Dogs Global - Keeping breeds healthy and pure

Click on the link to read more about Dog Global's work:  https://www.dogsglobal.com/ 

Dog Global is an organization that provides, among other things, the opportunity to create databases for different breeds. In their database, we can combine the pedigrees of dogs belonging to the same breed from several different countries. Today, we are in contact with Pieter, who runs this work, and have started discussions with him about whether we can in the future get our breeds included in an international stud book. This let us get a broader picture of what the genetic situation of the breeds looks like and the opportunity to more easily combine dogs from different countries and be able to see what it gives genetically. Dog Global also has very good information on breeding dogs in closed studbooks and small genetic populations. We recommend that you watch both videos below on this page and then visit Dog Global's website for more information.

Above: Pieter Oliehoek with a Samoyed dog who runs Dog Global and has been very helpful in helping the network respond to discussions about how breeding should be done in small populations.

On dog Global's website, they write, among other things, the following about their work. Let's combine your pedigree data with our unique algorithm to give breeders and owners options to take informed breeding decisions to halt genetic decline. You can also browse the pedigree, and there are many more great features for breeders and owners.

At the moment almost nothing is done to actually maintain or increase the genetic diversity within dog breeds. The most important reason is: you cannot detect which dogs contribute more to the genetic diversity of the breed as a whole. This is what Mean Kinship can brings to the table: it identifies individuals that will help in maintaining genetic diversity. Without Mean Kinship, this would not be possible. To keep a population diverse you need to analyse the entire population; you cannot just test two dogs and expect to know what impact they will have on the population as a whole.

Mean Kinship is a value per animal that indicates the relatedness or kinship of this animal towards the entire current population of the breed. A low Mean Kinship value means that the animal is (relatively) unrelated and is therefore genetically important. Mean Kinship as a tool is developed and used within the zoo community to preserve the diversity of endangered species. For many reasons, Mean Kinship is even more suitable for dog breeds. Note that Mean Kinship targets the diversity and therefore the health for the ENTIRE breed, and not a specific litter per sé.

Safeguarding genetic diversity in the Leonberger breed

Here we share a video with Pieter Oliehoek on how to breed within closed, small populations to reduce the risk of low genetic variation causing disease in our dogs. What should we think about to preserve a healthy breed for the future? This is important when it comes to breeding small groups of endangered animal species in zoos, something Dr. ir. Pieter Oliehoek(PhD) works with, but which should also be applied to our dog breeds which also consist of small closed populations of animals with high relatedness within the group. Pieter Oliehoek has also founded the Dogs Global database where his interest in dogs has contributed to his creation of tools for breeders, to more easily find the animals that are genetically important to the breed.

The Team behind Dog Global

Another site also provided by Dog Global is a guid for anyone involved in preservation of an endangered species of rare domestic breed. Klicka på bilden ovan för att koma till hemsidan. https://www.breedingfordiversity.com/