Do you have room for all my quilting stuff?????

:thumbup: Wow, are we lucky to have a real live geneticist in our forum!

Yes we are and it is thanks to him that so many of us come to understand the technical side of what we are "preaching"...the fact behind the matter, if you will...he is exceptionally good at explaining it for us and the tremendous value of his posts for all to see is priceless! We are more than lucky!

Awww, shucks! I'm just doing my job! :)

Here is one for the geneticist
 

A geneticist with University of Texas informed me of some interesting genetic facts about the Yorkie. One comment really caught my attention -- In comparison to all other AKC recognized breeds the Yorkshire terrier has the greatest amount of variant genetic material. I believe it is the white Boxer that has the least amount of variant genetic material but we will leave that to the Boxer Talk Forum to discuss. The full list of dogs was made up of all AKC recognized breeds. So the Boxer is No. 1 on the list and the Yorkie is the very last breed. (Disclaimer: the list will change over time with new developments in science and more research. This information was told to me and current in ~October 2012.)

I understood this to mean in a large group of genetically tested Yorkshire terriers -- less than 70% of the genetic make up would match the other Yorkies tested. Variant genetic material consists mostly of the traits breeders do not want in a Yorkie.

Is it true that the Yorkshire terrier has the greatest amount of variant genetic material compared to all other AKC recognized breeds?
Did I understand the meaning of variant genetic material?

Unfortunately, I have business degree and not a science degree. The science side of my brain does not work as well as the business side. Fortunately, I have friends that are vet professors and geneticists that will spoon feed and translate information for me. With that said, I learned the hard way that purchasing, owning and breeding dogs requires some level of study in genetics. While I believed that I did my homework, research and due diligence I have two dogs with health issues, one being very serious.

If this information is true that would be another reason that Yorkshire terrier breeders have a greater responsibility to breed to the standard since the goal should be to lower the percentage of variant genetic material.

Thanks you to all of you that share information to improve the health and quality of this breed in a respectful, informative manner.

Wow, that sounds interesting! If you could provide a link to the research article or website describing this research, I'd be happy to look it over and try to help interpret it.

Hi, and welcome to YT. I found your post about what a UT geneticist told you about the Yorkie having the greatest variant genetic material provocative and will be fascinated to follow the answers! Do you know what studies or source documents the geneticist was using on which his/her statement is based?

Thanks! The subject was discussed during several phone conversations I had with the geneticist. Let me see if I can find his full name, department or something referring to an article in the notes I took at the time.

Oh, I'm glad you are logged in and saw this. Thank goodness you are here to help us along with this. It's really going to provoke a great deal of interest and controversy in the Yorkie community if it is true and I'm understanding the issues it raises for Yorkie breeders, assuming this great amount of genetic variant material is as ultimately bad for the health of the breed as it seems it could be, knowing the little I know.

I found his name and contact information. I just sent him an email requesting the name of the article, study or reference to this information. I don't want to post his information on a public forum. If I do not hear back in short order I will PM his information to you. He may respond faster to a peer.

Glad to see there is an interest in this subject. Knowledge leads to better breeding and happier, healthier dogs.

Thanks! I'll be online off and on during they day, so I'll check my PM's or this thread for more information as it comes in.

Very much interested in this answer, and to the whole article per say.

I would not assume the genetic variant is bad, but au contraire might actually be good for the overall health of the breed/

Merle to Merle breeding in ANY Breed is bad news, and has been known to be so for many years 15 or more.

What breeders still don't get, is please do the genetic testing that is Available for your breed. This testing can be done at days old, usually through a cheek swab.

For Yorkies Pra gene, Hyperuriscosuria, and Color Dilution Alopecia genetic tests.

If you breed clear to clear it is my understanding you will not have a carrier nor a dog affected with these diseases.

And the more genetic tests we have the better. For breeders can find out very early on, if any of their very young pups should be kept for breeding.

I agree that genetic variation is probably good--it gives more traits to pick and choose from for breeding the best, healthiest dogs possible. But I'll reserve final judgment until I've had a chance to read the research.

And also, it's true that if you breed clear (healthy non-carriers) to clear, you will be able eliminate the bad traits from your breeding population.

I loved your question: If this information is true that would be another reason that Yorkshire terrier breeders have a greater responsibility to breed to the standard since the goal should be to lower the percentage of variant genetic material.


But I wonder if it will make all that much difference to those breeders intent on going their own way and breeding for color variations, unusual sizes, etc., unless it can be overwhelmingly determined that such a high level of variant genetic material can be held largely responsible for many of the breed-related diseases. And many still wouldn't likely changed unless and until large numbers of the public found out and shied away from buying these dogs. And if it is determined by leading scientists and geneticists that this unusually high level of variant genetic material exists in this wonderful breed, what caused the levels in this breed to be so high as opposed to the white Boxer?

Anyway, it's going to be interesting to follow this and see.

If the large amounts of variation can help the health, that would be ideal, but would that be contingent on the OP's question of whether or not breeding close to the standard would be even more important?