Our approach

The White Swiss Shepherd is, on the whole, a healthy breed — but no breed is free of genetic risk, and any breeder who tells you otherwise is one to walk away from. We test comprehensively, breed conservatively, and publish actual certificates right on our website.

We helped write the breed's rulebook

Through the White Swiss Shepherd Club of America — which we co-founded and do the day-to-day work of running — we established the breed's health-testing requirements with the OFA and the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC), and Moro produced the first CHIC-certified White Swiss Shepherds in the breed's history.

For our breed, a CHIC number isn't a participation trophy: we deliberately set the bar so that CHIC certification means a dog has completed the full panel of applicable genetic and phenotypic testing, with every result made public.

The orthopedic screens: hips & elbows

Hips and elbows are the traditional cornerstones of shepherd health testing, and we've been at them a long time.

Hips. We screen through objective systems such as PennHIP and the Vetscoring.com (Australia's scoring scheme), and sometimes INCOC in Finland. PennHIP in particular measures actual joint laxity from three views and scores each hip separately with a real number rather than a category. Worth knowing: our breed sits roughly 25% tighter in the hips than the German Shepherd on average (a PennHIP 50th-percentile distraction index near .35 for the White Swiss versus ~.45 for the GSD). As a rule, we won't breed a dog with a distraction index of .50 or higher. These above listed rating systems are much more objective than the Orthopedic foundation for Animals, who score based on breed, age, and sex. We have moved away from OFA over the years due to this subjective rating system which has not necessarily resulted in the betterment of dogs' hips over decades of using the OFA system.

To be clear, this is a quarrel with OFA's scoring method, not with OFA as a registry — we still tabulate results through OFA and CHIC so they stay public and verifiable. We simply trust a measured number over a subjective grade.

Elbows. Same approach: we score through Vetscoring (and sometimes INCOC) rather than OFA. Because much of the elbow doesn't finish ossifying until six or seven months — and because over-nutrition in a fast-growing puppy can damage the joint all on its own — we raise our pups lean on a large-breed puppy diet, protecting the joints while the genetics get a fair test.

Spine, knees & thyroid

Beyond hips and elbows, we also may evaluate:

• Patellar luxation — a hands-on orthopedic check (and OFA evaluation) for kneecaps that slip out of their groove.
• Lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LTV) — a congenital malformation where the spine meets the pelvis that can predispose a dog to lower-back and cauda equina problems. OFA's program doesn't rate the spine, so we have this read by INCOC in Finland.
• Spondylosis — degenerative bony bridging along the spine; often incidental, but we'd rather know. Read by INCOC as part of the same spine screening.
• Thyroid — an OFA thyroid panel, since autoimmune thyroiditis can run quietly in shepherd lines.

The genetic (DNA) panel

Every Moro breeding dog is DNA-tested through a reputable testing lab such as Wisdom Panel, Genoscoper, AnimaLabs, or Embark. Some conditions below appear in the breed at low levels; others have never been documented in the White Swiss Shepherd at all — but because our breed shares deep ancestry with the German Shepherd, we test for the GSD's known problems anyway, so we'd catch anything before it could take root in our lines.

Two rules govern how we use these results: we never knowingly make a pairing that could produce an affected puppy, and we never let a single condition stampede us into gutting our gene pool. For a cleanly DNA-testable recessive, a carrier bred to a clear dog can't produce an affected puppy — so a genetically valuable carrier can still contribute safely, while two carriers are never paired. Where the science is less settled — DM being the clearest example — a clean test isn't a guarantee, and we say so; we manage those risks with the best information available rather than pretending it's certainty.

Degenerative myelopathy (DM). A late-onset, progressive disease of the spinal cord that ends in hind-end paralysis — the shepherd owner's heartbreak. The known SOD1 mutation is the single biggest risk factor, and we DNA-test every breeding dog for it — but we're candid about the limits of that test. We've seen dogs that test clear develop DM anyway, just much later in life, which tells us the standard test doesn't capture the whole picture. Our strong suspicion is that DM is ultimately polygenic and that not all of the contributing genes have been identified yet. So we treat the SOD1 result as one important input — not a guarantee — and weigh it alongside longevity and what we observe across a dog's relatives.

MDR1 (multidrug sensitivity). Less a disease than a critical piece of medical information: dogs with the ABCB1 mutation can't clear certain common drugs — some parasite preventives, anesthetics, and chemotherapy agents — normally, and can be seriously harmed by ordinary doses. We test so you and your vet know before it ever matters.

Pituitary dwarfism (LHX3). A recessive that leaves affected pups as undersized "forever puppies" with serious coat, skin, and organ problems and a shortened life. Known in German Shepherd and White Shepherd lines; we DNA-test so two carriers are never paired.

Collie eye anomaly (CEA). A recessive congenital eye malformation ranging from trivial to sight-threatening. Screened so it can't slip into the breed unnoticed.

Hyperuricosuria (HUU). A recessive that raises uric acid in the urine and predisposes a dog to painful urate bladder and kidney stones. Easily avoided with the DNA test we run.

von Willebrand disease (vWD). The most common inherited bleeding disorder in dogs, and one the German Shepherd carries at elevated rates — which is exactly why we test. The good news, from the WSSCA health data we maintain: to date, not a single vWD mutation has been identified in the White Swiss Shepherd. We test to keep it that way.

Hemophilia A (Factor VIII deficiency). An X-linked bleeding disorder; in German Shepherds, the documented European cases trace back to a single heavily-used sire from the late 1960s. No case has yet been reported in the White Swiss Shepherd — and again, we test because of the shared ancestry rather than waiting for one to appear.

Leukocyte adhesion deficiency (LAD/CLAD). A recessive immune defect in which white blood cells can't reach sites of infection, leaving affected puppies unable to fight off illness. Fatal young, and entirely preventable with DNA testing.

What we monitor: heart & eyes

Some conditions can't be settled with a one-time DNA swab, so we watch them over a dog's life:

• Cardiac — breeding stock is examined for congenital and acquired heart disease by auscultation and often echocardiogram.
• Eyes — examined by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist (ACVO), with results recorded through OFA's eye registry (CAER).

Verify us yourself

Every result described here is public, with scanned certificates able to be viewed on our website. We also often tabulate results with ofa.org, search our kennel name or an individual dog's registered name, and read the record straight from the source. If a breeder tells you their dogs are "fully health tested" but can't show you proof of results by DNA reports, eye, heart and orthopedic certificates, then they likely either haven't tested or have failed tests.

Our health guarantee

Every Moro puppy goes home under a written health guarantee. This is the plain-language version; the exact terms in the contract you sign are what formally govern.

Hips and elbows. We guarantee against hereditary hip and elbow dysplasia. No pedigree can promise a perfect joint with total certainty, and dysplasia can also result from injury — a genuine risk in a breed this athletic — so we've defined the guarantee precisely, using the same objective scoring systems we trust for our own breeding decisions: PennHIP, Vetscoring, and where appropriate INCOC. To qualify, the dog must be x-rayed and scored through one of these systems before 36 months of age and before any breeding. If the result qualifies, we'll replace the dog or refund the purchase price. Problems caused by injury or malnutrition aren't covered. Dogs sold on a breeding or show contract are held to a higher standard, also specified in the contract. Dogs sold on spay/neuter contracts are guaranteed to have elbows OFA DJD1 or better and OFA borderline or better. Breeding/show contracts guarantee free of elbow dysplasis and OFA Fair or better. In the event that a clearance appears to be a fail, we may request a second opinion from a different rating system and if the second opinion supports the first, we will reimburse the 2nd opinion cost.

Other genetic conditions. If your dog is found to have a life-threatening genetic defect, confirmed in writing by your veterinarian, we'll replace the dog or refund your purchase price. We reserve the right to request a 2nd opinion.

Coming home. Your puppy leaves us with its first vaccinations, wormed several times over, and microchipped with prepaid lifetime registration. If your pup goes home before 12 weeks, you'll finish the puppy vaccination series and arrange the rabies shot — we suggest giving rabies as late as your vet advises, and never in the same visit as other vaccines. Your puppy will also come with 30 days of pet insurance from Trupanion - you just need to fill out the forms within 48 hours to activate.