Canine Genetics Expertise

DogGenes is for you, the true lover of dogs, and for the dogs we all love so much. For so many years we have been told what to do to have "healthy dogs" and yet we ask all the right questions, do "all the right testing", do the outcross, crossbreed, line breeding ____(fill in the blank here) and we still run into health issues in our dogs.

Have you lost a dog to cancer, cardiomyopathy, autoimmune disease, bloat (GDV), some other disease you had never heard?. 

After tragically losing a dog you had so much invested in-did you search for the BEST breeder or maybe for a cross bred because "purebred dogs were the problem" only for that dog to have the same or an entirely new set of costly and heartbreaking health issues? 

Did you feed the perfect food, do the perfect things only for the next dog to succumb to expensive illnesses or death at an even younger age. 

I have.

As a breeder, have you done all of the things the "experts" said you needed to do for "healthy: dogs, only to run into the same issue or new issues?

I haven't. Hint--I did not do most of he things those experts told me to do.

Fresh out of Grad School in Genetic Counseling in 1992 I was ready to do all the background work on breeds and their health to pick the perfect dog to breed and "have the knowledge to make my breed healthier" (see About Me) 

After years of researching, going to dog shows, speaking to breeders, meeting breeds, I selected the Briard. Based on my research, I knew I needed to ask about hip clearances, eyes, thyroid, elbows. I selected a sire-my be all end all of dogs-and said to his owner - "I will wait until he sires a litter and purchase your pick puppy"   

THE LITTER finally arrived!!! I went to meet his breeder and sire's owner to pick my puppy. In speaking with the dam's owner, I learned that she and her mother had both bloated and thought "hmm, that is a genetic problem no one told me to ask about". That was 1996. I am still working for recognition that GDV (Bloat) as genetic in certain breeds Briards.

DogGenes is your destination to access practical and experienced canine genetic expertise. As a Board Certified Genetic Counselor with decades of Clinical Genetics Experience and decades as an active dog breeder, I bring a lifetime of dedication to improving dog health though access to accurate genetic information. There is so much misinformation about Genetics and many self proclaimed experts, it is difficult to know who to listen too. The people who state things emphatically and seem to have little self doubt gain lots of frustrated followers. I will challenge much of the "conventional wisdom" of these "experts" but know that it is all based in the science and experience.

I have had the honor and the good fortune to be able to help many people in my long career.in Human Genetics 

In dogs--possibly like you, I have consistently become mired in conversations and touted practices that make little clinical or scientific sense often leaving me bewildered. And I do Genetics for a living!! 

DogGenes is here to bring genetic discussions and practices that make sense and to help you understand the science in a way that you can apply to breeding decision and select the healthiest way forward for your dogs, your breeding program, your breed.

DogGenes is here you bring you access to a different approach to dog breeding using the extensive understanding and expertise we have in clinical genetics in human medicine. We do not judge, belittle, blame, We do not state things as black or white or try to pretend that complex problems have easy answers, You cannot address health issues with a one size first all approach like "breeding for low COI", outcrossing, crossbreeding, linebreeding, doing all of the testing, eliminating affected dogs, their siblings and relatives from breeding or any of the other things you have been told for decades. 

Many factors have the potential to play a role in breeding away from health issues and no way to "never have a health issue" when breeding dogs (or having your own children for that matter). When someone tells you they have bred dogs for "30 years and never had a health problem" or that they can tell you how to avoid producing health problems in your dogs, they either have a very long nose, a thick blindfold or they have never actually done it. Health issues including genetic health issues are inevitable realities of life (more to come in this). 

On the other hand, there are those who will say that "it is all a crap shoot"--throw up hands and say nothing can be done. Or those who will say it is all environmental who will have you carry dogs up and down stairs, not vaccinate, feed all manner of crazy diets (I have done all of these too and still ended up with a dysplastic dog who died of cancer at 5)..  

Chance definitely plays a role. So does environment. Genetic testing has its role to play also. But, a single cell results in a wonderful and complex animal, The GENES and the DNA have all the instructions for stunning reality. It is an understatement to say it is complicated but there are universal genetic principles across species that can help you make sense of it all and make an understanding of what is going on and why problems happen manageable. We can give you a logical way to understand what happened, the reasons it might have happened and, most importantly, help you minimize the chance that it will happen again. 

Genetic Principles, known science and a well established field of medicine that was founded 80 years ago but has not accessible to dog owners or breeders. DogGenes will give you these known principles and clear understand from human medicine to dog health and breeding. 

I am here to help all who wish to learn to apply the established principles of clinical genetics to selecting the best dogs for the health of your breeding program, next service, performance dog or beloved lap warmer or purse dog! I am happy to offer a range of services, including Canine Genetic Counseling, Courses, Presentations, Research facilitation, DNA collection facilitation and more in a professional, compassionate, informed and informative manner. We seek to provide you with information, tools, education and understanding. If you were in a library with 20,000 book and they were all thrown into big heaps--you would be hard pressed to find the information you need. We seek to provide you the catalog to understanding the issues you are trying to manage in your breeding and selecting dogs,

The principles of Human Clinical Medical Genetics for the dog fancy-directly to you-the dog owners, breeders, lovers, veterinarians, researchers, and professionals. 

We will have articles and courses. Please Contact me directly for individual consultation or specific requests or Contact me today to learn more. 

DogGenes is here to help you make educated decisions founded in well established Medical Genetic principles for the health of your canine companions.