That we know ears are genetic— whether they stand naturally, or stand because
they have been helped along or otherwise would have been floppy. The genetic
wild-type is to have erect ears, and of course, floppy ears are a mutation — an
autosomal recessive.
I am chiming in as I have been doing copious amounts of genetic testing on my
dogs as of late— including morphological traits. The bitch I most recently
tested is homozygous wild-type for ears- two genes for erect ears. Now for the
kicker: the company provides statistics with regard to a dog’s genotype for
each trait tested (over 200 currently). And, for two copies of the wild-type
ear gene the incidence rate is <1% !!!! Yes, that’s LESS THAN 1% OF THE GSDS
TESTED CARRY TWO GENES FOR ERECT EARS.
So, why should we wonder there are dogs who are cone-heads, ears tipped back,
strange silhouettes in general on ears in our dogs these days? And yes,
this is a show list, and people (aka more than one person) have flat out told
me “GSDs don’t run on their ears.” However, that the incidence of homozygous
erect ears in all breeds is 39%, and our breed is unacceptable having anything
other than erect ears, why is our homozygous wild-type rates <1%, and not
HIGHER than the all-breed average, which includes those breeds who never have
erect ears? (I don’t have heterozygous carrier or homozygous floppy rates,
as my tested dogs are homozygous wild-type erect)
Should, as Carolyn says, we start paying attention to more than that extra one
inch of reach (and I see it still with restricted upper arms as often as not)
and look at the whole dog- so they can move at a moderate trot and still fly
every stride, with powerful rears & strong toplines… right to the tips of their
ears. Realistically, by loosing natural ears in our breed, we risk ruining
the GSD type the public expects to see— a strong, yet elegant animal with erect
ears as a hallmark of the headpiece.
How many dogs are sold to pet homes who end up with floppy ears? As a
veterinary technician for many years, I started to see it occasionally in the
90s, and with increasing frequency as time went on until I left clinical
practice and made the move to research. (BTW- a shameless plug for my new
project: anyone having a GSD who takes Imuran (azathioprine) please contact me
privately- jproud@xxxxxxxx <mailto:jproud@xxxxxxxx> a preliminary study showed
there was a genetic difference in GSDs from other breeds, and I have been asked
by the research director to investigate it since GSDs are the reason I work at
my profession!)
Anyway, the pet people either didn’t know they had to tape or glue or whatever
to the ears, or did, and it didn’t work, or otherwise did not want to do that
to their puppy. Every one of those people loved their pet, but they sure
wished their dog’s ears had stood!
That we have testing for things like this available, when all else is equal
(such as you know you won’t be producing a known disease due to known genetic
status - such as DM for starters, not to mention the dozen serious diseases in
our breed we have tests for), shouldn’t we start using the tools we have
available to make improvements— in a generation — and fix (make homozygous) a
trait in a dog in that one generation or the next — because we have and use the
knowledge available?
Maybe I am looking at this all from a different perspective, being a breeder
who has also been a veterinary medicine professional and now working in canine
genetics/biochemistry research… that I do the extra testing above what most
people do, much often out of curiosity about my dogs, but also when they’re a
carrier, I require their chosen mate to be a clear so I don’t produce a disease
I can prevent. Will I do this in ears for the next generation, that there’s a
pretty good chance my next litters have heterozygotes born knowing the
statistics? I guess only time will tell… But I’m definitely advertising my
animals as having homozygous wild-type genes for every genetic disease (making
them clear) they’ve been tested for (over 170), and homozygous wild-type for
erect ears as a trait too!
Thanks for reading,
Jen P & her Pack
(AKA Jen Proud, CVT, VTS TCVM
University of Wisconsin-Madison
School of Veterinary Medicine
Clinical Research Department
jproud@xxxxxxxx <mailto:jproud@xxxxxxxx>)
On Jul 19, 2018, at 13:19, Penny Kroh <farmdogforever@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I call those “cone heads,” and they have been around forever or at least as
long as me ( the 70s). Like everything else, ears are genetic.
Penny in NC
On Thu, Jul 19, 2018 at 2:14 PM Terry Cochran <tinky91147@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:tinky91147@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Ears that tilt to the center / \ Why is this? Is this genetics or laziness
about ear taping? It makes taking head studies a real pain in the butt.
Terry the grumpy photographer. :0)
--
Penny in NC
The Farm Dog Forever
CH Steve, HT, PT, CH Joy, HT, PT
RMB The Ghost, HT, PT, CH Hank,
CH Godzilla, Chloe, and Summer
www.landsendkennels.com <http://www.landsendkennels.com/>
