OFA DM results - Page 1

This was from today, on the ofa website 

Looks like only 75 dogs have been tested?   Too bad there aren't more so the percentages might work out to be an accurate representation of the gsd population.   Interesting information though.

It will never be an accurate representation of the population unless EVERY GSD, in this country and elsewhere, were to be tested. For this reason alone, the results are of little to no value. There are also other reasons why this test is of questionable value at this time but I refer people to the actual test information to read that. Unfortunately, too many people only read and then interpret it as they want to, and not as it really is. We are still a long way off from finding the genetic puzzle that is responsible for not only this disease, but others. As well, the role of environment has yet to be elucidated and likely never will in a cogent manner because everyone these days simply wants to take anecdotal information as gospel and science.

In order to make good decisions, one must have accurate and complete facts. Otherwise, the old addage applies:  "Garbage in, garbage out". In the realm of GSD breeding, having complete facts does not and will not ever exist. The best system to date probably was the old DDR police system, but they did not possess sophisticated genetic tools such as will be the case in years to come.

I disagree that a large sampling of a population would be so inaccurate as to be useless.  And no one could get to testing all of the population unless each individual is willing to contribute and participate.  

But I personally can't see that knowing if a dog is a carrier or not is worthless information.   Sure,  there are other influences that come into play in the actual manifestation of the disease,  and many other pieces of the puzzle to be taken into consideration.   But in my opinion knowing if one's dog is carrying the gene or not is still useful information to understand  the "whole picture" that a dog represents, even if it is only a small piece.

As you said,  having whole and complete facts will not every exist.    So we do the best we can with the information and pieces that we have available at the time.   And try to not use in the information in a way that is reactionary and throws the baby out with the bathwater, which I do agree that some people will want to do.  Maybe I am too optomistic in thinking it doesn't have to be that way.

Heather

I don't consider 74 GSDs, out of many, many thousands born just in the US alone, to be any kind of representative sample. Again, read what the developer of the test says. If DM were a single gene and they had identified that single gene, that would be one thing. But I think people do not understand the test, the result, and do, in fact, make decisions which may not make any sense at all in the end. It is early in genetic research. No reputable and caring breeder would ever want to breed a dog with another dog, both of whom had a high chance of donating genetic material that would end up in otherwise preventable disease. But we have a long way to go, and sadly, in this internet culture where no one bothers to really learn the science behind such information, decisions will get made that are often not valid or defensible.

And no, there will never be complete testing of any breed for any condition, even if such tests exist that are demonstrably accurate to a high degree. This is obvious because too many people breed and could care less. As it is, one only need look at those who do not even breed to the standard..................as an example of the impossibility of getting an accurate sample. As I said before "GI, GO".

If all dogs with DM possess this gene then to me testing for it is worth it.  Sure just having two copies of the gene doesn't mean the dog will get DM and there are probably other genes and environmental factors involved... but if not having this gene means that the dog cannot get DM then that is enough!  Either way, by testing your dogs you are showing that there is a desire for these genetic tests.  Why should they bother developing DNA tests if no one is going to buy them and use them?  As you may notice, many other breeds have DNA tests available for diseases of their concern... little is available for the GSD and I think this may be because there doesn't seem to be enough interest in them.  Hopefully I'm wrong.