Project

Breeding for health in pedigreed dogs

Health is one of the most important aspects in dog breeding. Dog breed associations create breeding regulations and specific standards to which breeders need to comply. For each breed there is a so called “matrix of norms”, in which is specified which health problems should be tested for and which dogs should be used or banned from breeding.

By limiting the breeding with dogs that carry (specific) hereditary disorders the frequency of these disorders in the breed can be reduced. This can result in new rules in the association’s breeding regulations, for example prohibiting breeding with Bouviers with hereditary eye disorders. However, the concern is that excluding all animals with (predisposition to) specific disorders could be too strict and that this selection will raise the amount of inbreeding too much. Also other challenges play a role, such as that disorders often do not manifest until later in the dogs life, and thus might not be known at the time of breeding. Therefore, breeding associations struggle with finding balance between breeding for health traits and genetic management to keep inbreeding growth low.

Three breed associations (i.e. associated with Bouvier des Flandres, Saarloos wolfdog, Stabyhoun and Wetterhoun) are now looking for scientific rationale behind health measures in their breeding regulations. There are known solutions of which outbreeding (=crossing with animals from outside the studbook) is one, but possibly other measures such as genetic evaluation should play a role. For some breeds DNA is already collected and profiled for a large amount of dogs, but the translation to breeders and breeding practices still has to be made. Keeping breeders connected is another concern, whereas new rules and regulations should not lead to increased breeding outside the studbook.

The following questions form a starting point:

For the specific breeding organisations

  • Which health problems occur and in which frequency?
  • What is the population size and structure and the current level of inbreeding and rate of inbreeding per generation?
  • What rate of inbreeding can be expected under current management, under strict genetic management to limit the inbreeding rate, and when the management is (entirely) focussed on health issues.
  • What is the value of specific measures such as DNA typing, outcross, and breeding for longevity for improving health

Lessons for breeding of pedigreed dogs in general

  • What is the optimal role of DNA typing in breeding for health?
  • How can breeding value estimation help to reduce health problems and how to design it?
  • When should outcrossing be started and how does it contribute (or not) to the health of dogs?

Publications