First and foremost, I want to acknowledge Dr. George Padgett for his devotion and commitment to helping to prevent serious genetic diseases in dogs. Without Dr. Padgett there would be no survey and no possibility of making the kind of progress we can make in our quest to breed healthy White Shepherds. His book is written in a style that most dog breeders and pet owners can understand. It includes a step-by-step method to help breed clubs improve the health of their breeds. Dr. Padgett made himself available every step of the way, beginning with doing our first seminar at the 1999 AWSA National right through conducting our Results Seminar on September 26, 2000. From all of us and all of our White Shepherd friends, we thank you Dr. Padgett!

Finally, I acknowledge EVERYONE who took the time to complete the survey and return it to either Sue Martin or to me. Thanks to Sue Martin of the Scottish Terrier Club of America for allowing the first batch of surveys to be returned to her home and thereby maintain anonymity. And to my husband, Dick, whose on-going support is obvious to everyone who knows him and who would sing out as he came in the door from the Post Office, "Youve got surveys."

We have 1,000 dogs in our survey. Approximately 34% of these dogs came from breeders; the remaining 66% came from pet owners. Of the 1,000 dogs, 40% (401 dogs) were affected with one or more of the 57 Genetic Defects listed on the chart; conversely 60% (599 dogs) were unaffected. All of the genetic traits listed on the chart were reported in at least one dog. Remember that in Dr. Padgetts book, "The Control of Canine Genetic Disease," he listed 138 diseases for the German Shepherd Dog. So, while 57 diseases for our dogs may seem like a lot, it falls way short of 138.

An important number to remember is 7.1! This represents the average number of defects carried in each of our dogs. Does this surprise anyone? What this means is that whether you know it or not, your beautiful dog carries the genes to pass along, on an average of 7.1 different genetic defects to its offspring. Dr. Padgetts work and the results of this survey will help you to identify these traits and breed healthier dogs.

The first column is the number of dogs reported with "diagnosed genetic conditions." If there was doubt that a vet diagnosed the condition, it couldnt be included. There were many other conditions affecting our dogs that are not genetic and, therefore, are not included in this chart (see the list later in this report).

The second column is the Mode of Inheritance. "Und" means undetermined. "R" means it is a recessive trait. Poly means Polygenic (more than one gene is involved), "D" means dominant and the one with a "?" indicates there is still uncertainty about the mode of inheritance.

The third column indicates the % of dogs affected with the disease per 100 dogs. For example 1.0 signifies 1 in 100 dogs is affected with the disease.

The fourth column is the one you will want to learn to use and become very familiar with. This column was figured by using the Hardy-Weinberg Law. Based on this law, a formula was used to determine a guesstimate of carrier frequency in our general population of White Shepherds. One way to interpret the meaning of this column is to understand that if you randomly pick a dog for your bitch, this column indicates the risk that the dog you pick will be a carrier of a particular disease. For example, the risk for Esophageal Hypomobility in the general population of White Shepherds is 6.2%. If you have picked a mate that you know based on your research is "clear" for that disease, you reduce the risk to zero.

Following the chart is a page entitled "Using the Genetic Trait Worksheet." I put this together when I was trying to find the best mate for Kyra. Dr. Padgett thought the worksheet was helpful and so I decided to include it with the report. Ive included a blank one you can copy and one with an example of a hypothetical pair of dogs: "Beauty and the Beast." Ive also included the chart from Dr. Padgetts book (with his permission, of course) that shows you the risk your dog carries if it is related to an affected dog. The numbers you see next to the genetic traits on the worksheet are derived from this chart. I strongly recommend that you buy a copy of Dr. Padgetts book so you will have all the tools at your fingertips.

After you have researched your bitchs pedigree and discovered, on average of 7.1 defects, you then call the prospective owner of the dog you are considering. Obviously, after watching Dr. Padgetts video and reading this report, they will either have their list ready or be working on it. (We hope!) Then you go to the chart listing all our WS conditions and find the carrier frequency. You write this % in the appropriate column. It is highly likely that the two canines will not have all the diseases in common. For any disease your bitch carries that the dog does not, the carrier risk becomes zero, less than the carrier risk for the general population. For those diseases they both carry, you need to see whether their risk is lower than the risk of a random mate (the carrier frequency column), and or decide that the risk is one you are willing to take.

If you decide the risk is one you think you are willing to take, use the formula to determine the risk of each puppy being affected with the disease. Then, make your decision.

If you have been a breeder who has kept records of all diseases thrown by your dogs, you are ahead of the game. If you have not, you will have to gather records, go back through the pedigrees, call other breeders, and call puppy buyers. The good news is that you only have to do this once and from then on, keep good records. Since we buy dogs from each other, we can help each other gather the information. The biggest job that you have to do is go back and call every puppy buyer you can locate and find out whether your puppy is healthy or whether it is affected with one or more genetic defects. Some are easy to pinpoint like the missing teeth, umbilical hernias, etc. Others need to have been diagnosed by a veterinarian. There are at least a dozen more probable cases of hip dysplasia that we could not include because the dog had not been diagnosed by a vet. Once you accumulate this data, you will have the facts you need right at your fingertips to help make good breeding decisions.

The bottom line is that dogs have defects just like we do. We cant make good breeding decisions if we dont know what defects they carry. We cant know what they carry unless we tell each other and/or register the diseases in an open registry like Genetic Disease Control. We wont reduce the incidence of disease in our dogs until we make some of these changes. Information on the Genetic Disease Control Registry follows the Worksheet.

I think you may find the previous information about our breed quite interesting. Since you are not a breeder, however, you may think it doesnt really affect you -- or does it? If the information could help you in selecting your next puppy, how would it help?

It would help because you are now a more informed buyer. Any breeder who would tell you there are no genetic defects in their line would not be telling you the truth. I dont mean they would necessarily be telling you an untruth some of them did not have the knowledge to determine these risks before we did this survey. How do you know this for sure? Because, as a result of this survey, we "KNOW" that each one of our dogs carries on the average of 7.1 genetic defects. And, you would know that if your breeder selected a breeding pair that didnt carry the SAME genetic defects, the puppy you buy from that litter is probably going to be healthy. Your breeder would even be able to tell you the likelihood the puppy may have an Umbilical Hernia or Missing Teeth in the event both dogs did carry these defects but were otherwise very compatible. Or, if youve had the good fortune of living with a healthy dog from a breeder you trust, you know that breeder is a good bet to buy from again.

The breeder you want to run away from and dont go back to would be the one who tells you they have totally healthy lines and have never had any genetic defects. It could be they dont follow-up on their dogs.

In the near future we plan to provide a list of White Shepherd Genetic conditions that you can take with you when you take your puppy to the vet. Now that we know exactly what affects our dogs, maybe we can help take the guesswork out of a diagnosis.

TOTAL DOGS IN SURVEY: 1000

AFFECTED DOGS: 401 (40%)

UNAFFECTED DOGS: 599 (60%)

% of Dogs reported belonging to breeders: Approximately 34%

% of Dogs reported belonging to nonbreeders: Approximately 66%

The oldest dog reported in our survey period was 18 years old. The same person had a White that lived to be 21 but had died prior to the start of the survey period.

The following is a list of problems that are not genetic in origin; therefore they are not included in the survey. If detail is wanted, feel free to contact me.

Lick sores, bacterial skin infections, nose rash, and hot spots were reported.

A female and three males were reported to have anal gland problems.

Three females and four males were reported with benign tumors or cysts.

Dr. Padgett points out that one out of four dogs will develop cancer same as us. The one cancer known to be genetic and the two suspected of being genetic are reported on our Survey Chart. Others reported were brain cancer, Hemagiopericytoma, Pancreatic, site specific cancer, Bone Cancer, Lymphoma, Colon Cancer, Fibrosarcoma, blood vessels and spleen, Liver Cancer, spine, growths on lip, mouth, gums, nose, leg, lung, and type unknown.

Dogs reported with ear infections, ear mites, and ear aches.

Reports of eyes that tear, epithelial folds, itchy eyes, and runny eyes.

Infection of lining of the heart reported, a couple of murmurs with no attendant problems, congestive heart failure, and heart disease without a specific diagnosis.

A female with Small Intestinal Malabsorption reported and three with nervous stomachs.

Three dogs reported with Lyme disease

Females with bacterial infections of reproductive organs, split heats, abnormally long heat cycles, erratic seasons, pyrometria, constant yeast infections, unable to reproduce, brittle uterus, endometriosis and fissures reported. Males with prostate problems requiring neutering.

Spinal deterioration after age 11, embolism on spine, and spinal instability reported.

Three female Stool Eaters

A female died within 48 hours of becoming ill; vets believed she had CoonHound Virus

A male cannot keep on weight

Giardia, ringworm, coccidia, Parvo and bouts with worms reported.

Sporadic vomiting, Valley Fever, kidney failure due to dehydration, internal bleeding, strangles, unhealed sore, inflamed liver, RACL, torn meniscus, skull improperly closed, anterior cruciate ligaments torn, and hematomas reported.

In his book, Dr. Padgett lists three categories under Behavioral Diseases. According to his sources, the GSD has a pre-disposition to one of them. That one is Aggression, which is defined as extremely assertive or forceful with other dogs and people, may attack without reasonable provocation. Sixteen dogs in our survey were reported to be aggressive (some just dog aggressive) and included in this category in the survey.

Some of our breeders feel that the timid or soft dog is another category of behavior that may also be genetic in origin. Since this was not a trait determined to be genetic for the GSD by Dr. Padgetts sources, we could not include it in our survey. Even though this category could not be included on the list of Genetic Traits of the White Shepherd, I included a category of Nervous/Fearful so we could at least see what kind of responses wed get. This category was checked off 75 times but often with qualifying remarks. "My dog is only fearful at first; he is fine once he gets used to you," "hes always been shy" and other similar remarks. Most of this is extremely subjective as opposed to a somewhat easier task of identifying an aggressive dog.

The 75 dogs reported in the Nervous/Fearful category indicates that 7.5% of our dogs have this trait (described a number of ways by people). If this is, in fact, a genetic trait, we have a carrier rate of 39.4%. If, after we as a Club discuss the Genetic Defects and feel we have a problem, we need to decide together how to approach it and reduce the number of affected dogs. This could be one of those traits that might be worthwhile to pinpoint on a geneticists pedigree to see where it occurs and from which lines of dogs.

Some questions we need to ask are: Were they properly socialized? Some of the timid or soft dogs from pet owners may, in fact, be a result of poor socialization. But we dont know that. On the other hand, if a very young puppy showed shy/timid/fearful/nervous behavior, could this be genetic in origin? Do we expect kennel dogs to exhibit shy, fearful behavior or only certain lines from certain parents? Do the same questions apply to the aggressive dogs? Were the aggressive dogs born this way or made this way?

RISK OF BEING A CARRIER IF RELATED TO AN AFFECTED DOG

(AUTOSOMAL RECESSIVE TRAIT)*

*This chart is used for Autosomal Recessive Traits as well as Polygenic Traits the risk for the Polygenic Trait will be "at least" this percentage.

In an Open Registry, all data on an animal is made available to breeders, whether the dog is phenotypically normal or is affected with one or more disease. In contrast, a Closed Registry, such as OFA, releases information only on those dogs that are phenotypically normal (phenotype is what you see when you look at the dog).

The Institute for Genetic Disease Control (GDC) began operations in 1990. It has both an open disease registry and a research registry. It collects data able to be of use to a breeder in selecting animals for breeding. When sufficient data becomes available, all dogs are placed in an open registry and all information is made available to breeders.

It provides the following data:

All data it has on the dog for which you request information and his/her offspring.

Any information it has on his/her full brothers and sisters and half-brothers and sisters (all offspring of the parents of the dog.

Any information it has on the parents, their full brothers and sisters and half-brothers and sisters (all offspring of the grandparents of the dog).

Any information it has on the grandparents.

In this way, an inquiry results in full data on the family of the dog you are interested in, including all titles that the dog, his parents and his grandparents have earned that are on file.

We need to prioritize Genetic Defects and we need to decide as a Club that we will register our breed and our dogs with the GDC. I am currently in communication with staff at GDC to determine what steps we need to take to get this task underway. I will keep you informed.

~ Judy Huston