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Let’s talk about CDDY/IVDD.
Chondrodystrophy (CDDY) is a common body shape in many breeds and is characterized by relatively shortened legs compared to body length. Although it is also found in many breeds that aren’t necessarily short legged but also just small. I’ve been doing a ton of research on is the CDDY gene in Papillons. From my understanding, it’s a fairly new DNA test and it’s also only a linked marker test through several labs. To reiterate, CDDY stands for chondrodystrophy and it’s a gene associated with short legs and a long back but it’s in most toy breeds as well as the low rider breeds and most bulldogs and spaniels. In some breeds it’s definitely an issue and some of the breeds with this gene are known to have back problems. While it is seen in most spaniel breeds, including Papillons, Paps and most other spaniels are not known to be riddled with back issues. Obviously they can and do pop up, especially in regard to injuries that small dogs are more prone to due to their size and fragility. CDDY is a fixed gene in many breeds, meaning most if not all dogs in the breed have the gene, like Toy Poodles, Beagles, Cocker Spaniels, Cavaliers, Papillons, French bulldogs, and more. My findings have been that somewhere around 80% or more of Papillons have at least one gene for CDDY. From the research I’ve been doing, with either one or two copies it doesn’t mean the dog will develop back problems, but that they’re at a higher risk and that risk level appears unclear. I’ve been speaking with a lot of other breeders of BorderPaps and Papillons about it and most of the Papillon people aren’t at all concerned about the gene and I haven’t seen any washing dogs from breeding because of it. It wouldn’t really be feasible to try to breed out of the Papillon population entirely because of how it would bottleneck the gene pool and raise co-efficiency of inbreeding, leading to more and other issues. The BorderPap people I’ve talked to mostly agree with me that it’s something to be aware of and worth testing for and within sport mixes, trying to avoid breeding two dogs with the gene, especially since we have Border Collies who are free from CDDY. Therefore it would be more of a problem in the multigenerational mixes. Overall, my findings have been that Paps and Pap mixes don’t have a high incidence of IVDD or back problems. But as with any dog, it’s good to be careful especially while a puppy is still growing not to do too many jumps over shoulder height, not allowing them to jump off furniture over and over, making sure they don’t get stepped on by bigger dogs or roughhoused too badly. From what I’ve found, dogs with phenotypically shorter legs and longer backs are at a higher risk of actually developing back problems - I.e. Dachshund like body types. Below is a list of breeds that UC Davis classifies as appropriate for testing, which you’ll see does not include Papillons. They do mention that it is not a complete list of breeds, since research on the distribution of the gene across breeds is still ongoing. Breeds appropriate for testing: Alpine Dachsbracke, American Cocker Spaniel, Australian Shepherd, Basset Hound, Bavarian Mountain Hound, Beagle, Bichon Frise, Boykin Spaniel, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Chihuahua, Chinese Crested, Clumber Spaniel, Coton de Tulear, Dachshund, Dandie Dinmont Terrier, Danish Swedish Farmdog, English Springer Spaniel, Entlebucher Mountain Dog, French Bulldog, German Hound, Havanese, Goldendoodle, Jack Russell Terrier, Labradoodle, Maltese, Pekingese, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Pinscher (Miniature), Poodle (Miniature and Toy), Poodle (Standard), Portuguese Water Dog, Pug, Rat Terrier, Russian Tsvetnaya Bolonka, Schweizer Laufhund, Schweizerischer Niederlaufhund, Scottish Terrier, Sealyham Terrier, Shih Tzu, Skye Terrier, Yorkshire Terrier. Appropriate breeding decisions regarding dogs which have inherited the gene need to address both the potential loss of genetic diversity in a population which would occur if dogs with this mutation were prohibited from breeding. “The Fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) retrogene insertion on chromosome 12 may be responsible for a portion of cases of chondrodystrophy and increased risk for Type I IVDD in certain dog populations. Dogs with one copy of this variant have modestly shortened legs, while dogs with two copies are more likely to have the characteristically short legs with a relatively long body. CDDY can be caused by other variants alone or in combination with this FGF4 retrogene. The FGF4 retrogene also increases the risk of Type I Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) in a dominant fashion. This means dogs with one or two copies of this variant are at an increased risk of developing this disease. While this variant is known to increase the risk of Type I IVDD, it does not explain all cases. There are other factors that contribute to the overall risk of developing Type I IVDD, including other (unknown) genetic variants, lifestyle and other environmental factors. It is important to understand the frequency of this variant within certain populations is very high, because certain breed standards call for a chondrodystrophic (short legs, long body) appearance. When deciding whether or not to breed a dog with this variant, we recommend considering the whole dog (rather than this one test in isolation). Other factors to consider include: * Have any relatives of this dog shown back, neck, or neurologic problems? * Does this dog meet the breed standard? * Has this dog passed its breed-required health testing? * Does this dog have the desired temperament for the breed? * Is this dog otherwise healthy? If all other health and temperament parameters are desired, then breeding dogs with one or two copies of the variant to dogs with no copies is a first step towards reducing the high frequency of this variant within certain breeds. Among breeds in which the frequency of this variant is high, dogs with one or two copies of this variant should not be immediately removed from the breeding population. This practice can reduce the size of the breeding population substantially, leading to other health issues associated with inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity.” - Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. “Please note that this variant is extremely common in many small and chondrodystrophic dog breeds. In these breeds, this variant may not be the strongest predictor of IVDD risk compared to other genetic or environmental factors. Research indicates that dogs with one or two copies of this variant have a similar risk of developing IVDD. However, there are some breeds (e.g. Beagles and Cocker Spaniels, among others) where this variant has been passed down to nearly all dogs of the breed and most do not show overt clinical signs of the disorder. This suggests that there are other genetic and environmental factors (such as weight, mobility, and family history) that contribute to an individual dog’s risk of developing clinical IVDD.” - Embark Veterinary, Inc. To sum it up, as with many other things in dog breeding, it’s a gray area and something that should be assessed by each individual as to what their comfort levels are. It will be my goal to eventually breed out the CDDY gene but I do not plan to cull otherwise exemplary dogs from breeding due to this gene. Sources: UC Davis, Paw Print Genetics, Cornell University, Embark
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Relic's sire, Midderry Frank is a very popular stud who’s been bred a lot and produced many awesome puppies which means issues are almost certainly going to pop up. But recently there has been an alarming number of his offspring testing with hip dysplasia, out of several different females. Of 31 hip tested offspring, there has been 13 with hip problems (41.9%) which is simply too much and too close for comfort for a breeding prospect. So despite Relic’s awesome temperament and all of her amazing traits, I am washing her from my breeding program and placing her into a permanent home.
Relic's pedigree is stacked with very impressive herding dogs and she has definitely turned on to livestock. She is absolutely a delightful little thing. Relic is immensely friendly, sweet, outgoing and social. She loves every single person and dog she's met and has a calm polite demeanor in her interactions with people. With dogs, she's very playful and silly. She has high toy drive and loves to play, equally enjoying tugging, fetch, balls, discs, soft toys, any toys she can get her paws on. She's just as happy to entertain herself as she is to play with a person or dog. Relic also has great food drive and loves to learn. She picks up on behaviors quickly and is wicked smart. She enjoys training and is a pleasure to work with, very focused and cool headed. In general, she has a cool and calm demeanor about her around the house. She is a high drive young Border Collie and can certainly be rowdy but she's showing a lot of signs for great clarity and an easy dog to live with, with a natural off switch. Another thing to love about her is how affectionate she is! She has a lot of time for love and cuddles, she’s super sweet and not a big licker. Relic has already been BAER and CAER tested clear and is DNA panel clear by parentage. I’m also willing to have her hips x rayed before placing her, especially if she’ll be going on to do sports, to make sure she’s sound for the work but even if she herself tests perfectly, with so many half siblings failing hips I’m just not comfortable moving forward with this line. It’s very sad but I’m sure she’s going to make someone super happy. Puppy details:
My puppies are raised with Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS), Early Scent Introduction (ESI), Puppy Culture, and my own brand of enrichment and training which I have been refining over the years. Pups are well-started on potty training, crate training, leash training, clicker training, resource guarding prevention, the concept of operant conditioning and will have an established training relationship with humans. They are socialized to many different people and animals. Puppies come with included private lessons up to 6 months old, a thorough health guarantee, are from health tested parents, and of course, lifetime breeder support and answers to any and all of your questions. • Puppies will be matched to homes at approximately 8 weeks old, after we do temperament testing. • Matches are made based on the temperament and background of the puppy and goals/needs of the applicant. • Matches are not made on a first-come first-served basis. • I don’t accept any deposits or payments until after puppies are assigned to homes. • Visits by approved applicants are welcomed. • Puppies are not shipped via cargo and must be picked up personally from our residence in Northern Nevada. Our nearest airport is Reno-Tahoe International. Plan for a good amount of time for pickup: to come to our home and visit a while, meet with the dogs, etc. • Wait times can vary greatly, I am in the process of streamlining my application review. If there’s a litter pending or on the ground that you are interested in, please feel free to reach out regarding updates on your application. • Puppy prices can be found on my website. My health testing standards:
Full panel DNA OFA hips OFA elbows OFA shoulders OFA spine OFA heart OFA patella OFA eyes I’ve been increasing my health testing standards over the years and I’m at a place I’m very happy with. Going forward, all of my breeding prospects (no matter the breed) will be screened to the standard listed above. I pride myself on offering above and beyond health testing in my program and test extensively outside of breed requirements. All of my dog’s health results are publicly posted on their respective pages on my website. Friendly reminder that just because you don’t like a breeder or disagree with someone’s program, doesn’t necessarily make that breeder “bad.” The internet makes it easy for people to dehumanize others and forget there are real people on the other end. I have a lot of respect for those who choose to be kind despite differences in opinion.
Holding every breeder to your personal standard of excellence and demonizing them when they don’t fit it is unreasonable. It doesn’t make someone a bad breeder just because you don’t like them or their choices. Treating breeders as if they are not people with full lives outside of this space, with mental and physical health, with families, homes, careers, and personal limitations to what is accessible for them is unkind and unhelpful. Sharing your experiences with the goal of being informative is one thing but personal attacks, slander, name calling, etc. are uncalled for and it really speaks more volumes about the individuals partaking in the hatefulness than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion and conversations should be had. I am not for standing by and allowing true wrong doings, heinous acts, or abusive behavior to slip under the radar. This goes both ways… how you conduct yourself as a breeder AKA a professional in the industry leaves an impression and speaks volumes. As breeders, I feel like we should be constantly striving to better our programs and build our community, not tear it down. There are truly problematic people out there who are actually abusing or neglecting dogs/puppies, hoarding ungodly numbers of dogs (I’m talking 20, 30, even 50 plus dogs, numbers that no person can reasonably care for without staff onsite), who are completely unsupportive of their puppy owners, or are totally ill prepared to actually raise a litter. There are endless truly bad breeders who are perpetuating the poor outlook the general public has on breeding as a whole. I just can’t help but feel like if all this energy spent bashing breeders who are doing good by their dogs, puppies, and owners was put towards people who are actually problematic, maybe a positive difference could be made. |
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October 2024
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