• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

BREED SPECIFIC BREEDING STRATEGY FOR SWEDISH LAPPHUND Table of Contents History ....................................................................................................................................................... 2 A SPECIAL BREED, A SPECIAL SITUATION .................................................................................................. 4 INCREASED GENETIC VARIATION – TOP PRIORITY .................................................................................... 4 The Genetic Variation ............................................................................................................................... 6 Relationship Values ............................................................................................................................... 6 Age at Breeding Debut .......................................................................................................................... 6 Use of Males .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Use of Females ...................................................................................................................................... 7 More Registrations ................................................................................................................................ 7 Objectives – Genetic Variation .............................................................................................................. 8 Potential Strategy for the Future .......................................................................................................... 8 MENTALITY ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Objectives - Mentality ........................................................................................................................... 9 HEALTH .................................................................................................................................................... 10 HIP DYSPLASIA ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Breeding Recommendation regarding HD .......................................................................................... 12 Objectives - HD .................................................................................................................................... 12 EYES ..................................................................................................................................................... 13 Progressive Retinal Atrophy (prcd-PRA) ............................................................................................. 13 Breeding Recommendation regarding prcd-PRA ................................................................................ 13 Objectives – prcd-PRA ......................................................................................................................... 14 OTHER ................................................................................................................................................. 14 Juvenile Neuronal Muscle Atrophy (JNM) .......................................................................................... 14 Type II Glycogen Storage Disease (Pompe’s Disease) ......................................................................... 14 EXTERIOR ................................................................................................................................................. 15 TO CONSIDER WHEN BREEDING SWEDISH LAPPHUND .......................................................................... 15 Priorities .................................................................................................................................................. 16 1 History The Swedish Lapphund originated among the hunting indigenous people in the northern parts of Scandinavia - in the area named Sapmi in Sami. It is assumed that the Lapphund dog came with the first Sami, when they immigrated as the inland ice was decreasing 9000 years ago. Sami mythology tells us that the Lapphund applied for work among the Sami in return for always being well treated. Primarily the dog has been used for hunting and guarding, but when the Sami people about 250 years ago began to keep reindeer, the repertoire of the Lapphund was expanded to also include working as a herding dog. Unique Origin Both historians and archaeologists have since long agreed that the Swedish Lapphund has ancient roots. There are archaeological findings showing that this dog type is very old. The progress of genetic engineering has also shown genetic evidence that the breed is old and has in part a unique genetic background, compared to most other breeds that exist today. Number One in the First Pedigree Book of SKK Since Swedish Lapphund always has been regarded as our number 1 national dog, it is not surprising that a long-haired Lapphund - or Nordic Spitz A – was given registration number 1 in the first volume of the SKK Pedigree Book in 1893. The dog was born in 1884 and owned by forester Hugo Samzelius, the SKK secretary - a significant name in early Swedish cynology. In 1935 the standard for Lapland Spitz was approved by SKK. In 1936 the pedigree book contained 85 Lapland Spitz dogs, but after that there was a decline in the breed during a few decades, with only around some twenty registered dogs per year. During this time there were a number of colors and combinations of colors of the Swedish Lapphund. Type-wise those dogs were of unmistakable Lapphund type, but in detail they varied quite a lot. Among other things, bobtails were allowed and a rich variety of colors. In the 30s the white colored variants were of complete dominance and even competed as a separate breed for a period of time. Much later it was decided to remove the white color variant from the breed standard, as many of the white Lapphund dogs apparently had Samoyed background. I the first pedigree book of SKK you will find Lapphund dogs. The dog in the image was called Tubbe (reg.nr S.K.K. #2). Tubbe was born with a bobtail, which is also noted in the pedigree book! 2 50s and 60s In the 1950s Baron Carl Leuhusen took the initiative to save the Swedish Lapphund breed and was a significant force, as he together with Mary Stephens reconstructed the breed. In Gotland they found the Lapphund male Roy from Forserum and the female Ulla from Hedemora, these two can be said to be original dogs of the Swedish Lapphund breed. In accordance with the breeding methods of the era Mary Stephens built her stock of Lapphund dogs on two siblings by Roy and out of Ulla, namely Musti and Tjappa. In the 50s and 60s, there were around 10 kennels, the largest were Stråhles, Snöstjärnans, Odds, Renfjällets, and in general all of the dogs were very closely related, i.e. Roy's and Ulla's sons and daughters which were mated with each other or similar kinship mating. During the 50s an average of 28 puppies/year were registered, but already in the 60s, it had increased significantly to 128 puppies/year. The Boom in the 70s and 80s The 70s were the absolute peak years with an average of 305 puppies; 1973 we noted the highest registration number in the history of the breed with 368 puppies. The total level of inbreeding these years was at 6,2%, which means that all the litters on average in those years had an inbreeding degree corresponding to cousin mating. It was in the 70s we had our most used breeding matador, Renfjällets Älm, with over 280 puppies. In the 80s, we had 250 puppies a year, those were also the years we had the highest inbreeding level, 8,1% was the average inbreeding coefficient throughout the decade. In 1984, the average degree of inbreeding was as high as 10,6%. We had four breeding matadors with over 100 puppies each in the 80s and 90s, whereof two were children of Älm and one was a grandchild. The First Effect of the Severe Inbreeding Emerges Hereditary Juvenile Neuronal Muscle Atrophy (JNM) appears in the breed, most of the cases occurred in the late 60s and beginning of 70s. Test mating was initiated in 1973 being observed by a committee appointed by SKK. Litters were checked at 2 and 8 weeks of age, respectively, and all test litters were euthanized after the last checkup. In 1993 an unknown litter with JNM was documented by a veterinarian with extensive knowledge about the disease. The reason why the litter is unknown to SLK is that the breeder never reported the case. Registration ban of offspring from a carrier of the predisposition for JNM is effective as of 1980-07-01 (see also page 14). During this time also most cases of Type II Glycogen Storage Disease (Pompe’s Disease) are documented (see also page 14) The Decline Starts in the 90s In the 90s the registration numbers were plummeting down to an average of 162 puppies/year. A major contributor to the decline was that the Finnish Lapphund, of which a few specimens earlier existed in Sweden, began to increase in registrations. During this decade we invited geneticist Per-Erik Sundgren to a breeder’s meeting and breeders learned that it was not only beneficial to inbreed/line breed so there was less inbreeding, the inbreeding degree was on average at 5,95%. Also during this era there were matador males, but these did not have as many puppies as in previous decades.

Load more

  17

Copy Link