There's a reason there are laws against marrying your cousin.
Learn about your dog's COI and you'll understand the risks of inbreeding and escalating COIs in the Doberman Breed.
We all know there are laws prohibiting marrying first cousins. Those laws are in place because children of first-cousin marriages have double the risk of genetic defects and disease. But inbreeding in the dog world is common, despite the impact repeated inbreeding has on our breed's health and longevity. As the level of inbreeding rises in a dog, so do the risks of disease-associated genetic mutations. Knowing this, it becomes clear why we'd want to know how inbred a puppy is before taking him home and making him a part of your family. But how does one measure inbreeding?
Meet "Coefficient of Inbreeding." It's long been a math formula for geeky pedigree analysists to calculate. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, a calculated COI isn't very accurate. Fortunately, today we can swab the cheeks of our dogs, send the sample to a laboratory and find out our dog's Genetic COI. Much more accurate and no math.
Once we know our dog's Genetic COI, we know how inbred our dog is. A 5% COI means that our dog is 5% inbred. Five percent of our dog's genome, is identical because he inherited exactly the same thing from mom as he did from dad. Breeders embraced inbreeding because it creates a consistent "product." If mom is beautiful and dad is beautiful, the puppies are very likely to also be beautiful.
Back to marrying your cousin (note: for fun, google the Hapsburg Lip). A child born of a marriage between first cousins is 6.25%. A child born of a mother/son mating, a father/daughter mating, or a full sibling mating has a 25% COI. And to think public health legislators worry about COIs above 6.25% Conservation geneticists also worry. Familiar with the impact of rising inbreeding rates on a species' fitness, they warn of something called the "extinction vortex" which is the "beginning of the end" of a species. These conservation experts have long warned that this "extinction vortex" kicks in when COIs rise to the mid teens. Here is where you might want to sit down.
The non-profit Doberman Diversity Project (DDP) found, in 2018, that the Doberman breed's average genetic COI is 41.4499% COI (849 tested dogs from 33 countries). How does one even get to a 40% COI, when even a father/daughter mating produce only 25% COI litters? Repeated close matings, over many generations. That's how. For reference purposes, clones have a 100% COI. Many of the Dobermans tested through the DDP have COIs of 58% and higher. Harkening back to the warnings of first cousin marriages (6.25% COI), and the warnings of geneticists that disease-associated mutations will saturate a breed after repeated generations of inbreeding, you can see how today's Doberman is in a genetic pickle. But why? How does inbreeding result in an increased incidence in genetic disease and shortened lifespans?
Lurking beneath the surface for decades, were random genetic mutations, most of them recessive (meaning that a dog must inherit two mutated copies of the gene to become sick with the disease). Breeders continued to embrace inbreeding as a way to a consistent desired product and saw no noted increase in genetic disease. The puppies were beautiful and lived long, healthy lives. But in recent years, the genetic chickens have come home to roost. As each generation of dogs became increasingly inbred (and their COIs rose), most breeding dogs carried one mutated copy of a gene. When those dogs were bred to each other, they both passed on a mutated copy of a gene to some of their puppies, and the puppies (who inherited two mutated copies) were impacted by the previously hidden disease. Today, we see disease-associated mutations saturating our breed and researchers warn us that these problems may now be as much of a part of today's Doberman as are the square body and wedge-shaped head.
Sadly, MOST Dobermans alive today will die prematurely from DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy). We are seeing very young dogs, under one year of age, dying of DCM. Embarrassingly, we should have seen this coming. Scientists have warned of this outcome for decades, but breeders' mentors were not in the laboratory. They were in the show ring. And they had decades of experience and found inbreeding largely beneficial. They went on to coach as they were coached, and most of them had no idea about the lurking (and cumulative) dangers of repeated inbreeding. As such, COIs breedwide have risen drastically, and studies are just beginning to assess the impact. In a recent study of over 10,000 dogs, researchers found an inverse correlation between COI and longevity. They were able to determine that, statistically, a dog will lose approximately one month longevity with each 1% increase in COI. Compared to a dog of 1% COI, a dog with a 49% COI is (statistically) likely to die four years earlier. Consider that the DDP found the average Doberman COI is over 41% and it becomes clear why more and more Dobermans die early from genetic disease with each passing year. In addition to potentially impacting longevity, each increase in COI also correlates to an increase in the risk of genetic disease.
This reality is why we encourage people to understand COI's impact on health and longevity and to know what a puppy's COI is before taking him home. But how do you find this out?
Meet "Coefficient of Inbreeding." It's long been a math formula for geeky pedigree analysists to calculate. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, a calculated COI isn't very accurate. Fortunately, today we can swab the cheeks of our dogs, send the sample to a laboratory and find out our dog's Genetic COI. Much more accurate and no math.
Once we know our dog's Genetic COI, we know how inbred our dog is. A 5% COI means that our dog is 5% inbred. Five percent of our dog's genome, is identical because he inherited exactly the same thing from mom as he did from dad. Breeders embraced inbreeding because it creates a consistent "product." If mom is beautiful and dad is beautiful, the puppies are very likely to also be beautiful.
Back to marrying your cousin (note: for fun, google the Hapsburg Lip). A child born of a marriage between first cousins is 6.25%. A child born of a mother/son mating, a father/daughter mating, or a full sibling mating has a 25% COI. And to think public health legislators worry about COIs above 6.25% Conservation geneticists also worry. Familiar with the impact of rising inbreeding rates on a species' fitness, they warn of something called the "extinction vortex" which is the "beginning of the end" of a species. These conservation experts have long warned that this "extinction vortex" kicks in when COIs rise to the mid teens. Here is where you might want to sit down.
The non-profit Doberman Diversity Project (DDP) found, in 2018, that the Doberman breed's average genetic COI is 41.4499% COI (849 tested dogs from 33 countries). How does one even get to a 40% COI, when even a father/daughter mating produce only 25% COI litters? Repeated close matings, over many generations. That's how. For reference purposes, clones have a 100% COI. Many of the Dobermans tested through the DDP have COIs of 58% and higher. Harkening back to the warnings of first cousin marriages (6.25% COI), and the warnings of geneticists that disease-associated mutations will saturate a breed after repeated generations of inbreeding, you can see how today's Doberman is in a genetic pickle. But why? How does inbreeding result in an increased incidence in genetic disease and shortened lifespans?
Lurking beneath the surface for decades, were random genetic mutations, most of them recessive (meaning that a dog must inherit two mutated copies of the gene to become sick with the disease). Breeders continued to embrace inbreeding as a way to a consistent desired product and saw no noted increase in genetic disease. The puppies were beautiful and lived long, healthy lives. But in recent years, the genetic chickens have come home to roost. As each generation of dogs became increasingly inbred (and their COIs rose), most breeding dogs carried one mutated copy of a gene. When those dogs were bred to each other, they both passed on a mutated copy of a gene to some of their puppies, and the puppies (who inherited two mutated copies) were impacted by the previously hidden disease. Today, we see disease-associated mutations saturating our breed and researchers warn us that these problems may now be as much of a part of today's Doberman as are the square body and wedge-shaped head.
Sadly, MOST Dobermans alive today will die prematurely from DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy). We are seeing very young dogs, under one year of age, dying of DCM. Embarrassingly, we should have seen this coming. Scientists have warned of this outcome for decades, but breeders' mentors were not in the laboratory. They were in the show ring. And they had decades of experience and found inbreeding largely beneficial. They went on to coach as they were coached, and most of them had no idea about the lurking (and cumulative) dangers of repeated inbreeding. As such, COIs breedwide have risen drastically, and studies are just beginning to assess the impact. In a recent study of over 10,000 dogs, researchers found an inverse correlation between COI and longevity. They were able to determine that, statistically, a dog will lose approximately one month longevity with each 1% increase in COI. Compared to a dog of 1% COI, a dog with a 49% COI is (statistically) likely to die four years earlier. Consider that the DDP found the average Doberman COI is over 41% and it becomes clear why more and more Dobermans die early from genetic disease with each passing year. In addition to potentially impacting longevity, each increase in COI also correlates to an increase in the risk of genetic disease.
This reality is why we encourage people to understand COI's impact on health and longevity and to know what a puppy's COI is before taking him home. But how do you find this out?
How to Learn your Dog's COI. Today's Options.
Today, you have two choices to learn about your dog's COI. One is old and free. The other is new and and since it's based on your dog's genetics, is very accurate.
