The Institute of Canine Biology
  • HOME
  • Blog
  • Breed Preservation
    • Breeding for the future >
      • BFF Breed Groups
    • Breed Status
    • The "Elevator Pitch"
    • What's in the Gene Pool?
    • What population genetics can tell us about a breed
    • What population genetics can tell you...Tollers & Heelers
    • How to use kinship data
    • Using EBVs to breed better dogs >
      • How population size affects inbreeding
      • EBV Examples
    • How to read a dendrogram
    • Global Pedigree Project >
      • The Database
    • Finding the genes without DNA
    • How to read a heat map
  • Courses
    • COI BootCamp (FREE!)
    • Basic Population Genetics (FREE)
    • Genetic rescue: the genetics of cross breeding (NEW!)
    • The Biology of Dogs (Open Reg )
    • Managing Genetics For the Future >
      • Managing Genetics For the Future Open Reg (Open Reg) >
        • Syllabus - Managing Genetics for the Future
    • Genetics of Behavior & Performance (Open Reg)
    • Strategies for Preservation Breeding (Open Reg)
    • DNA For Dog Breeders (May2025) >
      • DNA For Dog Breeders (Open Reg)
    • Understanding Hip & Elbow Dysplasia (Open Reg) >
      • MORE FREE COURSES >
        • Quickie Genetics (Free!)
        • Group Discounts
        • Useful Genetics (Free!)
        • Strategies for Preservation Breeding (Sept 2023) >
          • Heredity & Genetics (Free!)
        • Basic Genetics Videos
  • Health Data
    • Bloat (Purdue Study)
    • Body Condition Score >
      • % Dysplastic vs BCS
    • Breed Comparions
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Cataracts
    • Caesareans
    • Deafness
    • Degenerative Myelopathy
    • Elbow Dysplasia
    • Epilepsy
    • Genetic Diversity
    • Genetic Diversity (MyDogDNA)
    • Hip Dysplasia >
      • Hip Dysplasia (Hou et al 2013)
    • Metabolic
    • Inbreeding Effects
    • Inbreeding (Gubbels)
    • Inbreeding (Dreger)
    • Lifespan
    • Litter size
    • mtDNA
    • Orthopedic
    • Mode of Inheritance
    • Patella Luxation
    • Thyroid
    • Portosystemic shunt
    • Purebred vs Mixed (UC Davis)
    • Purebred vs Mixed Breed (Bonnett)
    • Spay & Neuter Effects
    • Calboli et al 2008
    • Hodgman (1963)
    • Scott & Fuller (1965)
    • Stockard: Purebred crosses
    • Summers (2011)
  • Resources
    • Stud Books >
      • American Kennel Club stud books
      • Field Dog stud books
      • The Kennel Club (UK)
    • Genetics Databases
    • Learn
    • Videos about dog genetics
    • The Amazing Things Dogs Do! (videos) >
      • Livestock Management
      • Livestock guarding
      • Transportation, exploration, racing
      • Conservation & wildlife management
      • Detection Dogs
      • Medicine & Research
      • Entertainment
      • AKC/CHF Podcasts
    • Read & Watch
    • Bookshelf
  • Projects
    • How To Interpret Breed Analyses
    • Ilska et al 2025 Figures >
      • # of dogs whole pedigree (Ilska)
      • Percent of Dogs Bred (LReg 2005-15)
      • % Males Bred
      • Imported Sires
      • Proportional Population Growth
    • Afghan Hound
    • More details about the Toller study
    • Belgian Tervuren >
      • Belgian Terv p2
      • Belgians- why population size matters
    • Bernese Mountain Dog
    • Boxer
    • Brussels Griffon
    • Bullmastiff
    • Canaan Dog >
      • Canaan analyses
    • Cesky Terrier >
      • Cesky genetic history
    • Chinook
    • Curly-coated Retriever
    • Doberman
    • Entelbucher Mountain Dog
    • Flatcoat Retriever
    • French Bulldog
    • German Shorthair
    • Golden Retriever >
      • Golden Retriever Pedigree Charts
    • Irish Water Spaniel >
      • IWS (6 Nov 17)
    • Labrador Retriever
    • Manchester Terrier
    • Mongolian Bankhar >
      • Research Updates
      • Bankhar 1
    • Norwegian Lundehund
    • Plummer Terrier
    • Otterhound
    • Portuguese Water Dog >
      • Portuguese Water Dog (pt 2)
    • Ridgeback
    • Schipperke
    • Standard Poodle >
      • The Problem With Poodles
      • 3poodle pedigree charts
      • 3Poodle Wycliff dogs
      • Poodle Genetics
    • Tibetan Spaniel
    • Tibetan Mastiff
    • West Highland White Terrier
    • Whippet
    • Wirehaired Pointing Griffons
    • UK KC Graphs >
      • UK KC Breed Status
      • UK Groups
      • KC Gundogs
      • KC Hounds
      • KC Terriers >
        • Terriers (select breeds)
      • KC Pastoral
      • KC Toys
      • KC Working
      • KC Utility
      • Australian KC
  • Genetics
    • Genetic Status of UK KC Breeds (2015)
    • Heterozygosity (DNA) >
      • Heterozygosity vs COI
      • Heterozygosity
      • High and Low Heterozygosity
      • Heterozygosity Countries
      • Heterozygosity by Breed
      • EU Breed Skull Restrictions
    • Mortality (Lewis et al 2018)

THE BASICS OF EBVs

Examples of EBVs for hips
These are graphs of estimated breeding values for hips for two breeds, Bearded Collie and Bloodhound. Better than average breeding values are negative, positive EBVs are worse. So if breeders are selecting for better hips, the EBV scores - the breed average of the "value" of the GENES for hips  - should decrease over time as for Bearded Collies. The other graphs shows that EBVs for hips have actually gotten worse over the last 30 years, and there are fluctuations but no steady improvement at least up to 2007 (the last year of data).


Picture
Picture
EBV scores are calculated relative to the breed average, and these scores will change when more information is added to the database. Also the accuracy will improve as additional related dogs (especially progeny) are added. 

"Better" scores are LOWER - so negative values are better, positive values are worse.

I've pulled up values for a few dogs, ordered here from best to worst.  Remember - these are not hip scores; this info is not telling you that a dog has better hips than another dog; it's telling you that the a dog has better GENES for hips than another dog.

Hip dysplasia has a heritability of about 20%, which means that 80% of the variation among dogs is influenced by the "environment" (which includes anything that is NOT genetic) - nutrition of the mother, how much exercise the puppy got, what substrate is in the kennel - ANYTHING that could influence the quality of the hip. So a dog might not have great hips, but if it has a low EBV for hips, that tells you that it has good GENES for hips.

 
If you pull up the records for specific dogs, this is what you would see -
Picture
How to use EBVs to evaluate a test mating
Pick the dogs you're interested in, and "mate compare" uses the EBVs for those two dogs to predict the EBV of the puppies. 
Picture

Picture

You can use the data available now for hips and elbows (from OFA's public records) if they're available for your breed. The data only include dogs born up to about 2009; these will need to be updated to evaluate younger dogs.  But in the meantime, you can visit the Cornell EBV website and play around with some test matings.

This is the link to the Cornell EBV website -
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/research/bvhip/

Just register then you can browse the database. 
Blog

News


About Us

Contact Us








Copyright © 2012-2017 Institute of Canine Biology
Picture
Picture