"I have bred bitches from under a year to 10 years and never had this problem. Cleft palate yes, but not so severe a metabolic dysfunction."

My first litter (back in the 1940s) was with an 11 month old ACS bitch. Half the litter had cleft palates. Bred her mother and her half sister (same dam) with no problem. Spayed her and gave her to a hubyer.