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blitz · 03-14-2008, 01:55 PM

This was copied with the permission of Dr. Tobias.

I have heard over and over of a famous dog that people are claiming is behind so much of the Liver shunts.

We evaluated the pedigrees for common ancestors and, in the PSS group, found one dog that was mentioned repeatedly in most the five and 8 generation pedigrees. However, this dog was also mentioned in most of the pedigrees of the normal Yorkies as well, and therefore cannot be implicated in the disease.

Bottom line: The news is good and bad. For those folks that are concerned about a certain dog or dogs in their lines, there is no proof that a single dog or line is the source of the disease. I'm sure that is a relief for many breeders. However, it would have been much easier to find out that a certain dog or line was responsible, as that would make the problem easier to avoid. Based on our results, the trait is likely to be polygeneic; thus, there is no easy answer as to how to avoid the disease. Veterinarians will likely continue to recommend that neither parent of a shunt dog be bred again or, at the very least, that test breedings of parent to offspring be performed to rule out carriers. Research is now underway at Ohio State University and Michigan to look for a genetic marker. If you know of anyone that has 2 affected dogs in the same line, please contact us or any of the involved Universities. Your information may provide the key to developing a test that will save future generations from this disease.

03-14-2008, 01:55 PM	#1
blitz No Longer a Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: California Posts: 127	This is interesting re: Liver Shunt This was copied with the permission of Dr. Tobias. I have heard over and over of a famous dog that people are claiming is behind so much of the Liver shunts. We evaluated the pedigrees for common ancestors and, in the PSS group, found one dog that was mentioned repeatedly in most the five and 8 generation pedigrees. However, this dog was also mentioned in most of the pedigrees of the normal Yorkies as well, and therefore cannot be implicated in the disease. Bottom line: The news is good and bad. For those folks that are concerned about a certain dog or dogs in their lines, there is no proof that a single dog or line is the source of the disease. I'm sure that is a relief for many breeders. However, it would have been much easier to find out that a certain dog or line was responsible, as that would make the problem easier to avoid. Based on our results, the trait is likely to be polygeneic; thus, there is no easy answer as to how to avoid the disease. Veterinarians will likely continue to recommend that neither parent of a shunt dog be bred again or, at the very least, that test breedings of parent to offspring be performed to rule out carriers. Research is now underway at Ohio State University and Michigan to look for a genetic marker. If you know of anyone that has 2 affected dogs in the same line, please contact us or any of the involved Universities. Your information may provide the key to developing a test that will save future generations from this disease.