BAER Testing
Thank you to the American Border Collie Association Health and Education Foundation for sponsoring a FREE two-day BAER testing clinic at the 2025 USBCHA National Sheepdog Finals.
Testing will be administer by Dr. Colette Williams on Wednesday, Oct. 1 & Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025.
Appointment blocks will be scheduled ahead of time, around running times, there will most likely be some walk up times available as well. We strongly urge handlers to sign-up ahead of time.
Priority will be given to ABCA and CBCA dogs who are running at the National Finals. Dogs from other registries or not running in the finals are welcome to sign up and will be scheduled if time allows.
(A testing fee of $80 may apply to other working breeds or unregistered dogs.)
Sign-ups are now closed.
Schedule will be posted soon.
We will be taking drop-ins at the finals.
Dr. Colette Williams has over four decades of experience in veterinary electrodiagnostics (EDX), including BAER testing. She was trained by Dr. Terrell Holliday, a founding father of the Neurology/Neurosurgery specialty in veterinary medicine and is passing on the knowledge by consulting for several universities and specialty practices. Her mission is to encourage the use of EDX techniques in veterinary medicine and to raise the quality to that of its human counterpart. She has numerous publications on the subject and is a reviewer for several peer reviewed journals. Outside interests include diving, learning dressage on her Andalusian, Arrecife, and hiking with her deaf Dogo Argentino, Xander.
BAER Testing and DNA Sample Collection by theABCA Health & Education Foundation, Inc.
The ABCA Health & Education Foundation (HEF) will be sponsoring a BAER Testing and DNA Sample Collection Clinic at the National Sheepdog Finals. There is no cost to participate.
What is BAER testing, and why do I want it?
BAER testing can tell you how well your dog can hear, whether he may be hearing-impaired in one or both ears, and whether he might have an inherited condition called EAOD (Early Adult Onset Deafness). EAOD typically comes on at anywhere from 2-7 years of age. It's in the lines of some of our outstanding working dogs, and typically strikes after a lot of training time has been put into a young dog. A dog may have trained up well, but then his work deteriorates. What you might chalk up to stubbornness and "blowing me off" may in fact be because the dog is having trouble hearing commands. In such a case, the BAER test can help you find out which it is.
Why is HEF paying for this?
Two reasons. First, so you can get important information about your dog's hearing. Second, because we want to find the genetic cause of EAOD. Currently, there is a genetic test for EAOD, developed from research HEF supported with funding and with data such as we are collecting here. But it is only a 'risk test' -- it's not conclusive. If we can locate the actual genetic cause, it may be possible to ensure that no more dogs are produced who go deaf in early and mid life. For example, Collie Eye Anomaly (CEA) is a genetic disease that no dog needs to have anymore, because it was found to be caused by a recessive gene mutation, and a test was developed to let you know in advance of breeding whether your breeding pair carries that mutation. If one of them is free of the mutation, then you can breed them together confidently, knowing that none of the pups will be affected. The research that produced that CEA test was sponsored by the ABCA. By participating in this clinic, you and your dog can help our ongoing EAOD research toward achieving the same level of success with regard to early
onset deafness. We need dogs with good hearing to take part as well as dogs with suspected bad hearing.
What do I have to do?
(1) You need to fill out a health questionnaire about your dog. It focuses mainly on hearing, but
also asks about some other issues as well, so it can be used for future research. When you check in for testing you will confirm the information you provided electronically and sign to provide consent for your dog's history and results to be shared with researches. The information you give will be treated as strictly confidential, and will not be disclosed to anyone else. (2) You need to have the BAER test given to your dog. It does not hurt, and you can be with her the whole time, and hold her if she squirms. It is being
administered by one of the most qualified BAER testers in North America. (3) You need to have
your dog's mouth swabbed to collect DNA. That's it. Dogs are eligible to take part if they are
registered with the ABCA or the CBCA.