Blog Archives for the year 2018

While advancements in science, medicine, and agriculture have played a role in decreasing the relative importance of the dog in human survival, their importance as pets, companions, and surrogate family members may be greater than ever. Once more commonly selected for their athletic prowess and behavioral traits, the rise of dog fancying over the past 250 years has elevated the importance of canine aesthetics to previously unprecedented heights. As a result, dog breeders have historically gone to great lengths to produce dogs with unique phenotypic characteristics desirable to potential pet buyers. While most of these characteristics are simple, mendelian genetic traits without health concerns, some desirable and interesting traits such as the merle coat color pattern are unique to domestic animals and bring with them a complexity and potential health concerns that veterinarians should be aware of in their goal of facilitating canine health and wellbeing. 

An Interesting Mutation for an Interesting Haircoat

In 2006, Dr. Leigh Anne Clark and others identified a semi-dominant genetic mutation responsible for the merle coat color pattern commonly seen in numerous dog breeds including the Australian shepherd, collie, border collie, and dachshund. Merle coat color is marked by areas of normal, eumelanistic pigmentation ...

As one year closes and we begin a new, I like to take this time to reflect on the accomplishments of Paw Print Genetics (PPG).  It still amazes me that in such a short time (PPG was founded in 2012), we have become the most trusted laboratory in the industry.  Even if we didn’t do the testing, breeders come to us for advice and help in figuring out the sometimes complex nature of genetic testing results.  Perhaps this is because we are so accessible. PPG employs PhD geneticists and licensed veterinarians who are on-staff and in our offices, available by phone for consultation about your breeding program, a particular dog that needs testing, or a specific result.  Providing genetic counseling and a helpful ear is so important for assisting breeders in navigating the ever-changing world of canine genetics.

As in previous years, PPG had many accomplishments this year. Only a few are highlighted in the following paragraphs. For me, our biggest accomplishment is how fast we continue to grow and the number of new breeders who tried us for the first time this past year.  These new customers are finding us mostly from you – our current ...

Once only a dream for dog lovers, technological advances in the sciences have now made testing for certain inherited diseases a mainstay of modern dog breeding. With knowledge of specific, disease-associated genetic mutations and an understanding of how these diseases are inherited, tests can be developed to identify dams and sires at risk of producing affected puppies. With this knowledge, informed decisions can be made in selecting mates which can safely be bred together.

As the Associate Medical Director at Paw Print Genetics, I have heard many different strategies employed by our clients to get required or recommended health clearances performed on their dogs prior to breeding. Some choose to break up the testing over time to spread out the cost and many choose one type of health clearance to be performed first with other testing to be completed upon the results of the first round of testing. For a variety of reasons, I propose that performing genetic testing on breeding dogs prior to other health clearances is a practical option that may be in the best interest for many breeders.

Test at Any Age

One advantage to performing genetic health testing prior to other clearances is that genetic testing ...

Our Paw Print Genetics (PPG) clients frequently share with us some of the great ideas they utilize to help in their quest to produce happy and healthy litters. Recently, one of our wonderful clients (for this blog, I will call her Carol) gave me an awesome tip regarding her method for drying out umbilical cords, docked tails, or dew claws that she intends to send to PPG as samples for DNA extraction and genetic testing.

Carol’s method involves pulling out her old trusty muffin tin and using the paper liners typically used for baking. Carol prepares one paper liner for each puppy by writing the specific puppy’s name (most commonly corresponding to the puppy’s collar color)  as well as the Paw Print Genetics ID number that is generated on the PPG website when a dog is added to an account.  She then places each liner into one of the metal cups in the muffin tin.

As her veterinarian collects each sample, Carol carefully deposits each sample into the labeled liner corresponding to the correct puppy. To prevent DNA contamination between puppies, she requests that the veterinarian clean the tools and change gloves before collecting the sample on the next pup ...

Genetics play an enormous role in the health of dogs walking through the doors of any veterinary hospital. However, the treatment of an animal with an inherited disease rather than proactive testing of the genetic mutations responsible for disease has been the traditional role of the veterinarian. With an increase in the availability of canine genetic disease testing and great improvements in the ease and convenience of ordering genetic testing through Paw Print Genetics, more and more dog breeders and their clients are having genetic testing performed preemptively and learning the benefits of these powerful technologies. As a veterinarian, understanding the basics of genetic testing and how genetic test results can be used to prevent and diagnose disease will keep you current and prepared for your clients as these technologies inevitably become a more significant part of clinical veterinary practice.

One of the more challenging but important aspects of canine genetic testing is deciding what recommendations to make when a dog or one of its relatives are found to be at risk for (or affected with) an inherited disease. Appropriate testing recommendations for the relatives of affected dogs may be crucial for prevention of additional affected puppies and identification of ...

Discovery of disease-associated, canine genetic mutations has greatly increased over the past two decades. As a result, identification of these mutations through genetic testing has quickly become a useful tool for dog kennels and veterinary practices by allowing for the identification of asymptomatic disease carriers, diagnosis of affected dogs, and prevention of inherited diseases through informed breeding practices. However, because mutation discovery is often funded by specific breed clubs with interest in a breed-related disease concern, study investigators may not perform extensive, species-wide population studies for a newly discovered mutation. Therefore, in many cases, additional breeds inheriting the same mutation (and developing the same disease) may remain unknown for quite some time after the initial discovery.

As any modern veterinarian can attest, for better or worse, animal lovers have more veterinary medical information at their fingertips than ever before. Occasionally, at Paw Print Genetics, we are contacted by breeders or owners whose veterinarian had opted not to pursue a diagnosis that the client suspected because of the veterinarian’s historical understanding of a disease’s breed-specific distribution rather than the current knowledge. For veterinarians building a differential diagnosis list, keeping the mind open to a particular inherited disease manifesting in an unexpected ...

Genetic testing is important for any breed, for the dog’s individual health and wellbeing as well as for any breeding dogs to ensure healthy puppies in future generations. Paw Print Genetics offers genetic testing for three diseases known to occur in the Alaskan Malamute. Testing for these diseases provides you the information that you need to keep your dog healthy and to select appropriate breeding pairs to avoid producing affected puppies.

The first disease is the Alaskan Malamute Polyneuropathy. This disease is an inherited neuromuscular condition that affects dogs between the ages of 3 and 19 months of age. The first signs of this disease may be a change in their bark, noisy breathing, exercise intolerance and loss of hindlimb coordination. The disease is progressive resulting in muscle wasting, abnormal gait or inability to walk. Testing of this disease is required for CHIC and using results in your breeding program can eliminate producing affected pups.  This disease is inherited in a recessive manner meaning that two copies of the mutation are required to produce the symptoms of polyneuropathy. Dogs that have one copy of the mutation are carriers and are not affected. Breeding carriers to clear (normal) dogs will ...

Intestinal cobalamin malabsorption, also known as Amnionless Deficiency, Cobalamin Deficiency, Imerslund-Grasbeck Syndrome (IGS), and Vitamin B12 Deficiency, is an inherited disease found in the Australian Shepherd and related breeds (Miniature Australian Shepherd, Toy Australian Shepherd, Miniature American Shepherd). The disease is inherited in a recessive fashion and as such, dogs that inherit two copies of the mutation are at risk for the disease. The disease is caused by the inability to make adequate amounts of a protein that plays a role in absorption of certain nutrients from the intestinal tract and kidneys, including the B vitamin, cobalamin. Affected dogs have increased levels of methylmalonic acid in their urine (a sign of cobalamin deficiency) after weaning, but symptoms of disease may not be recognized by owners for months or years. Symptoms of disease include anorexia, lethargy, poor weight gain, poor muscle mass, and in rare circumstances, a severe neurological dysfunction called hepatic encephalopathy that can lead to altered mental state, seizures, coma and death. Affected dogs require treatment with cobalamin supplementation throughout their life.

Because of the severity of this condition and the fact that it is treatable, this test has been added to the breed-specific panels for Australian Shepherds and related breeds ...

Paw Print Genetics is special and I am not just saying that because I am the CEO. There is no other canine genetics laboratory like PPG. Seriously!  Paw Print Genetics is the only laboratory that has implemented human-based testing standards. What does this mean?  It means that PPG tests each mutation region twice with two different methods to ensure the highest accuracy possible. No laboratory can boast 100% accuracy, but PPG achieves 99.9% accuracy each and every day. This means that you can trust your results and use them confidently in your breeding program. In addition, PPG employs both PhD Geneticists and licensed Veterinarians on staff, in our offices, that oversee the testing and report the results. You can also call and speak to them if you have any questions or concerns. Finally, I am the only board certified geneticist in the canine field; I am board certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics. These three aspects - the 'double check testing', having geneticists and veterinarians on staff, and having a board certified geneticist on staff - are equivalent to the requirements found in human genetic testing laboratories.

In addition to our high testing standards and customer access ...