Where to start?
In the Wizard of Oz, the Good Witch suggests starting at the beginning, and that seems good advice in this instance.
This post is about the Leonberger dog.
The short history of the Leonberger is that In the 1830s, a dog dealer by the name Heinrich Essig, who also happened to be mayor of the town of Leonberg, Germany, created what he said was a new breed that resembled the lion in the town’s crest.
In fact, Essig simply crossed a Saint Bernard of his era with a Newfoundland of his era.
To what end?
Why to sell puppies to people of course!
“Look — we have a ‘Leonberger,’ the German dog named after a town that looks a little like a cartoon lion drawn by someone who has never seen a lion. Isn’t it special?”
What’s it do?
“Nothing! But it eats a lot. Isn’t it special?”
Things muddled forward for 70 years or so, with the dogs never becoming popular, and then World War I hit, and the “breed” was reduced to just five survivors.
There was a little breeding between the wars, and then World War II hit (thanks again Germany!) and there were only eight Leonberger survivors after that conflict.
What to do?
To review, we have a market-failure “designer breed” created by a puppy peddler for no purpose.
It’s basically an F-1 cross that was mocked at its creation as a bad knock-off Saint Bernard sold to the gullible based on its name and claimed resemblance to a cartoon in a town crest.
What to do?
Why inbreed the hell out of them, of course!
What could go wrong?
Well, it turns out quite a lot. Leonbergers are a genetic mess.
From 1989 to 2004 the life expectancy of Leonbergers dropped from 9.4 years to 7.7 years.
Almost half the dogs surveyed suffered from at least one health condition and 21.5% suffered from neoplasia or tumors caused by abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. See >> https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7557023/
Orthopedic issues impacted 15.8 percent of the surveyed Leonbergers; a Norwegian study found 25% had hip dysplasia after 18 months of age, and a study in the UK of more than 900,000 dogs found Leonbergers had the second highest rate of osteosarcoma (bone cancer).
Neurological issues plagued 14.8% of surveyed Leonbergers, mostly in the form of polyneuropathy or numbness, burning pain, or weakness due to disease of the peripheral nerves.
Rounding out common Leonberger health issues:
arthritis, hypothyroidism, gastric torsion, and dilated cardiomyopathy (a weak and enlarged heart).
What to do?
Well de-listing the breed and allowing it to go extinct is clearly never going to happen in the world of show dogs.
But …. wait for it … wait for it …. GOOD NEWS!
Yes, honestly, GOOD NEWS.
You see, the UK Kennel Club has (smartly, I think), recognized that there are fools who will never get off a sinking ship.
What to do?
Why, build a separate (and perhaps healthier) ship!
To that end, the UK Kennel Club has launched a “development register” to support Leonberger genetic diversity.
Fantastic!
The Development Register is “designed to support health-focused, breeder-led initiatives aimed at improving genetic diversity within pedigree breeds. The Development Register has been introduced specifically for the Leonberger, in collaboration with LeoGen, an international group of breeders who have developed a structured outcross programme to address concerns over genetic bottlenecks in the breed.”
Full applause!
The UK Kennel Club press release notes:
“A restricted gene pool can, over time, lead to increased incidence of disease and the rate of loss of genetic diversity must be kept at sustainable levels to avoid population decline….“The Leonberger Development Register (LDR) will operate alongside, but separately from, the existing Breed Register. Its purpose is to provide a structured pathway for the inclusion of carefully selected outcrossed dogs into the breed population.“The LDR will allow the registration of progeny resulting from controlled outcrosses between Leonbergers and other selected breeds or landraces, as part of the LeoGen programme. These dogs will be registered under the Leogenz kennel name. All dogs within the LDR must undergo the full suite of health testing required for their parent breed(s), ensuring they meet the health standard for the breed.“Individual dogs from the LDR may be considered for transfer to The Kennel Club Breed Register once they reach maturity. This process will involve demonstration of clear health results, independent assessment by two championship judges, and a staged registration system: transferred dogs will carry a *** designation; their offspring will carry **, etc. This tiered approach allows careful monitoring of the impact of outcrosses on breed health and conformation.”
The best news is that this looks to be the start of something much bigger: a systematic way to add genetic diversity to many deeply inbred Kennel Club breeds.
Dr Joanna Ilska, Geneticist at The Kennel Club, says:
“The Kennel Club is committed to safeguarding the long-term health of pedigree dogs, and this Development Register is an important step in enabling responsible, breeder-led initiatives that put health first. By working in partnership with LeoGen and the wider Leonberger community, we are creating a framework that allows carefully managed outcrossing to strengthen the genetic base of the breed while maintaining welfare and breed type.”
Again, full standing applause. There’s a lot of road ahead to build, but the Uk Kennel Club is FINALLY on the right path as far as genetic diversity is concerned.
Now, will the American Kennel Club follow?
Not this decade, I think, but the ice is breaking up, first on mainland Europe, and now a significant crack in the UK.
How long will the Americans hold out as the home of diseased dogs?
Time will tell.
No comments:
Post a Comment