Genetic analysis of three different classification protocols for the evaluation of elbow dysplasia in German shepherd dogs

Abstract

The elbow dysplasia scores were determined by two genetically different traits. The possibilities for selecting German shepherd dogs with respect to elbow dysplasia might be improved by taking into account these two traits in the prediction of breeding values.

Incidence of canine elbow dysplasia in South Africa

“…The mean age of the South African dogs examined was nearly 25 months. Increasing age resulted in increasing arthrosis and poorer grading in this study as well as elsewhere 8 and it may be that there will be some improvement in scores as more dogs are screened at 12 months. Other limitations of this study include limited numbers in some breeds which could skew the data, nonsubmission of dogs or their radiographs for evaluation e.g.…”

“…Four breeds: Rottweiler, Bullmastiff, Chow chow and Boerboel had an incidence higher than 40 %, with the Rottweiler being the highest at 55 %. Males had a significantly higher incidence of ED, which is likely to be due to their faster growth rate or a possible sex-linked factor [3][4][5]8 . Although grading of affected elbows was on average 0.19 higher in males than females this was not statistically significant.…”

“…The German Shepherd Dog Federation, which has the bulk of South African German shepherds as its members, has to date not officially graded dogs for elbow dysplasia, which reflects their low numbers in this study. However, with an incidence of 19.5 % in the United States (Table 2) and 14 % in Germany 8 , the German Shepherd Dog Federation needs to implement an ED scheme for its members as well. The same applies to organisations controlling the Boerboel, which has an extremely high incidence of ED.…”

“…Heritability varies from 0.10-0.77 and males may have a higher heritability than females 9,11 . The various components of ED may be inherited independently from each other 8,9 . Knowing the ED status of breeding dogs is important for breeders to reduce the incidence of this condition.…”

Working Algorithm for Treatment Decision Making for Developmental Disease of the Medial Compartment of the Elbow in Dogs

“…Whereas several diseases may coexist within the same joint, [3][4][5] it has become increasingly apparent from histomorphometric, 6 biomechanical, 2,7,8 and genetic or heritability 9,10 data that there is considerable independence in development of these multifactorial disease processes. This is further complicated by the spectrum of clinical signs and macroscopic pathology associated with any single disease process, 11 which has important implications for treatment and prognosis.…”