TEST for blue & liver gene - Page 1

VETGEN in MI is now able to run a genetic test on dogs to see if they are carriers for the blue or liver gene.  figured some breeders may be interested in hearing this.  they've been doing it on Labs, but have confirmed it works for gsd too

cool, how long before they figure out  how to test for "coats" ? 

john

there is already a test for presence of the long coat gene, I believe.. not the most important one to spend a lot of money on IMO.. there are diseases out there that it would be much more helpful to know about.. lots of people love long coats

love them or hate them, they are considered a breed fault.  same as liver, blue, white, colors.

john

Long coats are much more prevailant than blue or liver and I would personally rather have a blue dog than a long coat. If I wanted to deal with the hair, I'd get a collie.

absolutely true, but a long coat doesn't pose the same problem as megaesophagus or PRAA or the myriad of other issues that affect health and longevity

true, but you have to start somewhere.  today color, or coat type.  next year(s) who knows what they can find.   i like the fact they are researching dog genetics in the first place.  after all americans spend how many billion a year on our dogs?

john

Uberland, thanks for this info.  This is exciting info and some GSD stud dog owners and dam owners will be interested in using it.

I would suspect that once all the colour and coat fault carriers were eliminated as a priority, there would be precious little left and the gene pool would be so small that avoiding the myriad of serious inherited health problems would be a breeders nightmare.   It amazes me that people make such a song and dance out of coat/colour faults, which are not that difficult to avoid and don't affect the dogs life in any way, but happily breed from dogs with faulty croups, shoulders and hocks, must be because you can still win in the ring with construction faults, but not with coat faults that cannot be disguised with clever handing - after all, if it can win it must be right!.

Before going on the coat/colour witch hunt, it might be worth looking at the most influential dogs in the breed over history, both working and show, and asking where we would be today if all the carriers for faulty coat and colours had never been bred from.

Margaret N-J

Thank you Margaret, very well put.