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I keep hearing about C.A. Sharp. Who is she?
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C.A. Sharp is a longtime Aussie fancier and former Aussie breeder with a longstanding interest in
the genetics of the breed. She has written numerous articles for a variety of breed and all-breed publications,
and has spearheaded the effort to educate Aussie fanciers about the health issues that face Aussies. To that end,
she is a founding member, and currently president of the Australian Shepherd Health and Genetics Institute (ASHGI).
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Yes. C.A. does do an informal pedigree analysis using information submitted to her by owners, breeders, and stud owners
of dogs with health problems. To receive an analysis, you must be the documented (as in, having sent her a copy of your
registration papers listing your correct name) owner or breeder of the dog in question. She will not analyze dogs
you don't own, i.e. prospective mates, etc. without a request directly from the owner.
The analysis will not tell you if your dog is going to turn up
with something, but at least it helps you assess how likely your dog is to have
or carry a problem. Because it is based on the anecdotal evidence collected as noted above,
there exists the possibility that the analysis could be inaccurate, either from a mis-diagnosed
dog in the database, or from affected dogs that are not in the database.
Click HERE to see the process C.A. goes through
in assessing your dog's risk. Note that in 2004, C.A. will begin returning a point-value
with her analysis, to assist people in determining where in a particular range their dog
falls.
In order to protect the confidentiality of the people who submitted their information to
her, C.A. will also not tell you which specific dogs in the pedigree cause her to assess
higher levels of risk. If you get a high score on one of your pedigrees, it is recommended
that you begin doing some independent research and asking people who own relatives and
ancestors of your dogs to determine who the specific risk-dogs are.
C.A. does try :o) to have a life outside of dogs, and is therefore only able to
offer these analyses on a limited basis. She is currently booked with all the pedigrees she
can handle through the end of 2003, and will only be accepting a limited number of pedigrees
in 2004. The turn-around time for an analysis is approximately 3-6 months.
C.A. also emphasizes that this service is being offered personally through herself, and is in no way
associated with ASHGI or AussieGENES.
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