This mixed breed can develop common health problems presented in both Huskies and Pomeranians. They’re genetically predisposed to conditions like allergies, hip dysplasia, dislocated knees, eye problems, epilepsy, heart disease, collapsing trachea, and skin problems, among other issues. They’re also especially prone to dental issues, so it’s important to keep regular teeth cleaning routine.
The Corgi Inu breed is predisposed to some of the same conditions that the Corgi and Shiba Inu also face. They may be prone to a few health issues. Some of the more common health problems the Corgi Inus suffers from include: cataracts, elbow and hip dysplasia, and degenerative myelopathy (a disease that affects their spines).
This adorable dog is one of the breeds that have the most diseases. Shar Pei in Chinese means “sand skin;” they are short and possess a hard coat under a layer of fat more extensively than other canines. From the beginning, it usually experiences many dermatitis problems due to the folds on the skin. Their skin folds cause problems to their eyes, with a high probability of developing cataracts.
Let’s start with the opposite, what happens when distantly related dogs are bred. Using the case of the Labradoodle, if a Labrador retriever is allergenic and a poodle is hypoallergenic and we assume this is due to the genetics of each breed, then what will a cross look like? Using the best possible case, that the hypoallergenic trait is a simple dominant trait and that the version of the gene for the trait are “fixed” (that is, there are none of the other type of gene in each breed…no Labradors with the hypoallergenic flavor of gene, and no poodles with the allergenic variety) then the puppies from the first cross will all be hypoallergenic because they got that gene from their poodle parent. But, and it is a big but, they will also all carry the gene for being allergenic, because they all got that from their Labrador parent. Now, how do we get the second generation of Labradoodles? We can do that by breeding more Labradors with poodles or we can start breeding Labradoodles. If we do the latter, we go the dreaded Punnett Square (that many of you learned but have since tried desperately to forget) and see that three-fourths of the offspring will be hypoallergenic, but one-fourth will be allergenic! It’s even worse if we think that the hypoallergenic trait is recessive. If that were the case, NONE of offspring of a Labrador crossed with a poodle would be hypoallergenic because they would all have one copy of the allergenic version of the gene from their Labrador parent. It would only be in the second generation that we would see hypoallergenic dogs, and it would be limited to only 25 percent of the puppies!
The second issue is to look carefully at breeding and genetics. If you are not obtaining a dog from a humane society or rescue, you should obtain the dog directly from the breeder. In the process, the breeder may insist on interviewing the potential buyer. Potential buyers should also interview the breeder. You should be able to see the mother, and where the puppies are living. You should be able to get a complete health history on the puppies, their mother and their father. It is always a good idea to search the internet for potential genetic problems in a given breed. There are too many sources to list, but the best ones are either from overarching organizations like the American Kennel Club, or from breed club websites. As always, not everything you see on the web is true, so be wary of sites posted by individuals who may have a vested interest in hiding potential problems. If you do identify that the breed you are interested in has the potential of a genetic disease and a genetic test is available (and here I’m talking about a specific test for the disease-causing mutation, and not the “what breed is my dog” type of genetic test) make sure that the breeder has tested their breeding animals for the disease and they are disease free.
I have to say that it depends on a lot of issues. If we are talking about puppies produced in a cross between two breeds, it is actually likely that those puppies will have fewer genetically based health problems because you have the offspring of two unrelated dogs. If, however, you then breed these puppies with each other to produce more designer dogs, then you are likely to have far more genetically based health issues. One way to combat this inbreeding problem is to create a large number of the cross-bred dogs and to use many or most of them in the subsequent breeding to enlarge the new “breed.” The more unrelated dogs that are used, the less likely that there will be an increase in genetically based problems. As these designer dogs achieve “breed” status themselves, they face the same issues with genetic health problems that face current breeds. These include inbreeding, where there just aren’t enough dogs in the breeding pool, founder effects, where the contribution of a small number of founder animals is shared by the entire breed, and popular sire effects, where one or a few very desirable sires are used for almost all the breeding within that breed. The mutations in those sires then appear in many of the puppies and spread rapidly through the breed.
Finally, be forewarned that so-called designer dogs being sold by individuals or through third parties, such as pet stores, may not even be the breed that they are claimed to be. The Expert Answers Q&As and columns reflect the expertise and opinions of individual faculty members and do not necessarily represent an official policy or position of the university.
Dog breeds become breeds by continued breeding of dogs in a line from a limited group of founders. Mating closely related dogs can create many genetic problems. The reason for this is that most genes that cause problems are recessive. By mating relatives, the chance that the offspring receives two copies of the recessive gene is increased and so we commonly see increased rates of genetic disease in matings of close relatives. Unfortunately, that is one of two major sources of genetic problems that can be seen with designer dogs. In this case, with very few original dogs, it may be necessary to mate relatively closely related dogs to expand the “breed.” This is not just a problem for these “fad” designer dogs, but also for relatively rare breed of dogs. The second source of genetic problems with designer dogs are the unscrupulous people who simply make these dogs for financial gain, without regard to the background of the dogs that they are using, or to the quality of the puppies that they produce. A Labradoodle that comes from the neighbor’s Labrador that got loose and produced puppies with the poodle down the street is not going to have the same genetics as one that has been produced by thoughtful breeding.
What happens genetically when a dog is bred to a closely related dog?
Dog breeds become breeds by continued breeding of dogs in a line from a limited group of founders. Mating closely related dogs can create many genetic problems. The reason for this is that most genes that cause problems are recessive. By mating relatives, the chance increases that the offspring receives two copies of the recessive gene, and we commonly see increased rates of genetic disease in matings of close relatives.
Unfortunately, those diseases are one of two major sources of genetic problems that can be seen with designer dogs. In this case, with very few original dogs, it may be necessary to mate relatively closely related dogs to expand the âbreed.â This is not just a problem for these âfadâ designer dogs â but also for relatively rare breed of dogs.
The second source of genetic problems with designer dogs are the unscrupulous people who simply make these dogs for financial gain, without regard to the background of the dogs that they are using or to the quality of the puppies that they produce. A Labradoodle that comes from the neighborâs Labrador that got loose and produced puppies with the Poodle down the street is not going to have the same genetics as one that has been produced by thoughtful breeding.
Genetically modified dogs: Chinese scientists use CRISPR to create muscly freaks – TomoNews
My favorite kind of dog is not a specific breed, but a general body type: round with short legs. If you show me any dog I’ll squeal and try to pet it, but I make the highest of high-pitched noises when I see a pudgy, low-profile canine like a corgi, a dachshund, or a bulldog.
Fig. 2 It doesn’t seem like these things should be the same species, but Chihuahuas (tiny, at bottom) and Great Danes (huge, bemused, at top) are both breeds of Canis lupus familiaris, the domestic dog. : Wikimedia Commons.
Studies indicate that domestic dogs split from their ancestors, gray wolves in central or southeastern Asia, about 14,000 years ago [1]. Scientists can compare differences in the dog genome, or genetic code, with the wolf genome and use an estimated rate of change to back-calculate the time since the two lineages diverged.
Fig. 3 The majestic gray wolf (left) and the majestic Welsh corgi (right). A genetic innovation produced through artificial selection is responsible for the corgi’s shortened legs, or chondrodisplaysia. s: Retron via Wikimedia Commons, Lily M via Wikimedia Commons.
Comparing the genomes of many breeds of dogs with wolves also gives us interesting information about what genes make our canine companions different from their wild relatives. One major area of difference lies in genes involved in neurological processes—for example, connectivity of nerve cells. These genes may be related to behaviors we associate with domestic dogs, such as reduced aggression [1]. Genes involved in digestion also differ between dogs and wolves. Genes that regulate digestion of starches are expressed more in dogs, which is an indicator of their transition from the more carnivorous wolf diet to an omnivorous lifestyle as man’s most reliable table-scrap repository [1].
Traits that are associated with domesticated behavior in dogs have evolved in a slightly unusual way. While most species have evolved through natural selection, dogs are a special case of rapid evolution via artificial selection.
Artificial selection means that humans purposely breed animals with different combinations of traits in order to increase the likelihood of that trait in the offspring. To be clear, humans did not create wrinkly skin or floppy ears or any other domestic dog trait—rather, they preferentially bred dogs that already displayed traits they found desirable. Over thousands of years of breeding, these traits intensified and we ended up with artificially-selected canines who didn’t necessarily need to be good at hunting or running since they depended on us for food, shelter, and belly rubs [2].
Most of the diversity in dog breeds has originated in the last few hundred years alone. Dog breeders in the past weren’t working from a genetic basis—they were just carefully breeding dogs with physical traits and temperaments that made them well-suited to a variety of human purposes, from herding animals to guarding to companionship. However, because we can trace the rapid evolution of dog breeds through artificial selection, domestic dogs are an interesting avenue for research. Scientists have identified regions of the genome that may be responsible for the wrinkly face of the Shar-pei and the short legs of corgis and dachshunds [2], among other traits.
Although genetic science is advancing rapidly, we still don’t know which genes are responsible for ensuring that a dog will always prefer your bed and the exact spot where you are currently sleeping to the dog bed you bought them, no matter how sumptuous and full of orthopedic memory foam it may be.
In the meantime, tell your dogs from me that they’re good dogs and don’t forget that they are no longer adapted for hunting moose, so they deserve a treat right now. What good dogs!