Eyes

Kuvasz are not known for having eye problems but it has been seen.  Recently I received a report from friends in Europe that 3 related Kuvasz have been diagnosed with PRA (progressive retinal atrophy - which will in time result in blindness).  Perhaps a handful of Kuvasz in the US have also been diagnosed with it.  Unfortunately, this disease is not apparent until the dog is perhaps 5 years old, at which time if a female could have whelped two or more litters, and if a male, could have sired countless litters.  The ethical breeders that I know of in Europe have gone through great pains to remove the animals, their siblings, and their offspring from any future breeding program.  Others have not been as diligent.  An organization called CERF is responsible for collecting and reporting data on eye checks, and the CERF data can also be found on the OFA data base.  Dogs must undergo an eye examination by a veterinary ophthalmologist.  Each test is only good for one year.  Dogs should be tested yearly, or at least every time they are used for breeding.

The Canine Eye Registry Foundation (CERF) is the group that is responsible for registering the eye data base for all breeds.  Each breed submits to CERF a list of problems that are known to exist in the breed.  Based on the information for the breed, the dog will either pass or fail an eye examination.  If no specific information for a breed was given to CERF, then CERF uses a general eye health to issue a pass or fail, and will automatically fail dogs with eye diseases that are known to cause blindness, for example PRA or glaucoma.  The Kuvasz breed has not submitted any specific eye data to CERF. 

You can find CERF pass/fail information on the OFA data base, but this will only report "pass or fail".  Since the Kuvasz has not submitted any other problems that would cause CERF to fail, it is important to ask the breeder for a copy of the actual examination slip that the ophthalmologist filled out at the time of the exam.  This will show you if ANY eye abnormality was found. 

Eye examinations and CERF clearances are only good for one year.

Deafness

Deafness has been known to happen in our breed, but not to a large extent.  Most breeders know the identified lines and dogs that were involved in incidents of deafness and either steer well clear of them, or have any related dogs tested for deafness prior to using them for breeding.  The test for congenital deafness is called BAER (Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response) and is performed only by specialists under controlled circumstances.  Small electrodes are placed on the dogs head, just under the skin (it is painless to the dog), and sound is emitted through the electrodes.  Other electrodes are used to read if the dog was able to hear the emitted sound.  Each ear is tested individually as it is possible for a dog to be deaf in one ear and the owner would never know about it.  Deafness has been associated with color, or specifically, the lack of color or pigment.  It can be linked to the skin pigment, the coat color, or the eye color.  The genetics from breed to breed are different.  For example, in the Dalmation, it is believed to be linked to skin and coat color.  In the Collie breed, deafness can be linked to the Merle color of the coat.  In Boxers deafness can be linked to dogs with a high percentage of white coats.  It is not known what the genetics are in the Kuvasz that can cause deafness as ours is a single color breed, but it is THOUGHT by some to be linked to eye color.  This is just theory, and not proven or supported by scientific fact. 

You can find results of a BAER test on the OFA data base.  Currently there are no Kuvasz reported there that have been BAER tested, but I know of at least 2 that have been (and cleared).  The inclusion of BAER tests is relatively new to OFA and the dogs I know of were tested years ago.