HEALTH & GENETICS PROJECT UPDATE, 2001

(This is a message from Judy Huston to the White Shepherd Genetics email discussion group.  She is filling in the newer members with what has been accomplished so far. )

Hello everyone,

I've been busy trying to put the finishing touches on the charts for Elbow
Dysplasia, Hip Dysplasia, Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, and Addisons.
We'll also be posting a Summary for both EPI and Addisons.  The Elbow
Dysplasia/Hip Dysplasia Summary has already been posted.

For the benefit of the new people on the list, and for anyone who hasn't
read their report or Dr. Padgett's book, "The Control of Canine Genetic
Disease," I thought I'd just summarize what we have been up to and what we
need to do in the future.

Dr. Padgett did a seminar for the AWSA Club at their 1999 National.  As a
result of what I learned from reading his book and after we heard his
seminar, the club voted that I could have $600 to use in the capacity of
Health and Genetics Chair to conduct a genetic survey.  The survey was
mailed out in February 2000.  By September 26, 2000, all the results were in
and Dr. Padgett delivered the results of the seminar at our home in Howell,
Michigan.

The survey covered 1,000 dogs.  We knew going in that the German Shepherd
Dog had 138 reported genetic diseases/traits.  There were 58 genetic traits
reported in the White Shepherd.  We were very pleased that the number was
far lower than 138.
We learned that each of our dogs carries an average of 7.1 genetic traits --
some carry more.

In the seven months since the seminar, we have been working to gain an
understanding of each of the 58 diseases.  We've been doing this by having
discussions on the list.  We need to prioritize the diseases by deciding
which are the Top Ten, so to speak, so that we can consciously work to
reduce the number of affected dogs.  We are still in the planning stages of
an Open Registry.  In the meantime, our charts are designed to serve that
purpose.  If you plan to breed your dog, and have a particular bitch in
mind, and you know that your dog carries Elbow Dysplasia and Addisons, you
can look on the appropriate chart to see if the bitch is a carrier for the
disease, or if a relative is affected.  Knowing the relationship to the
affected dog allows you to determine the carrier risk for the disease.

This is where it is critical that everyone understand the purpose of full
disclosure of all genetic traits in their lines.  The primary reason we have
the level of disease we have is because many breeders have basically been
breeding without knowing what the mating is likely to produce in the way of
genetic defects.  As Dr. Padgett points out, "People don't want to talk
about disease."
He says to never buy a puppy from a breeder who tells you they have no
genetic defects in their lines.  It can't be true.  If we operate under the
premise that each of our dogs carries an average of 7.1 genetic diseases,
then each breeder should be responsible for doing the research and making
the telephone calls to puppy buyers so that each of their dogs has their own
list of possible defects.  The defects "have" to be there.  Of course, if
your dog has only been bred a couple of times, you will have to keep in
touch with puppy buyers to find out if anything develops.  Besides talking
to the owners of the Sire and Dam,  you will also have to talk to the owners
of your dog's siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents
if you can go back that far.  It is worth the time and effort.  And, since
so many of us have related dogs, the job should get easier and easier as
long as we do our homework.  I don't see any other way we can improve the
health of our dogs.  You MUST find out what the parents have produced and
whether siblings are affected (66.6% risk of being a carrier if a sibling
has a disease).

At the time we did our survey, there were only five other breed clubs that
had already taken the bull by the horns.  Some of these clubs are making
tremendous progress in reducing the incidence of disease in their breed.

There is nothing to be ashamed of if your dog is affected with a genetic
defect, nor is there anything to be ashamed of or mar your dog's reputation
because they are carriers of disease.  They are all carriers.  The trick is
to know what the defects are so that when you breed you don't mate with a
dog carrying the same diseases.  You also will know which defects they might
produce and you can decide whether you and your puppy buyers can live with
the risk.

At the May 19, 20 White Shepherd Club of Canada shows, Debbie and Joanne
will be doing a seminar to teach people how to use the charts we designed.
The ones I designed have to be done by hand, the ones Debbie designed are on
the computer and once you drop your information in, the program calculates
everything for you.  Much easier!!!  They are going to show anyone
interested how to use them.  We plan to do this at as many shows as we can.

If anyone has any questions about anything pertaining to the health and
genetics of our dogs, ask away.   You don't have to
wait for us to introduce a subject.  We will let you know when were
"officially" ready to go on with another disease, but in the meantime, the
floor is open.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were already to a place where every single White
Shepherd owner knew right off the top of their
head what defects their dog is likely to carry and could just post their own
set of traits to the list?

If the owners of a promising male was interested in breeding with a
particular bitch, they would share their lists.

The Dog                                        The Bitch
1.    EPI                                      1.    Bloat
2.    Addisons                                 2.    Hip Dysplasia
3.    Missing Teeth                            3.    Missing Teeth
4.    Undescended Testicles                    4.    Breast Cancer
5.    Heart problems                           5.    Epilepsy
6.    Degenerative Myelopathy                  6.    Pano
7.    Umbilical Hernia                         7.    Umbilical Hernia
8.    Megaesophagus                            8.    Elbow Dysplasia
9.    Hemangeosarcoma                          9.    Spondylosis
                                               10.  Dew claws

So, we'd look at these two lists and say, well, looks like there might be a
pup or two with missing teeth and umbilical hernias, but other than that, it
looks like a great breeding.  There can always be surprises based on the
fact that we're backtracking and trying to get information and sometimes
we're unable to locate owners or information is withheld, etc, but this
looks like it would be a fantastic breeding.

The columns probably won't be formatted correctly once this is posted, but
you can see that only two diseases match.

Judy Huston
Health and Genetics Chair
AWSA
Dr. George Padgett's book is "The Control of Canine Genetic Disease"
The ISBN No. is 0-87605-004-6.  Order from  Amazon on line or any bookstore.
Report can be downloaded from www.awsaclub.com or
http://www.geocities.com/whiteshepherdk9/  site.
The Video of the Geo. Padgett Seminar is $8.+$3 SH/Donation to Genetics Fund
gratefully accepted:-).  Send check to Judy Huston, P. O. Box 2068, Howell,
MI. 48844-2068