Grave situation with the Doberman breed

[S1969]

From the Doberman club website. I didn’t watch but maybe there is progress. These are under the cardiomyopathy link:

http://www.dpca.org/breed/breed_health.htm

The health presentations given by Dr. Meurs and Dr. Estrada were recorded. You can watch the recorded versions here:

Dr. Kate Meurs of Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine has identified a genetic mutation responsible for causing cardiomyopathy in Dobermans. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9997484

Dr. Amara Estrada of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine spoke about DCM stem cell research http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10000682

[vineyridge]

There are modern techniques that have been used to identify particular genes in a large population. I know the Hanoverians Verband sponsored one that did that on jumping in horses. It would be expensive, naturally, but one would do whole genome studies on affected dogs and unaffected ones and then look for all the differences. It would take a large number because some of the differences would be innocuous, but the more animals studied, the more the common ones in affected dogs would stand out.

[sumastrogirl]

I’m sorry to here about you dogs. I don’t know too much about dobermans, but I have seen the same sort of things in German Shepherds. My GSD has Systemic Lupus, which is genetic. She can’t produce tears and gets bad sores and joint pain. Now she is on prednisone, which helps with the joints and the skin to an extent, but now is super hungry and doesn’t have much of a bladder

[sisu27]

This gives me some hope:

https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/dog/GeneticDiversityInDoberman.php

Maybe we will get lucky.

[pennkaye]

My Doberman is 3 and everyday I look at her and think when is it going to happen. I try so hard not to but knowing the odds it’s always on my mind. This dog saved me she is my heart and reading all these posts has me in tears already.

I didn’t do my research before buying her I just knew I loved dobes. Maybe that will pay off, most likely not. I alway say I’ll have one dobe and one rescue mut, but like so many have said before idk if I can bring myself to go thru it again, I just love her to much.

i sincerely hope that breeders open there eyes and do what needs to be done. Claiming to love the breed isn’t enough, something has to be done in order to prolong these animals. I’m not a scientist or even educated enough on breed outsourcing to have a valid opinion, however if that is an option it really should be thought about.

[AMWookey]

I adopted my dobe, he is now 9.5, and I haven’t gotten any of the testing done to see if we have to worry. I have been preparing myself as much as you can mentally for the day when it happens.

He is a wonderful dog with a few issues mentally that we worked hard to overcome. He is as velcro as the come, has his lumps and bumps but is extremely fit and healthy. He constantly gets mistaken for a young dog. Still - I know it is coming and it breaks my heart. My valley bulldog is so attached to him, we already picked out a puppy (another valley) to start to ease her transition and because puppies keep the doberman young.

We always assumed when we lost him we would get another. It’s a hard breed to love though. Because you love them so much. I can’t go anywhere in our house without him with me. He is an annoying little brat when it’s his breakfast time but you can’t help but smile every morning when he dances. Going through your life with them knowing that they are a ticking time bomb is just too hard.

We figured the next dog we got was to be another doberman. Instead, we got another valley bulldog. Part of it was the lineage and partly I was too scared to open my heart to another. I don’t know how hard I am going to take losing him.

[S1969]

@sisu27

This gives me some hope:

https://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/dog/GeneticDiversityInDoberman.php

Maybe we will get lucky.

Well, these are obviously the same 71 dogs that were discussed in the original blog - she quoted Dr. Pedersen as saying:

1. "This study of 71 Doberman establishes a desperate need for breeders to search the world for pockets of genetic diversity that does not exist in the present population, just as was done by Standard Poodle and Italian Greyhound breeders…

But she didn’t include his next paragraph:

A significant proportion of the dogs testing are products of parents that were closely related. Therefore, the level of inbreeding was higher than we have observed for any other breeds that have been tested. This inbreeding appears to be ongoing and every attempt should be made to rebalance what diversity is remaining by breeding for dogs that will have IR scores of 0 or less. This could be accomplished by careful mate selection without further loss of diversity.

He goes on at the end of the study to give recommendations to breeders that doesn’t include cross-breeding.

Again, I’d be curious to hear the opinion of the national breed club versus one writer. Cross-breeding might be one solution but doesn’t necessarily mean the only solution. It’s unlikely that any breed club is going to choose to opt for cross-breeding unless there is no other alternative…and even then, maybe not.

[sisu27]

@AMWookey you summed it up perfectly. I have owned other breeds and have a Jagdterrier now whom I love to pieces even though she has been the most difficult rescue I have ever had but Dobes are just different. My mum has always described the bond between my boys and I as such: “If they could unzip you and crawl inside I swear they would” lol.

Akin to an addiction even though you know they are going to break your heart in the most painful way when they go you just can’t stay away. They are truly unique dogs. I am very close to committing to a pup from a fall breeding and I am still vacillating back and forth…can I do this again? I completely understand those that have decided not to.

@S1969 I do not belong to any of the breed clubs. I have made attempts to contact the breed club here in Canada and received zero response.

I was sent a screen shot from someone yesterday about a person breeding Mals to Dobes. Talk about a sharp dog…I hope they are screening prospective owners very well because that could be a weapon of a dog. The person breeding these crosses is claiming that they are on their way to solving the health issues but how they can know that without dna testing and some dogs of a decent age is beyond me. I get the distinct impression that those that could do the most to initiate change are staying quiet…bad marketing all this isn’t it? Perhaps it is too early for me to judge the situation as such but I am getting increasingly frustrated.

[S1969]

@sisu27

[USER=“189969”][/USER]
@S1969 I do not belong to any of the breed clubs. I have made attempts to contact the breed club here in Canada and received zero response.

I was sent a screen shot from someone yesterday about a person breeding Mals to Dobes. Talk about a sharp dog…I hope they are screening prospective owners very well because that could be a weapon of a dog. The person breeding these crosses is claiming that they are on their way to solving the health issues but how they can know that without dna testing and some dogs of a decent age is beyond me. I get the distinct impression that those that could do the most to initiate change are staying quiet…bad marketing all this isn’t it? Perhaps it is too early for me to judge the situation as such but I am getting increasingly frustrated.

You tried to contact them about this health issue? Or to join? Just curious as I’m an officer of my national breed club and I’m curious how other clubs operate.

“Those who could to the most to initiate change are staying quiet” - who do you mean?

I think it’s possible to solve the DCM issue but if you outcross you can’t register the dog as a Doberman. So, you haven’t entirely “solved” the issue. Most breed clubs would consider outcrossing the very last resort, and some might consider allowing the breed to dwindle significantly before they would support it.