales.