This is something everyone should see.
When you have your 8/10 week old puppy keep this image in mind. His bones haven't even touched yet. They walk so cute with big flexible legs and wobbly movements because their joints are made up entirely of muscles, tendons and ligaments covered in skin. Nothing fits right or has a real fit yet. When you make them run excessively or don't restrict their exercise to prevent them from overdoing it during this period, you don't give them a chance to grow properly. Every big jump or excited run causes impacts between the bones. In reasonable amounts this is not a problem and is normal wear and tear that any animal will partake in.
But when you let your pup jump up and down the living room or bed, take him on long walks or hikes, you're damaging that developing joint. When you let the pup get on the tiles without traction, you are damaging the joint.
You only get a chance to form them once. A well-built body is something that comes from a great upbringing and education, BOTH, not just one.
Once he's older, he'll have the rest of his life to play and do higher-impact exercise. So keep calm while they're still puppies and give them the gift that can only be given once.
A bit of backstory: this is a pup who took a bump on his elbow and wasn't using it properly so he was taken to the vet. There is nothing wrong with these x-rays, luckily it is a soft tissue injury and he is expected to be fine.
GEN MDR1
Some specimens may have a genetic defect (mutation) in the MDR1 gene. When the MDR1 gene is not functional, different drugs accumulate in the brain and become toxic until causing severe intoxication and sometimes death of the animal.
1. MDR1 (+/+) dogs are homozygous, ie healthy. Such dogs do not show sensitivity to drugs and can be used for breeding without any problem.
2. Carriers are Heterozygous and as such are classified as MDR1 (+/-). These dogs do not develop sensitivity to medications, except to Ivermectin. But they passed the defective gene to their offspring with a probability of 50% in relation to the healthy carrier. Therefore, it is very important to detect carriers before using them for breeding.
3. The MDR1 gene defect is inherited and is due to an autosomal recessive allele. Affected dogs are classified as MDR1 (-/-). The dog that presents this anomaly, of a recessive nature, must have received the defective gene from each of its 2 parents: these animals will show toxic reactions to the different drugs.
The cross must be done with free specimens MDR1 +/+ or carriers +/-.
Dogs that are affected (-/-) should NOT be used to reproduce, carrier dogs (+/-) can be reproduced, since they are healthy specimens, but they can reproduce ONLY with free dogs +/+, two should never be reproduced carrier dogs. That is why it is important to know which dog is free and which carrier, to avoid incorrect crosses.
Dangerous drugs for the breed:
Ivermectina (antiparasitario)
Doramectina
Abamectina
Loperamida (antidiarreico)
Milbemycina (antiparasitario)
Moxidectina (antiparasitario)
Acepromazina (tranquilizante)
Butorphanol (analgésico y preanestesia)
Vincristina
Vimblastina
Doxorubicina
Affected Breeds
The breeds in the table have been studied for their relationship with the collie, where the mdr1 mutation had already been discovered (this is the case of the other shepherd breeds, as they are all related to the common ancestor from which the mutation would originate). or because their susceptibility to ivermectin is also known (this is the case of greyhound breeds, which until 2004 were discovered to have the same haplotype as collies for the mdr1 gene, which means that they have also inherited it of a common ancestor, this was not known). The fact that a breed is not present in said table does not mean that it is exempt from being able to suffer from the mutation.
Degenerative Myelopathy
Degenerative myelopathy is a spontaneous onset spinal cord disorder that affects dogs and is very similar to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease in humans.
In degenerative myelopathy there is degeneration of the "white matter" of the spinal cord and peripheral nerves. The white matter tracts of the spinal cord contain fibers that carry movement commands from the brain to the extremities and sensory information from the extremities to the brain.
Although the disease is most common in German Shepherds, Corgis, Boxers, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and Poodles, it can also occur in other breeds and mixed-breed dogs. The typical age of onset of the disease is between 8-14 years of age, and both sexes are equally affected.
Degenerative myelopathy by itself is not a painful disease. However, compensatory movements in weak limbs can cause the dog to develop pain in other areas of its body such as the neck, shoulders, and forelimbs.
• Mutation and heritability
The defect responsible for the mutation in the SOD1 gene can be identified by means of a DNA test.
The disease is inherited by a recessive gene, this means that a dog only gets sick when it gets the affected gene from both the father and the mother. In the crossing of two carriers, there is a risk that affected animals will appear in the offspring. This defines that carriers must not interbreed with each other.
Carriers, that is, animals with only one mutated gene, will not get degenerative myelopathy, but they will be able to transmit the affected gene to their offspring with a probability of 50%.
In summary, there are three genotypes:
• Genotype N/N (homozygous healthy): This dog does not carry the mutation, and will never develop the disease. You cannot pass the mutation on to offspring.
• N/DM genotype (heterozygous carrier): This dog carries one copy of the mutated gene and one copy of the healthy gene. He will never get sick, but he will transmit the affected gene to his offspring with a probability of 50%. This dog should only be mated with another free of the mutation.
• DM/DM genotype (homozygous affected): This dog carries two copies of the mutated gene and will suffer from the DM disease. It will transmit the mutation to its offspring with a 100% probability, affected dogs MUST NOT REPRODUCE.
This DNA test enables direct identification of the mutation. DNA analysis is independent of the animal's age and can be performed on puppies. Not only will it differentiate between affected and free animals, but it will also identify carrier animals, which is of vital importance for breeding.
TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT IT IS THE CHOICE OF EACH BREEDER TO USE CARRIER DOGS OR NOT, IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO DISCARD CARRIER DOGS, SINCE THEY MAY HAVE OTHER CHARACTERISTICS FAVORABLE TO THE BREED
ONLY DOGS THAT DO NOT HAVE THE MUTATED GENE NEED TO BE COMBINED IN THIS WAY THE INCIDENCE PERCENTAGE WILL DECREASE OVER TIME.
Breeding takes time and decades of work, in all breeds there are diseases to deal with. Diseases such as the aforementioned can be accurately controlled and diseased dogs avoided, which is the priority, unlike hip dysplasia, which is a more difficult disease to eradicate because it can skip generations, and can appear even using dysplasia-free dogs. . But, in the case of Degenerative Myelopathy, using free or only free carriers, you have total control over the disease, with the certainty that a dog will NEVER suffer from it. Breeding selection is not based only on whether or not it is a carrier, but on structure, temperament, type, substance, other health aspects, reproductive capacity, adaptability to the environment, work attitude, etc.
So, I consider that if a dog, being the best pup in the litter in structure and temperament, but is a carrier, and there are free females on the campus, it is not an impediment to keeping that pup, in any case a son of a that dog in the future, let it be free, but it is one step at a time, the carrier dog is HEALTHY, then having the security of health, then the only gene that remains mutated in the next generation is discarded, prioritizing the entirety of the dog and I do not stigmatize the carrier. But under no point of view that carrier will be able to reproduce with another carrier. Every professional and judicious breeder knows that the breeds must progress in their entirety and evenly, if the carrier dogs are not discarded in one generation, it is because that specimen has many virtues for the breed, then it continues to the next generation. , preserving the structural and temperamental qualities of the selected specimen.
