this comment from Dr. Sophie Liu on facebook a few years ago
I love this. Exactly the kind of intelligent thinking and planning that needs to be in place to pull this off. It CAN be done, but I still think it won't happen unless DPCA & AKC agree to it.
Outcrossing without knowing the gene would not be successful like the Dalmatian.
All it has to be is a breed with little to no genetic heart disease. Just like hip dysplasia - there's not a gene to say it'll happen, but there are breeds where it is relatively rare and other breeds that tend to have an overload of it.
One problem is the purest. They just don't want to change ANYTHING.
They are the ones who would prevent the beginning of an outcross program. But if the program could be approved, using a "X factor" on any Dobermans with mix blood, then they don't have to use those lines - they can continue their breeding as always. Unless it's a smashing success and the "X factor" Dobermans slowly replace the pure lines, but even then, it would be 25 to 50 years and most of us will be dead and gone by then. And that's if they started a program yesterday.
And Yes, DCM has always been the breed, but when I followed some of the old German lines in pedigrees on
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I saw "confirmed DCM" or "sudden death", but most of the dogs were 9, 10, 11 years old when they died of heart disease - referring to pre-2000's. To me that's acceptable. 5, 6 or 7 is not. Inbreeding affects the lack of diversity in genes which affects the immune system, and weak immune systems create health problems on many levels: cancers increase, skin & hair problems, digestive and of course the heart & liver diseases.
If I was to make a suggestion on out-crossing I'd go right back to Mr. Dobermanns way of creating this magnificent breed: Dog pound dogs. In todays world with DNA testing, and literally millions of dogs, you can find engaging wonderful dogs that are intelligent and have a "dog shape" - no short legs, flat faces, timid, or fearful dogs. Almost every AKC breed has health problems because of narrowing gene pools. That said, I did find a perfect outcross just the other day, and it is a breed, but not AKC. I'll start another thread on that when I get some time. I have to put video on Youtube and not sure if I'll get that done today....
The one other thing that is happening is the breeder market is narrowing to the point of no return due to the average Joe unable to afford a Doberman (or many other breeds as far as that goes). Upwards to $5000 for a dog and $200+ a month for health insurance for life and almost a certainty that a major medical issue will come up by the time they're 7? Who wants to buy into that? It hurts to just think about it. Dogs use to be a joy, not a constant worry or worse yet a heartache.
