There are only a few genetic health conditions that effect the Finnish Lapphund, and these are mainly those that effect most dog breeds. The PEVISA scheme in Finland requires all breeding stock to be hip scored and eye tested regularly for litters to be registered. In Australia, while not a requirement of registration, most breeders will also hip score and eye test their breeding Lapphunds, and many also elbow score as well.
Now that a genetic DNA test is available for the eye condition prcd-PRA, most breeders will also have information about their breeding stock's genetic status for this condition. Please note that a prcd-PRA genetic DNA test result does not preclude the need for an eye clearance in the year prior to breeding because other eye conditions are found in the breed, some of which have a higher incident rate in Finland than prcd-PRA and which cannot be cleared for or prevented in breeding through genetic testing.
As a general rule, the incidence of problematic health conditions in the Finnish Lapphund breed is very low. However, it is important that this is kept the case and breeders will be vigilant about health testing to ensure this.
In summary, if you are looking at purchasing a puppy, the information you should be able to request evidence from your breeder, for both parents of your puppy, is:
› Hip Score results
› Elbow Score results (although sometimes this may not be available)
› An ACES Eye Certificate dated in the 12 months prior to the mating
› prcd-PRA status information (either through direct result or parentage status)
They should also be able to provde you with some information on the health results in the lines of your puppy generally. Please do not feel uncomfortable asking for this information, as any responsible breeder will have no hesitation in providing you with this if you are purchasing a puppy from them, and will respect and appreciate the research and care you are taking.
More information on the main conditions to be aware of are below.
This is an abnormal formation of the hip joint. The hip joint is a ball and socket joint. There should be a nice, neat and snug fit between the head of the femur (the “ball”) and the acetabulum (the “socket”). Where this fit is loose, the subsequent wear and tear through normal use can result in a range of attendant problems, including the development of arthritis.
There can be numerous causes for this “loose-fitting”, and there are infinite levels of dysplasia, ranging from very slight variations from “perfect” to complete joint dislocation. These levels are measured via x-rays of the joint and a score provided, and most breeders will have their breeding stock “hip scored” prior to breeding.
In Australia, the AVA hip scoring scheme is based on the methodology used in the UK. There are nine criteria measured from the x-rays, and each is given a score from 0 to 6 (with the exception of one of the criteria which is given a score from 0 to 5). The lower the number the better. For each hip these scores are added together to give the total left or right hip score. These two are often added together to describe the total hip score. Hence, a score of 2/3 will often be described as 5. The very best hip score would be a 0/0. The very worst a 53/53.
We do not have sufficient numbers of dogs scored in Australia to have a breed average, however the breed average in the UK is currently between 12 and 13. As a general rule, only dogs with a score at or below average should be bred from. However, this will depend on the other qualities of the Lapphund in question, and a breeder may decide to breed a dog with a slightly higher than average score. Usually they will be bred to a dog with a much better score. Results amongst the relatives of those dogs may also factor into their decision making.
Hip scoring in Finland is different. In the pedigrees of Finnish Lapphunds where many of the ancestors are dogs in Finland, you will see the hip score expressed as a letter. The range in Finland is from A to E, with an A hip being the best. The current (as at Oct 2007) breakdown of Finnish Lapphund hip scores in Finland is:
A – 38.5%
B – 32.4%
C – 22.7%
D – 6.3%
E – 0.1%
Where the dog has a different score in each hip (eg B/C), they will be registered with the higher score (in this case a C). Breeders in Finland will generally only breed Finnish Lapphunds with an A to C hip. However, you may find the very occasional dog with a D hip bred from, almost always to a dog with an A hip.
While it is generally recognized that there is a strong genetic predisposition to hip dysplasia (hence the removal of “bad” hips from breeding lines), the genetics are not generally understood. Bad (and good) surprises frequently occur, and almost every breeder has a story of a breeding with many generations of good hips behind it that ended in puppies with hip dysplasia. Whether this is a result of a genetic “throw-back” within the lines somewhere, a combination of two lines that just didn’t work, or one of those freaks of nature is a matter of sheer speculation.
Factors other than genetics also play a big part, and it is important that diet and exercise is appropriate for a growing pup, in order to avoid malformation and injury.
With hip dysplasia there are no guarantees. Breeders work as hard as they can, but occasionally there are negative results. That being said, for the main part Finnish Lapphunds have healthy hips with few problems. In addition, even those Finnish Lapphunds with less than good results, seem to have relatively few mobility problems, even late in age.
This term refers to a range of conditions which involve the malformation of the elbow joint which can occur alone or in combination. These include ununited anconeal process (UAP), fragmented medial coronoid process (FCP) and osteochondrosis of the medial condyle of the humerus (OCD). Degenerative joint disease of the elbow is likely to develop from these malformations. Like with hip dysplasia, both genetic and environmental factors play a part.
Scoring for elbow dysplasia provides a number for each elbow from 0 to 3. A 0 score is provided where there is no sign of arthrosis. A score of 1 indicates minimal arthrosis, 2 indicates moderate arthrosis and 3 severe arthrosis.
There is little evidence of an elbow dysplasia problem in the Finnish Lapphund breed, although the occasional case does arise. Traditionally there has not been much elbow scoring of Finnish Lapphunds, this is happening more and more, particularly in Australia, the USA and in Finland. In the majority of cases the score is 0/0. However some 0/1, 1/0 or 1/1 scores are seen, and only very rarely a worse result.
As the name would suggest this is a disease where the retinal tissue of the eye gradually dies over time, leading to blindness in the dog. It is not the most prevalent eye condition in the Finnish Lapphund breed, but certainly the most topical, and as such, the one that probably requires the greater explanation.
There are various forms of PRA but the one that has been found to definitely occur in Finnish Lapphunds is the Progressive Cone Rod Degeneration type (prcd-PRA) common in many breeds.
The retinal tissue contains cells called photoreceptors which absorb and convert light into electric nerve signals which are then passed by the optic nerve to the brain. There are two types of photoreceptors, rods and cones. The rods are for vision in dim light (night vision) and the cones for vision in bright light (day and colour vision).
In prcd-PRA, the rods are usually affected first, and the cones in later stages of the disease. For this reason, the early symptoms in dogs are a loss of night vision, which will gradually extend to a loss of day vision. Age of onset varies amongst different dog breeds, but in the Finnish Lapphund it is quite late, early clinical diagnosis often not being made until 5-8 years of age.
PRA is inherited through a simple autosomal recessive gene, which means that the disease gene must be inherited from both parents for the disease to occur. This makes it very simple to control when it is known which dogs are carriers of the gene mutation and which dogs are affected by the gene mutation. However, until recently, there was no way of determining this without a clinical diagnosis of the disease. By this time the affected dogs and/or their parents or offspring who would be carriers, may have been bred from many times.
The incidence of a clinical diagnosis of PRA in Finnish Lapphunds in Finland is low, at 1.76% as of October 2007. There has not been a clinical diagnosis of PRA in Australia.
In December 2005 a DNA test was made available by Optigen in the USA for genetic determination of prcd-PRA status in Finnish Lapphunds. In Australia, this test has been licensed to Genetic Technologies Ltd. This test is a fantastic outcome for the breed. It enables breeders to ensure they do not breed carriers together, and therefore not produce dogs affected by PRA. But also, for those breeders who choose, it enables breeding from previously unavailable blood lines, confidently enabling carriers of PRA to be bred from safely as long as they are only bred with Lapphunds clear of the gene mutation. This ensures, along with the Optigen philosophy, the protection of valuable canine bloodlines into the future (removing large numbers and diversity from a gene pool, particularly where blood lines are limited, is regularly advised against by geneticists for obvious reasons), whilst preventing the disease in future generations. While the PRA gene can (and will) be bred out gradually over time, it can be done so over a number of generations if neccessary, without sacrificing other important attributes of our breeding pool, such as genetic diversity, other health status, and quality of structure and type.
Given that a test of genetic status has only been available in the last few years, and large numbers of dogs both here and in Finland are not tested (either because they have since died, or are not to be used for breeding purposes), it is very hard to state with any degree of accuracy the rate of carriers within the gene pool in Finland or here in Australia. However, initial results in Australia indicate a large proportion of normal/clear status dogs.
The Lapphund Club of Finland have started to publish prcd-PRA test results. These can be found HERE. The Finnish Lapphund Club of Great Britain are also starting to publish test results from UK based Lapphunds. These can be found HERE.
There are three possible statuses for each Lapphund tested:
Normal/Clear – These Lapphunds have the genotype homozygous normal. They have no diseased gene, with both copies of the gene normal. They will not develop PRA and cannot pass on the disease to offspring.
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Carrier – These Lapphunds have the genotype heterozygous. They have one disease gene and one normal gene. Although they will never develop PRA themselves, they have an equal probability of passing on either their normal gene or their diseased gene to offspring.
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Affected – also known as an Affected Carrier, these Lapphunds have the genotype homozygous affected. Both copies of the gene are abnormal. There is a very high likelihood that they will develop PRA in older age, and they can only pass on an abnormal gene to their offspring
Given that a Lapphund has to inherit TWO abnormal genes in order to develop PRA, it can be seen that as long as one parent is Normal/Clear, the offspring are safe from developing PRA (although dependent on the status of the other parent, they may be carriers of the gene themselves).
The following breeding combinations show the probability of status based on the status of the parents.
Sometimes confusion can be created when people anticipate that these probabilities mean that in any given litter between a clear parent and a carrier parent 50% of pups will be clear and 50% will be a carrier. This is not the case. What these do give is the probability of inheritance for each individual pup. While this means that over large sample sizes (for eg over 1000) you will generally see a 50/50 split, like with tossing a coin, it doesn't always work that way within small sample sizes (like a few coin tosses, or a single or even a few litters). I have known of a litter between a clear parent and a carrier parent where all pups born were clear, and have also known of similar litters where the majority of pups were carriers. Think of each individual pup being born from such a combination as a coin toss - sometimes heads, sometimes tails, with a 50/50 chance each time.
If you are purchasing a Finnish Lapphund pup, your breeder should be able to provide you with information about the prcd-PRA status of BOTH parents (either through test results, or known status due to the test results of your pup’s grandparents), as well as the probability of your puppy being clear of the gene mutation or a carrier of it.
Unless you are purchasing the puppy for breeding purposes, it will make no difference whatsoever whether the puppy is clear or a carrier, the only status you need to be concerned with is affected, because these dogs will develop PRA late in life. A carrier pup will never develop the prcd-PRA condition, and a litter between a clear parent and a carrier parent cannot produce a pup with the prcd-PRA condition.
If you are purchasing a pup for future breeding purposes, and where one of the parents is a carrier, you will need to find out the status of the pup you are purchasing (and your breeder should be able to provide you with this information, in some States by law). If the pup you wish to purchase is a carrier, this means that you will be limited in future breeding partners for your puppy to those with clear status. Like with any decision in the choice of future breeding stock, you will always need to weigh up carefully your personal preferences as to lines, type, structure, and the various health results, as well as your own breeding program aims.
While there is some chance that the Finnish Lapphund breed may be susceptible to other forms of PRA, there is no clear evidence of this at this point in time, however, this is one reason why it is essential that regular annual eye testing of breeding stock continues.
There are numerous forms of cataracts with a variety of causes which can be found in many dog breeds. Some of these have been determined to be hereditary, but unfortunately the genetic inheritance of these in the Finnish Lapphund breed is not currently known or understood. However, breeding stock should be eye-checked regularly.
The lens of an eye is usually clear and focuses light on to the retina. A cataract is an opacity in the lens, usually white, which scatters the light. The level of impact on vision can vary according to the size (varying from a pinhead to the total lens) and location of the cataract.
Hereditary cataracts in the Finnish Lapphund generally appear sometime after the age of 1 year and can be late onset.
In Finland the rate of Lapphunds with hereditary cataracts was 3.22% as of Oct 2007, making it the most common of the eye conditions to impact on the breed. There has not been a clinical diagnosis in Australia to date.
There is no genetic DNA test that can clear any Finnish Lapphund of being either susceptible to developing hereditary cataracts or being a carrier of them, although there is some research underway with hopes that one day such a test will be available. The only way to control this condition currently is through regular eye testing of breeding dogs.
There are three forms of retinal dysplasia, which are all forms of abnormal development of the eye's retina, present at birth. While these conditions can be hereditary, they can also be the result of a viral infection or some other event prior to birth.
These conditions are very rare in the Finnish Lapphund breed, with a rate of only 0.85% in Finland as of October 2007.
There is no genetic DNA test that can clear any Finnish Lapphund of either having or being a carrier of retinal dysplasia. The only way to control this condition is through an eye test of breeding dogs.
These two conditions, Persistent Hyperplastic Tunica Vasculosa Lentis (PHTVL) and Persistent Hyperplastic Primary Vitreous (PHPV), are congenital eye anomalies which refer to the persistence of the embryonic vascular system of the eye lens. When the eye is developing, an arteria which forms a vascular net behind and surrounding the lens, grows to feed the eye structure during its development. In normal development, this structure will atrophy prior to birth, but in these conditions the regression of this structure is impaired.
There are various levels of these conditions which can be diagnosed, from Grade 1 to Grade 6. There will generally be no impairment to vision with Grade 1. Higher grades of the condition are worse, and will lead eventually to the formation of cataracts.
The rate of these conditions in Finnish Lapphunds in Finland is 1.67% as of October 2007.
There is no genetic DNA test that can clear any Finnish Lapphund of either having or being a carrier of PHTVL or PHPV. The only way to control these conditions is through an eye test of breeding dogs. |
