Estimate of heritability and genetic trend of XXXX in Dachshunds in Finland.

@entity1797 @entity235 @entity730 @entity74 @entity1798
BACKGROUND: @entity1798 ( @entity1798 ) is a @entity74 particularly common in Dachshunds. The breed is predisposed to early @entity1797 and @entity730 ( @entity730 ). When calcified, these severely degenerated discs are visible in spinal radiographs. Since the @entity1797 ( @entity1797 ) is associated with @entity1798 , spinal radiography can be utilized in screening programmes in attempts to diminish the incidence of @entity1798 in Dachshunds. Our aims were to estimate the heritability and genetic trend of @entity1797 in Dachshunds in Finland and to explore the effect of age at the time of radiographic screening. Since the @entity1797 has a highly skewed distribution, a log-transformed @entity1797 (lnNCD) was also used as an analysed trait. The variance components for both traits were estimated, using the restricted maximum likelihood method. The fixed effects of breed variant, sex, as well as year of screening and the random effects of litter and animal were included in the model. The genetic trends in the @entity1797 and lnNCD were assessed from the estimated breeding values (EBVs) of individual @entity235 by comparing the mean EBV of @entity235 born in different years. The breeding values were estimated, using the best linear unbiased prediction animal model. The pedigree in the genetic analyses included a total of 9027 @entity235 , of which 1567 showed results for NCDs. RESULTS: The heritability estimates of the @entity1797 and lnNCD in Dachshunds were high (0.53 and 0.45, respectively). Small genetic improvements were seen as the mean EBVs increased from 100 to 104 and 105 over a 15-year period. The gain in the entire Dachshund population in Finland may differ from that observed, since less than 10 % of the Dachshunds registered have a screening result for @entity1797 . Age at the time of the screening did not significantly affect the @entity1797 or lnNCD. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend systematic radiographic screening for @entity730 in Dachshunds and adopting EBVs as a tool for selecting breeding @entity235 . Age at the time of the radiographic screening may not be as important as previously suggested.
