Genetic info/ PRA and maybe more
I decided all this PRA info needed it's own page. There is so much info and so much info has changed even in the last 8 months that I really started looking into it. My hope is that this info can calm your worries if your pup/dog is a carrier and keeps you better informed. As time goes and I find new interesting things, I may place it on this page as well. Thanks to my friend Brittaney who often can't sleep and sends me a bunch of info too!
A bit about DNA Testing: I was previously using a company(I will not name here) to do all my genetic testing and trusted they were continuing to test the same each time. Last year(2022) I sold 2 pups to other breeders who then tested those pups and informed me the pups came back as having 2 copies of PRA CORD1 CRD4. I'm no genetic expert at all, but I know this can be bad. I reached out to the original company who replied unapologetically saying they stopped testing for that. So then started my journey to educate myself as well as get all my adults re-tested. What I learned: while as a good breeder, I should make sure not to breed 2 PRA carriers to each other, if I did, it is not always a horrible outcome. The PRA CORD1 CRD4 alone doesn't cause eye issues for dachshunds, there also has to be the presence of MAP9, and as far as I can see no one tests for this yet. So that being said, there might be a few pups out there who have 2 copies of PRA CORD1 CRD4. I have just finished testing all of my breeders and will be slowly taking most carriers out of my program. Until then I will make sure from here out to not put 2 carriers together to eliminate any risks. Another thing to note: to me genetic testing is still so new(for dogs) I don't trust it 100% I use it as a guide. I've got several dogs who's tests tell me they do not carry colors/patterns that they definitely give me puppies with those colors/patterns. It's all very interesting and confusing!
You can also go to the following link to read more about what we know. There are TONS of websites, but this one seems to be the easiest to understand: Click here
The chart below shows how many pups in a litter might be affected by PRA and how. To my knowledge I've never owned any "affected" dogs, only some carriers. There are no adverse effects for carrying 1 copy of PRA.
