Breeding White Boxers! (+ other breeds subject to congenital deafness)

Dog Breeds With Reported Congenital Deafness*

Akita Doberman Pinscher Perro de Carea Leonés
American Bulldog Dogo Argentino Pit Bull Terrier
American-Canadian Shepherd English Bulldog Pointer
American Eskimo English Cocker Spaniel Presa Canario
American Staffordshire Terrier English Setter Puli
Anatolian Shepherd Foxhound Rhodesian Ridgeback
Australian Cattle Dog Fox Terrier Rat Terrier
Australian Shepherd French Bulldog Rottweiler
Beagle German Shepherd Saint Bernard
Bichon Frise German Shorthaired Pointer Samoyed
Border Collie Great Dane Schnauzer
Borzoi Great Pyrenees Scottish Terrier
Boston Terrier Greyhound Sealyham Terrier
Boxer Havanese Shetland Sheepdog
Brittney Spaniel Ibizan Hound Shih Tzû
Bulldog Italian Greyhound Shropshire Terrier
Bull Terrier Jack Russell Terrier Siberian Husky
Cardigan Welsh Corgi Kuvasz Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier
Catahoula Leopard Dog Labrador Retriever Springer Spaniel
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Löwchen Sussex Spaniel
Chihuahua Maltese Tibetan Spaniel
Chinese Crested Miniature Pinscher Tibetan Terrier
Chow Chow Miniature Poodle Toy Fox Terrier
Cocker Spaniel mongrel Toy Poodle
Collie Norwegian Dunkerhound Walker American Foxhound
Coton de Tulear Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever West Highland White Terrier
Dalmatian Old English Sheepdog Whippet
Dappled Dachshund Papillon Yorkshire Terrier (n=84)

*Note: dogs of any breed can have congenital deafness, from a variety of causes. Breeds with white pigmentation are most affected.

This makes interesting reading -

http://www.greatdanerescueinc.com/de...retheydeaf.htm

Unfortunately the possibility of deafness in most these cases are not visible, with Boxers, Dalmatians and some other breeds it is.

If you really wish to frighten yourself then read the paper published be the Association of Veterinarians of Animal Rights called Guide to Congenital and Heritable disorders in dogs. Mind you if you read a similar list for humans it would no doubt be just as horrifying.

Think we should not be overwhelmed by these lists but rather use this knowledge to make certain that we only breed with the greatest of care, never risking a heritable problem and always checking the ancestries of the breeding stock and taking advantage of any tests available. For instance the list mentioned above has in total for the Boxer of 47 conditions, now we all know that deafness, skin problems and early onset arthritis are fairly common inherited problems but I don’t think most of the 44 are. We are have the responsiblity to know what is possible and prove that we have done our best to avoid it by breeding with the greatest of care.

Edit: to say IMO deafness is a minor problem when considered against other possible inherited conditions, given that the correct home can be found then being deaf is not that much problem to the dog, it only becomes a true problem if the number of good homes able and wishing to deal with a deaf dog is exceeded by the number of such dogs born.

can you explain how you see deafness- is it the hearing aid that is the give away ?

Sorry I meant one is able to see the coat colour that is linked with a particular type of deafness and therefore it is possible to 'see' that there could be a problem and that should make it essential to do a more than thorough check on the ancestors of any dog carrying this gene, with Dalmatians the problem can only be controlled by testing your breeding stock as they all have white coats, although, of course, they do not all carry the affected gene.

with Dalmatians the problem can only be controlled by testing your breeding stock as they all have white coats,

Exactly! If you have healthy sound hearing dogs with no deafness in either ancestors either side sire/dam and resultant puppies are hearing and healthy. Those are the breeding lines to follow.

Hers a link for deafness also gives a list of dogs that carry it
http://www.upei.ca/%7Ecidd/intro.htm

also a link to the genetics of it
http://www.upei.ca/%7Ecidd/intro.htm

part of the above link
As long as the frequency of a gene for a recessive disorder remains low in the population, the particular gene may be passed along for many generations before by chance 2 carriers are mated and affected individuals are born. However, the gene frequency may become unusually high due to breeding of close family members, or because of the "popular sire" effect , where a sire with a harmful recessive gene is mated frequently because of desirable traits.

Because the recessive gene is carried in the population in outwardly normal animals, it is very difficult to eradicate these traits. However the incidence can be reduced by identification of carriers through test matings or through various tests that have been developed, and the conscientious use of this information in breeding programmes. Veterinarians, dog breeders, and breed associations must all work together for substantial progress to be achieved.

Sex-linked traits

Well, that should go without saying but, of course, the truth is different, anyone with a Dalmatian, Boxer or any other breed can and often do breed unsuitable bitches to unsuitable studs, sometimes not even the same breed. Don’t expect it will ever stop as people feel it is their right to breed if they want to, so it is down to us who understand and care to keep banging on about responsible breeding, only breeding when the background of a particular animal is not only known but also understood. Breeding from the best possible examples of a breed, something that is not just to breed standard but more importantly is fit and healthy with nothing in excess and is not bred just because it happens to be the in fashion colour or coat type.

So - you are saying that people with Boxers and Dalmatians are not breeding to their own breed but outcrossing? First I have heard or seen of it.

Being a dog breeder does not make an expert!

I think someone around here is a little obsessed with white boxers we seem to have a lot of threads about them four at the last count ... think the next one should be ''OMG not another thread about white boxers ''