American Bulldog (UK) NCL

Neuronal Canine Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (NCL) neurological disorders disease that has been diagnosed in humans, cats, sheep, goats, cynomolgus monkeys, cattle, horses, and lovebirds. Among dogs, the American Bulldog is just one of the many breeds that can be affected.

Basically a clear dog bred to a carrier will, on average, produce 50% clear pups and 50% carriers, with no affected pups. 2 carriers bred together will produce 50% carriers, 25% affected and 25% clear pups, on average. With a little thought you can see how just a few breeding, even of carrier to clear, will produce a lot of potential problems for the breed.

The test now looks for a couple of specific genes, and if either of those genes are present, then the dog is either a carrier, or is (or will soon be), affected with the disease. First of all, affected dogs seem to show no signs of a problem until they are around 18 months old.

Many vets, just seeing the dog in the early stages, will guess that it has hip dysplasia. While others havn't a clue what infact NCL is. Within the next 1 to 3 years, the dog won’t even be able to keep from falling.. when walking the dog will tend to stagger and move randomly, especially down a flight of stairs or over uneven ground. When running, the rear will show very little control. Normally, by the time the dog is 5 years old, the dog will be pts.. just standing will be very difficult, much less trying to walk. With hip dysplasia, on average a dog can live a reasonably normal life, even if it has to be on pain killers. Also, except for severely dysplastic dogs, most dogs won’t even show signs of a problem until later in life.

It is likely that many people will eventually be demanding that most dogs are certified “clear” of NCL regardless of their pedigrees. Possibly the best looking dogs in the country will be found to be carriers, and if 2 carriers are bred together, 25% of the pups will become “affected”, and 2/3 of the remaining pups will be carriers, capable of passing the defective gene on.

In Matt Boyd’s line Moleque and High Jumping Mikie were the most influential dogs that were carriers, even Greg Souza has said that Koa and Matias are both carriers. But anything from Moleque Country Boy x Snowbird, Cross Eyed Mary, Outback's Diesel, or anything that originated with Hines should be tested. Its also be known that some Johnson lines have been found to be carriers of the disease too.

One of the littermates of Rob Boyd’s “Hammer” was a carrier so he and any of his littermates have a 50% chance of being carriers. All dogs with any of these dogs in their pedigree need to be tested before breeding!!
This does not mean that a carrier cannot be bred, it must not be bred to another carrier, and that if bred to a clear dog, the disease can be easily controlled with careful breeding. And the breeder has a responsibility to test the puppies to determine which are carriers and which are clear before placing or selling them.

Thanks to the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover in Germany, testing for NCL can now be done for more information on how to get your dog tested, Guidlines For German Test NCL Info.. a simple blood test is available to determine whether or not a dog is a carrier of the defective gene, or will be affected by the disease.

There is no way of telling whether or not a dog is a carrier without testing for it. There is virtually no way of telling if a pup will be affected by the disease before he’s around 18 months of age without testing for it. For more infomation on the disease NCL Description of American Bulldogs.

So far only a handful of breeders have tested there dogs for this disease here in the UK.

Bluebloods American Bulldogs
Churchills American Bulldogs
Braveheart Kennels (UK)
Gladiators-Bulldogs

Some of dogs that were tested, are carriers of this disease.. while others simply ignore the fact and will continue to breed, mainly for profit to unsuspecting buyers.