My advertising this year’s Breed Health Symposium, held at the KC Building
at Stoneleigh Park on September 18th with all 3 Eurasier clubs, as
well as on Facebook and some private communications, yielded some very positive
responses. As 2 years ago this event was
opened up to anyone interested in breed health, I was delighted that one of our
‘oldest’ (in experience) breeders, Tracy Cottrell from Willowfalls joined me
for a very interesting as well as enjoyable day. I was very tired from a trip
to Holland and Germany showing our youngest Eurasier, but I really did not want
to miss it, as it is a motivating experience and provides wonderful networking
opportunities. As all of us are volunteers, we really appreciate this opportunity
very much indeed.Bill Lambert, the KC’s Senior Health & Welfare Manager welcomed all approximately 100 visitors and introduced the day with an update on changes in the Kennel Club Health Team. Bill also talked about some proposed changes to the KC Eye Scheme. In the future, results will be available online as well as recorded in the Breed Record Supplements.
The next speaker, Dr Sally Ricketts updated us on the Give a Dog a Genome (GDG) project and research underway at the Animal Health Trust (AHT) on Complex Diseases. 77 breeds signed up for GDG and the AHT has now sequenced a good number of genomes. Some data has been shared with research groups in Europe and the USA. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological problems and is presently being investigated in Border Collies and Italian Spinone.
Dr Jacqueline Boyd gave a highly interesting talk on canine nutrition and the term ‘canine wellbeing’ which has been adopted by many in recent years. She highlighted the totality of genetics and environmental factors all playing essential roles. The most interesting aspect for me was her stressing that dogs are mostly scavengers and can therefore deal with different components of nutrition such as protein, but also carbohydrates. A really important aspect for anybody who advises on nutrition is also to bear in mind is the needs and capabilities of the dog caretaker/owner. She said that diet was an essential environmental factor, but that no diet can be a cure-all. Everybody agreed that, depending on age and lifestyle, dogs all have different needs. A more recent area of research is an offspring of epigenetics, namely nutrigenomics, which is defined as the relationship between diet and genetics. There is research showing how, in humans, the diet of parents and grandparents is linked to conditions in their offspring such as e.g. diabetes or heart disease, but also mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Therefore, good nutrition supports good breeding over many future generations and both sire and dam play their roles.
Dr Tom Lewis, the KC’s quantitative geneticist, reported on the regulation regarding ‘hereditary clear’ status in litters, which will be introduced from January 2022. This is particularly important for single-mutation, recessive diseases, like DWLM (Dandy Walker) in Eurasiers. The main problem with subsequent generations of tested dogs is that not all dogs in a pedigree are in fact really the ancestors. Hence, it seems a good idea to limit it to 2 generations, or to ask for continuous DNA proof of parentage. Otherwise, as a recently published study shows, it is likely that the mutation will be passed onto puppies unknowingly and produce affected dogs. DNA parentage profiling is a separate procedure to screening DNA for disease-causing mutations, but it can often be carried out simultaneously.
These presentations were followed by a short Q&A session, where the team of BHC Mentors answered some submitted questions.
Over lunch there was ample opportunity to speak to any of the speakers, and also to other BHCs. For us it was important to have a planning session with those of Chows and Keeshonds, as we have been planning a project on Elbow Dysplasia for some time. There is as yet not that much data and we are all numerically relatively small breeds, but the close relationship between our breeds might well provide an interesting and unusual aspect for a researcher. When I go to the meeting at the International Federation for Eurasier Breeding (IFEZ) in November, I will also be discussing possible options there.
Last but not least, many thanks to the team of KC staff who organised the event and who did a truly great job.
Dr Brigitte Mordan-Grimm
UK Breed Health Coordinator for Eurasiers
