By Carol Beuchat PhD
To understand the rest of this, you need to read the blog I posted yesterday, so if you missed it you need to click on the link and read it now. I'll wait here for you.
Are we watching the extinction of a breed?
Are we watching the extinction of a breed?
Quite a downer, wasn't it? When I posted it I expected to receive a fusillade of abuse from "responsible" breeders. But I didn't. I got these, from people in Dobermans as well as other breeds:
I've always loved the look of Dobes but couldn't own one due to the health issues. I've known people who did everything right, dogs tested clear for heart issues for years but then finally popped for a heart issue later in life after being bred. I could never have that on my mind.
| This don't come out of the blue.....maybe now it is a eye opener for the ones who follow the herd and think it's the right path......Thank you for sharing this, still it makes you sad.....but sometimes the truth does that . Time will tell....there is less, I know. We lost our last Dobe with DCM. He dropped dead in the hall. He was only 7. I had heard of DCM but didn’t realise it was so prevalent in the breed. |  |
Excellent and crystal clear indeed. One is left wondering why breeders don't get it.
IMO...........EVERY member here needs to read this! Every word is quite simply a fact! TY to Carol Beauchat for the courage to speak with such honesty.
This. This. A Thousand Times This!!
Thank you, THANK YOU, Dr. Beuchat!
The Doberman breed is in Dire straits, a fact increasingly evident over the last several decades. The most tragic part of it all is that this perfect breed, that stands ready to literally lay their lives down on the line to protect and serve us, is so indefensibly disserved by "breeders" including more than a few of whom **knowingly choose to use dogs already diagnosed with occult DCM** for breeding.
The newly coined term "preservation breeders" is the most vacuous, jackass, hypocritical, Doberman-disserving one of all: these people largely are the very ones addressed in your writing, those suctioned onto the grand Show Win at ALL COSTS and wholly dismissive of the FACTS you presented. Their Dobermans are mere tokens in their personal subway car crusades to ego fulfillment and self-aggrandizement. (But, their dogs ears are ALL cropped, which is what counts, after all, in serving and saving our breed, of course.)
Thank you, I hope what you wrote will be widely shared. And I hope and pray there are enough individuals who GENUINELY care about the Doberman breed, able and willing to do what it takes to GENUINELY preserve its very existence.
The Doberman breed is in Dire straits, a fact increasingly evident over the last several decades. The most tragic part of it all is that this perfect breed, that stands ready to literally lay their lives down on the line to protect and serve us, is so indefensibly disserved by "breeders" including more than a few of whom **knowingly choose to use dogs already diagnosed with occult DCM** for breeding.
The newly coined term "preservation breeders" is the most vacuous, jackass, hypocritical, Doberman-disserving one of all: these people largely are the very ones addressed in your writing, those suctioned onto the grand Show Win at ALL COSTS and wholly dismissive of the FACTS you presented. Their Dobermans are mere tokens in their personal subway car crusades to ego fulfillment and self-aggrandizement. (But, their dogs ears are ALL cropped, which is what counts, after all, in serving and saving our breed, of course.)
Thank you, I hope what you wrote will be widely shared. And I hope and pray there are enough individuals who GENUINELY care about the Doberman breed, able and willing to do what it takes to GENUINELY preserve its very existence.
We have identified 2 genes that contribute to DCM and can be tested for. However, there are like 18 more to go and 2 took a hundred years. While a majority of dobes carry DCM not all die from it. Boxers about equal with us for DCM.
I need this in a PDF like yesterday.
Although this article uses the Doberman breed as an example it is so important for all dog lovers and breeders..here is a chilling excerpt..."Here is the elephant in the room. Our dogs are dying of inbreeding. Decades of inbreeding in a quest for the ever more perfect dog has resulted in the loss of genes that are essential to life. However perfect and beautiful the dogs might be on the outside, on the inside they are broken".
This really moved me today...I have shared with some of the dobermann community.
We lost our Doberman (a rescue) at the early age of 2 to sudden onset DCM. It was heartbreaking. I am aware of some pretty nasty happenings amongst breeders in the dobe show world. It's really sad.
It is time to open the studbooks. Actually, it is long overdue.
I had a Doberman years ago. Lived to the ripe old age of 2. She died from having seizure after seizure. My parents, 700 miles away at the same time had a Doberman (from a show dog breeder) also die at age 2 from Bone cancer. Scary.
Carol Beuchat thanks for standing up and speaking so concisely about this. Truth.
This is an article that every breeder should read. I no longer believe <X> breed can be saved. I no longer even want it to, at least in the manner in which breeders have been going. I don't believe this new test will matter in the long run, and by long run I don't mean 50 years, but 20 years from now. I cannot any longer feel as if the dogs can wait for that better future where <this disease> does not torment them. This breed is broken. All we can do is keep it propped up. No dog should be created to live this way. Although this article focuses on Dobermans, the X is also in trouble and the points made in this article need to be taken in and deeply considered as they pertain to all pure breed dogs. Thank you Carol Beuchat for speaking out plainly.
Wow. That poor man. Couldn't imagine going through such a thing. Thanks for the article. Something has to give :(
Acctually its interesting... and sad at the same time... there is no way to reduce inbreeding since the doberman originates from 7 Dogs.... there are NO free lines of DCM left.... its like Russian Rullet to breed as sad as it is. The Germans will never let a nother breed be crossed to the Doberman since they still are in denial that DCM exsists and many breeders do the US Gene test and if it sais its free they say there line is DCM free but thats not true.... i have seen resluts of a free testing and 3 weeks later that dog droped dead on DCM. So is our beloved breed doomed to be extinct? I am hoping its not but if you look at the scary facts... it is and it breaks my heart into a million pieces...
Heartbreaking to watch. I don't understand how a breeder can claim they love their breed and not outcross to save it
Yet breeders just keep on inbreeding and not heeding these warnings. They know better, and they have been breeding that way for years without a problem :-(. Maybe Dobermann breeders have reduced the incidence of Von Willebrands by testing but where has it got them.
I have had so many breeders who claim to be all about health, and who expressed a lot of interest in a new (evidence based) way to breed, but almost ALL of them fell away once it became clear that such an approach might not work well with the dogs (and plans) they now have. Very frustrating. Young breeders who have a good understanding of genetics and who have not yet invested a lot of money (and years and emotions) into breeding stock seem to be our highest and best hope. Crossing my fingers ...
Very good article and sadly I can't name one breeder I think would be open to breed crossing.
I have both breeds, in dobes 51% of the breed carries DCM worldwide. 30% of that 51% dies from sudden death. Very sad.
Not funny, it does matter.
We're on the brink, Carol Beuchat, thanks to your pushes and shoves. And we are finally getting a significant number of breeders who are interested in participating. :) More to come ...
Oh dear dogs.
Horrifying. My breed is less than one percent more diverse than Dobes, although we are blessed to not have a lethal condition like DCM. Yet. We need to act now, before it appears.
This is why we decided to have a crossbred dog. We thought about getting a vizsla, and we got a vizsla cross. When he was a few years old, polymyositis popped up in pure-bred vizslas. Thankfully it's not widespread in the breed, but it pretty much guarantees that we'll never be getting a vizsla. In fact, I doubt we'll ever have a pure-bred dog, much as we like the look, attitude, intelligence and drive of some of them.
I am literally sick to my stomach.
Irish Wolfhounds are 10 to the left of Dobermans in the chart. This is of Great concern. We need to spend the time, effort, knowledge, diversity, love, and open mindedness to enhance and ensure our wonderful breed for the future as well. We must stop being such purist and snobs and bring more animals into the tight circle we have created in order to save our hounds. I noticed this right away when I saw a majority of the dogs in the puppy pictures have cute socks on their front paws. Maked me wonder right away and this is just one indicator.
Wow. That is scary and sad.
When there is a lack of a plan to address these issues .... individuals try to do what they can do independently. How to get more cooperation?... maybe the business sector can shed some light.
Thank you for the article. Of course very thought provoking and scary!! We are not breeders but love our flat coats. I hope the breeders read this and pass it on
Excellent info and a must read for all Boerboel enthusiasts!
To be fair, I will confess that there were a few folks that had something negative to say. I just have to share with you this gem offered by Robyn Dubbert:
| The author may have a number of credentials but she's a misguided kook. |
Now, she is not the first to call me a kook (but probably the first that intended it to be mocking and derisive). But misguided I am not. If I had posted that blog four years ago, I would be eyeballs deep in flung feces by now. To receive snarky comments from only this one person and a few others in that group that piled on reflects the huge progress that has been made in educating breeders and in raising awareness of inbreeding as a significant problem in dogs. Fortunately, Robyn, I am undeterred by your comments.
I want to share one more thing with you that was posted as a comment by Ruth Stolzewski in the ICB Breeding for the Future group.
"The Doberman doesn't die of inbreeding. It dies of human ignorance. This is the video I made for Doberman lovers in Germany 3 years ago: https://youtu.be/mL4wuv26068. And still the German Doberman club neglects the existence of the disease and does NOTHING to preserve it. And he does this under the roof of the German Kennel Club which calls itself the club with the strictest rules. Well what are rules worth if they are not enforced? The whole dog breeding world is just a false system in which human greed and ego comes first and the dog's well being comes last. That's the sad reality. And it does not change."
Go get a cup of tea and watch her moving video about the tragedy of DCM in Dobermans.
"The Doberman doesn't die of inbreeding. It dies of human ignorance. This is the video I made for Doberman lovers in Germany 3 years ago: https://youtu.be/mL4wuv26068. And still the German Doberman club neglects the existence of the disease and does NOTHING to preserve it. And he does this under the roof of the German Kennel Club which calls itself the club with the strictest rules. Well what are rules worth if they are not enforced? The whole dog breeding world is just a false system in which human greed and ego comes first and the dog's well being comes last. That's the sad reality. And it does not change."
Go get a cup of tea and watch her moving video about the tragedy of DCM in Dobermans.
The familier themes are all there. Researchers studying the disorder. Geneticists searching for the gene. Acceptance by breeders that it's an unfortunate disorder in the breed, and even denial by the Kennel Club that there is any problem at all. You can be sure that for every death there are many hearts broken. In many cases the death of the dog left a loving owner with the mental image of a dog collapsing that they will never be able to "unsee".
Registrations of most purebred breeds have been dropping, but the decline in Dobermans is breathtaking. This graph is from the report compiled by the UK Kennel club and published on their website (you can download a copy below). After a burst of popularity in the 1980s, registrations crashed then seemed to settle down to about 3,000 per year. In the last 10 years, however, registrations have dropped like a rock.
Is the breed becoming less popular because of its heart problems? It's hard to say, but it doesn't really matter. This is a breed in decline in terms of both health and numbers. Population explosions and crashes can destroy a gene pool. You have to appreciate that it takes careful planning to reduce a population of animals by a third, a half, or even more, without losing genetic diversity. So the Doberman breed needs cope with loss of genetic diversity because of a population crash, as well as additional losses due to genetic drift that will only increase as the population gets smaller. Inbreeding increases when there are fewer animals to breed from, which will increase the expression of deleterious alleles and loss of fitness through inbreeding depression. All of these are pushing the breed towards the cliff.
So, what now? If breeders are going to try to fix the health problems and save this breed, they better get started on it soon or there will be nothing left to save. They don't have time to bicker about whose fault it is, or which lines are worst and which might still be healthy. They need to make a plan, it needs to be global, and it needs to be sound.
This is not a problem breeders or clubs will be able to solve themselves. This will be comparable to the rescue of a wildlife species in imminent danger of extinction. These kinds of rescues are very challenging under any circumstances, but rescue of the Doberman will take this to another level of difficulty. Real animal populations get sucked into the "extinction vortex" as inbreeding increases above about 10% because of low fertility, poor health, and short lifespans. Endangered species don't usually hang on until the level of inbreeding is 40% or 50% and a good fraction of the population is dropping dead before they are old enough to breed.
Breeders will need some serious expertise to help them fix this. It's going to take a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of money to turn this boat around. Don't waste time worrying about what should be done and how to do it. Call in the doctor and get busy building a long-term plan. The longer you wait to get started, the harder it will be, because inbreeding will continue to increase and more and more of the gene pool will be lost. And, of course, more Doberman owners will experience the anguish of losing a beloved member of the family to a known genetic disorder.
This is not a problem breeders or clubs will be able to solve themselves. This will be comparable to the rescue of a wildlife species in imminent danger of extinction. These kinds of rescues are very challenging under any circumstances, but rescue of the Doberman will take this to another level of difficulty. Real animal populations get sucked into the "extinction vortex" as inbreeding increases above about 10% because of low fertility, poor health, and short lifespans. Endangered species don't usually hang on until the level of inbreeding is 40% or 50% and a good fraction of the population is dropping dead before they are old enough to breed.
Breeders will need some serious expertise to help them fix this. It's going to take a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of money to turn this boat around. Don't waste time worrying about what should be done and how to do it. Call in the doctor and get busy building a long-term plan. The longer you wait to get started, the harder it will be, because inbreeding will continue to increase and more and more of the gene pool will be lost. And, of course, more Doberman owners will experience the anguish of losing a beloved member of the family to a known genetic disorder.
This should have been addressed decades ago. But the awareness is there now, so now is the time to start.
Headed down the same tragic road of with rising rates of dilated cardiomyopathy are Deerhounds, Irish Wolfhounds, Boxers, St. Bernards, Great Danes, Afghans, Newfoundlands, Old English Sheepdogs, and English and American Cockers. They will all need to deal with this. Perhaps they should consider pooling resources and tackle this together.
Below you can download the report on the Doberman published in September 2015 by the UK Kennel club.
| dobermann.pdf |
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