For years I have been told that Lowchen have “no markers” for health conditions, that DNA testing is “useless”, and there are so many “false positives” that the test has no meaning. Here’s the problem. Every PRA symptomatic dog which has been DNA tested has been homogenous for crd4/cord1 PRA. This was announced in 2024. This marker was initially discovered in the breed in 2014. We’ve had a marker for over a decade, we just haven’t been using it. “But Devon” I hear you say

If you’ve been scrolling puppy listings around Melbourne, chances are you’ve seen the same fluffy names over and over. Cavoodle. Moodle. Spoodle. Cavapoo. Cute faces, curly coats, big promises. And honestly, it’s easy to see the appeal. They look cuddly, they’re marketed as family-friendly, and plenty of ads make them sound like the simple choice. But there’s another small companion dog that often gets missed, and it deserves a much closer look: the purebred Löwchen. This lit