Logo:
Long Term Health
Long-Term Breed Health
This section is written from a national, not a Club, perspective. We hope that everyone who has ever owned a Beardie or admired the breed will recognise the value of a joint club approach, and support any activities and actions intended to promote the long-term health of the breed. A national Breed Health Co-ordinator, Elizabeth Ayrton, has been appointed - you can find her contact details on the Club Contact us page.
Context and early initiatives
Beardies are basically a healthy breed. The breed standard for Beardies reflects their original role as workers in a pastoral environment where a strong yet lean physique, supple effortless gait, natural intelligence and steady temperament were all essential attributes.
Since 1950, when the foundation litter of the modern breed was registered with the Kennel Club, breeders have focused in broadly equal measure on the three priorities of health, temperament and construction. Traditionally, breeders planning a mating relied on their own direct knowledge of the lineage of the prospective sire and dam to achieve these outcomes, and this remains the cornerstone of breeding today.
However, since the 1980s a number of additional resources have become available and these are also being used to inform breeding decisions:
- Beardie breeders were among the first to achieve widespread adoption of the test for hip dysplasia
- the BVA/KC/ISDS test for inherited eye conditions is used by a number of breeders, even though there is no evidence of problems in the breed
- the international Bearded Collie Open Health Registry (BeaCon) was set up in 1999 to provide an information repository on breed health.
The current perspective
It is evident that Beardie breeders regard health as one of three key priorities in their breeding plans, alongside temperament and construction. (See BCX for the views of a wide range of Beardie breeders on this issue.) Breeders can also point to direct evidence:
- Hip dysplasia. During 2012, 111 Bearded Collies were scored with an average of 9.5 (out of a maximum of 106). The 5-year rolling mean figures published by the Kennel Club show a decrease from 11.0 in 2005 to 9.7 in 2012.
(In simplified terms, total scores below 4 indicate perfect or near perfect hips; 5 to 10: borderline, unlikely to worsen with age; 11 to 20: mild, may worsen with age, sometimes developing into osteoarthritis; 21 and above: osteoarthritis is already a prominent feature.)
- Inherited eye conditions. Eye testing was carried out at the BCC Championship Show held on 4th December 2011. Prof Bedford MRCVS, one of the BVA’s 33 appointed eye panellists examined 76 Bearded Collies of all ages and both sexes to determine the status of eye health within the breed. In a very positive report he confirmed he had found no ocular disease of known or suspected hereditary origin.
- BeaCon. In February 2013 there were 2,198 Beardies in BeaCon of which 484 were UK-registered. The top five health issues in Beardies (of all ages) identified from BeaCon data are (1) autoimmune diseases, (2) fear of loud or sharp noises, (3) cancer (all types), (4) hypothyroidism and (5) umbilical hernia. Hypothyroidism was not included in the autoimmune diseases category because there is insufficient information available to know that the disorder was autoimmune based. The top five health issues have been the same over the last 5 years and there has been little change in their rank order. See the BeaCon website for further information and resources on all these issues.
Advances in genetics
Overall breed health is not simply a summation of the health of individuals. The long-term health of the Beardie population is determined by factors such as population size, age profile, geographical distribution, and amount of genetic variety, as well as the health of individuals.
Recent advances in science, especially genetics, have provided new tools which are useful in assessing the impact of matings on long-term sustainability of the breed. This is important in closed populations such as pedigree dog breeds, especially when:
- the number of litters being bred is decreasing
- the number of individuals contributing their genes to the next generation is small
- the extent to which individuals are genetically related is high
- the breed has life-affecting health problems which are genetically-linked.
The last of these is not an issue for Beardies to any significant degree, but there is growing awareness that other population characteristics indicate a degree of risk to the long-term health of the breed:
- the number of litters being bred has progressively decreased from 150 in 2000 (952 progeny) to 78 in 2012 (480 progeny). The figures are Kennel Club litter registration statistics, which broadly equate to the number of litters born after allowing for the lag between date of birth and date of registration
- a relatively small number of sires is being used – the top 10 sires typically account for around 35-40% of litters being born
- the average level of inbreeding (15%) is greater than many other breeds. An inbreeding coefficient of 12.5% means that there is a 1 in 8 chance that a dog will inherit the same version of gene from a dog that appears in both the sire’s and dam’s pedigree. The inbreeding coefficient of puppies born from a grandfather/granddaughter mating, or a mating of first cousins, would be at least 12.5%.
The amount of genetic variation lost from any breed is inversely proportional to the size of the breeding population (i.e. a small population loses genetic variation more quickly than a large population). The rate of loss of variation also relates directly to the amount of inbreeding that takes place.
As a result of these factors, a number of breeders acting in the long-term interests of the breed have started considering not just the compatibility of sire and dam, but also the impact of the mating on overall population health.
Actions
Issues relating to breed health are being addressed in several ways.
- Education. A number of seminars have been run. Presentations are available on DVD for those who were unable to attend.
- Breed Health Survey. In 2012, the Bearded Collie Breed Liaison Committee organised a breed health survey, conducted by the University of Southampton, to assess the physical and psychological health of the breed in the UK. The results of the survey will provide an important baseline for future action by quantifying information specifically on UK Beardies which was previously only anecdotal
- Consensus-building. Various articles have appeared in Bearded Collie club magazines arguing for and against the use of genetic techniques to inform breeding decisions. These are an important part of arriving at an appropriate balance between traditional pedigree- and knowledge-based approaches, and those which incorporate genetic evaluation.
- Breed Health Liaison. A Breed Health Co-ordinator, Elizabeth Ayrton, has been appointed to provide a central point of contact for owners, breeders, breed clubs, and the Kennel Club on all matters concerning health within the breed.
Other pages:
This is the text-only version of this page. Click here to see this page with graphics.
Edit this page |
Manage website
Make Your Own Website: 2-Minute-Website.com