Birmingham & District Dobermann Club
Established 1979
Dobermann Breed Health Co-ordinator annual update
RKC Breed Health initiatives
A reminder that we have an evidence-based Breed Health and Conservation Plan, developed with the Royal Kennel Club (RKC) several years ago. The priorities are dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), cancer (especially lymphoma and mammary tumours), and Wobblers. Vestibular deafness (DINGS) and hypothyroidism were also flagged.
The RKC have recently launched a new Health Standard, that gives standardised health testing requirements for each breed. Tests are classified as 'good practice' (the essential ones) and 'best practice', that a responsible breeder will also carry out. For Dobes, good practice is vWD1. Best practice adds in PHPV, hip scoring, and DINGS 2 (vestibular deafness in both ears). Heart testing is not included as there is no test that can say definitively that a dog has or doesn’t have it, and/or will or won’t get it. However, I have asked for a meeting to discuss what can be done in this respect. The RKC recently launched a five-year programme on DCM in six breeds, including Dobes and a number had echo scans in October as part of this. I understand another test day will be held in northern England.
Another good aspect is that the 'Find A Puppy' service will prioritise litters where the parents have met the good or best practice standard, with symbols showing whether this applies to both parents, or just sire or dam. Standard colours will also be prioritised over non-standard.
At my request, the RKC have also implemented checks to ensure that impossible colour combinations are not registered. For example, one breeder registered three litters of black pups from two brown parents. They have now amended their IT system to make the checks automatic.
Lastly, the RKC are currently analysing genetic diversity in each breed population. I have the draft report on Dobermanns, which is quite complex. I invited comments from a varied group of people and have given feedback to the RKC.
DCM
As most people know, at present we can only test for the existing presence of DCM; there are no predictive tests. This is why annual testing is so essential, because it can identify damage to the heart before there are any symptoms. There are two benefits to identifying DCM early (ie in its occult phase): first, it can avoid breeding from affected dogs, and secondly, starting the dog on medication before there are symptoms can give it several extra years of active, healthy life.
There have been four genes so far identified as being relevant to DCM (usually referred to as DCM1-4), but it is important to recognise that none of these has yet been validated in UK dogs and nor are they anyway accurate predictors of whether the dog will go on to develop DCM. As mentioned above, the RKC are carrying out a five-year project on DCM in six breeds including Dobermanns.
As regards testing, Dr Jo Dukes-McEwan’s research published a while ago showed that biomarker testing is a reliable first step (ideally with Holter), but she recommends using lower cut offs. You would then move on to echo scan (and 24 hr Holter testing if not already done) if the Troponin result is above 0.056 (current cut-off 0.07) and for NT-pro-BNP 621, rather than 735.
When contacting your vet for biomarker testing, please ensure they send the samples to IDEXX, as I believe this is the only laboratory that can carry out high sensitivity Troponin I testing, measuring down to 0.001 ng/mL. Other labs can only test down to ‘<0.2’. As the cut-off for suspected DCM is 0.07, this means a result of <0.2 can never be used to say the dog does not have DCM. A result of 0.2 or higher means the dog possibly has DCM and should be echo/Holter tested. Thus, there is no possibility of ‘clear’ results from such tests.
Bloat (gastric dilatation volvulus)
Bloat is a major problem, especially for narrow-waisted dogs. It involves gas being trapped in the stomach, causing the gut to twist and cut off the blood supply to the gut, thus causing the gas to build up. This can lead to agonising organ failure and death if not treated promptly. It can be easy to miss, or misunderstand, the early symptoms, and yet it is essential to get the dog to the vet quickly if it is to survive. Dr Mark Dunning, who carried out the bone cancer research I reported on last year, is carrying out some survey work on bloat and has agreed to include Dobermanns in this. At the time of writing, I have given feedback on the draft survey.
DINGS
There was an important development in testing for DINGS – vestibular deafness – in 2024. This is a dobermann-specific genetic disease characterised in new-born pups by one or more of a wobbly neck, poor balance, going round in circles a lot, and crying. They are often PTS at a few days old, but can work through the locomotor problems if they are not deaf, which can’t be tested until they are several weeks old. Add in a complication with UK dobes that some seem also to have poor eyesight, and it will be clear that these pups are mostly not viable, despite being fully intelligent and active.
Two faulty genes have been discovered. The faulty gene for unilateral deafness (PTPRQ) has not been proved conclusively in UK dobes, but the faulty gene for bilateral deafness (MY07A) has been shown to be present in some UK dobes and is now approved as a genetic test by the Kennel Club as of March 2024. The application to the KC was supported by all eight clubs who expressed an opinion. For DINGS to occur requires both parents to be carriers, but progeny of carriers also have a 50% chance on average of being carriers, so it is important to test breeding stock so as to be able to avoid mating two carriers.
The test can be done by Laboklin, Wisdom MYDOGDNA and others. If the lab does not forward results to the Royal Kennel Club, please do so yourself (health.results@thekennelclub.org.uk) and it will be shown on the dog’s record.
Other issues
If you carry out vWD tests, please check whether the company you use automatically sends the result to the KC, and send it on yourself if not (email as above). We really do need good records on this.
Club activities
During 2024, South East of England Dobe Club again arranged biomarker heart testing at their August show. This is a great initiative and will hopefully now be an annual event. Several clubs also provide Holter monitors at a reduced rate to members, including SEEDC, WDC and SWDC. Check the club’s web site in each case or contact the Secretary.
A word of thanks
There are many people behind the scenes who are working to improve dobe health. I’d like to mention especially June Piper and Emma Edwards who organise the Welsh Dobe echo scans, and Alison Godfrey and Jenny Sharp, who organise the SEEDC biomarker testing, as well as Carol Smith, who organises the reduced price scans for Midland Dobe.
Sue Thorn, Breed Health Co-ordinator
March 2025