How much inbreeding is okay in dogs?
Dustin Bechtelar
2025-06-06 23:56:09
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In humans, high levels of inbreeding (3-6%) have been associated with increased prevalence of complex diseases as well as other conditions. The average inbreeding based on genetic analysis across 227 breeds was close to 25%, or the equivalent of sharing the same genetic material with a full sibling. These are levels considered well above what would be safe for either humans or wild animal populations. Data from other species, combined with strong breed predispositions to complex diseases like cancer and autoimmune diseases, highlight the relevance of high inbreeding in dogs to their health. If dogs are of smaller size and not inbred, they are much healthier than larger dogs with high inbreeding. People have recognized that creating matches based solely on pedigrees is misleading. The inbreeding calculators don’t go back far enough in a dog’s genetic line, and that method doesn’t improve overall high levels of population inbreeding. There are other measures that can be taken to preserve the genetic diversity and health of a breed, they include careful management of breeding populations to avoid additional loss of existing genetic diversity, through breeder education and monitoring of inbreeding levels enabled by direct genotyping technologies. In particular, in the few breeds with low inbreeding levels, every effort should be made to maintain the genetic diversity that is present. Outcrosses are being proposed or have already been carried out for some breeds and conditions as a measure to increase genetic diversity, but care must be taken to consider if these will effectively increase overall breed diversity and therefore reduce inbreeding.
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