Continued from PART 3 Figure 6. Seven Generations From an Outcrossing Event #’s refer to Outcross generations 1–{ from the 2–{ Pure outcross 3–{ Pure “event” 4–{ Pure 5–{ Pure 6–{ Pure These “Pure Dogs” 7–{ Pure are different individuals Pure “Outcross” represents the individual(s) of another breed “Pure” represents a purebred individual of the …
Continued from PART 1 Adding The Row ‘Emma’ Now that we have added a second row to form a column, a comment is in order that will greatly reduce your labor. Look ahead to the completed Table 3 e, for a moment. If you draw a diagonal line down the matrix from the cell …
[note: this first appeared as “Cryptorchidism in the German Shepherd Dog,” but is applicable to all breeds.] The most common congenital* anomaly of the scrotum and testicles is the apparent absence of one or both gonads. I use the word “apparent” because the missing testicle(s) usually are actually present inside the body cavity of the …
Hope that you never have a litter with cleft palates. But if you do, this may explain the cause of at least some cases. Let’s start at the beginning, with a short review of the birds and the bees. The sperm cell, with half the chromosomes needed for a new pup …
Breeders often talk about inbreeding and outcrossing as though they were the only possibilities — and generally with negative comments about the latter. There are other possibilities, and I have long been a proponent of assortative mating. It is not a theoretical concept that doesn’t work in practice; I …
Continued from Page 1 Genetic Load The difference between the fittest genotype of a population and the average fitness of that population is known as genetic load. [Muller, 1950] It is, of course, caused by the presence of lethal, sublethal and subvital alleles. The more such alleles found in a population, the greater the …
What is a Canine Breed? What is a breed? To put the question more precisely, what are the necessary conditions that enable us to say with conviction, “this group of animals constitutes a distinct breed?” In the cynological world, three separate approaches combine to constitute canine breeds. Dogs are distinguished first by ancestry, all of …
Introduction Some 70-80 % of all dogs suffer at least once in their life from backaches. Disorders of the spinal vertebrae and their associated backaches belong therefore to any list of most-frequent illnesses in many breeds, particularly the German Shepherd Dog. The chosen treatment procedures …
The information provided here outlines an approach that has been used successfully by the author to reduce the prevalence of clinically expressed canine thyroid disease within susceptible families or breeds. EARLY THYROID DISEASE (THYROIDITIS) COMPENSATORY AND CLINICAL CANINE HYPOTHYROIDISM Most of the confusion about the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease …
What is the immune system? The term “Autoimmune disease” is currently making the rounds among dog breeders and exhibitors and in the veterinary community. Diseases caused by a defective immune system are of particular concern among many purebred fanciers. (Some people use the abbreviation AID for (A)uto (I)mmune (D)isease. Due to possible confusion with AIDS,(acquired …