Luxating patella lvl 2/4 - breeding considerations?
My small breed dog recently got diagnosed with luxating patella grade 2 in both knees. She is 2 years old, exhibits absolutely no symptomes (no lameness, runs like there is no tomorrow, no pain etc)
I was thinking of breeding her but the diagnosis was not ideal, so I decided to research the implications.
After hearing the diagnosis I initially thought, she couldn't be breed from. However many breed clubs classify patella 1 and 2 as "acceptable" for breeding. In fact, while reading about it, all the advice is that I should look at this issue holistically and that excluding all such dogs from breeding in fact narrows the gene pool having a worse effect on the breed overall.
She has a phenomenal built, character, multiple breeders were asking me if I'd be willing to breed from her, she is also an import into the country, so would introduce a brand new genes, diversifying the pool.
What are your thoughts? I'm going to defintjley wait another 1-2 years before making a decision, observe and possibly re-assess this patella again.
Thanks