IS THERE REALLY A
FREE LUNCH?...
Everything You Always Wanted
to Know about
BU’s Free Ads for Health-Tested Boxers
by Virginia Zurflieh, ed.
A free ad? - well, yes and no. By the time you’ve had your dog cleared
of SAS, HD, thyroid problems, and had him/her Holtered, you will have spent plenty
to qualify for our "free" ad! Our offer is just an incentive to get more people
thinking about the kind of health testing that many breeders are already doing...and a
small reward for those who have done it.
The ad will run for a year in BU, and will consist of the dog’s name
and photo, the owner’s name and e-mail address or phone number, and the relevant
health statistics. In order to renew the ad for another year, simply have an annual Holter
test done, and publish the current year’s results.
The criteria for the ad are
- OFA or Pennhip certified clear of HD
- certified clear of SAS
- normal thyroid
- publication of the results of a Holter test
A word about the Holter test: as Cecilie and Henning pointed out in their
guest editorial in this issue, no one knows what a "normal" Holter reading is
yet. Nor does anyone know what number of PVCs is normal for boxers of different ages. The
same number of PVCs that might be a cause for concern in a two-year-old, might be a cause
for rejoicing in a ten-year-old! So BU is not setting any "qualifying" maximum
number for PVCs. We just require that you provide verification of your dog’s results
and publish them to qualify for an ad.
The "Geezer Gallery": at Beth Pariseau’s suggestion, we will offer a
special section devoted to boxers that are eight years old, and older. And since longevity
is the name of the game, we will also relax our standards a bit in order to be able to
include and publicize some of our breed’s worthy "senior citizens." We have
received several inquiries from the owners of older dogs who no longer test normal (or who
test "low normal") for thyroid. In our opinion, that should NOT preclude a
nine-year-old who is clear of SAS, OFA certified, and came up with only 35 single PVCs on
a 24-hour Holter from a BU listing. As with Holter results, we believe our readers are
capable of making up their own minds about whether a dog fits into their breeding program
or not. So, hook up those Holters
and join us in the "New Millenium" issue of BU!
