The Disappearing Doberman Project

The Doberman Pinscher is a loyal guardian and faithful companion to many. Unfortunately, Dobermans suffer from many diseases that shorten their lifespans and impact their quality of life. In a study of over 5,000 dogs across 179 breeds, Dobermans had the shortest average life expectancy (Lewis et al.,2018). This lower reduced life span is likely linked to a high rate of disease impacting the Doberman Pinscher including dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), hepatitis, hypothyroidism, cervical vertebral instability (CVI/Wobblers), numerous cancers, and various other diseases.

The Disappearing Doberman Project is a remarkable undertaking that will make significant advances in our understanding of these diseases in the Doberman. This project has enrolled over 1,000 dogs less than one year of age to follow throughout their lifetime. The goal of the project is to identify how the animal’s genetic make-up (genotype) interacts with the environment resulting in disease. This study will allow us to make a truly comprehensive investigation of all the factors that influence important diseases in the Doberman, and will allow us to answer questions regarding the role of the environment in the development of disease.  This study may also allow us to identify early markers of disease so we can intervene earlier and improve outcomes for our dogs.

The early impact study portion of this project will enroll Dobermans at any age with a particular focus on dogs that have been diagnosed with DCM, hepatitis, hypothyroidism, and Wobblers, as well as normal healthy Dobermans, especially those over the age of eight. The goal of this part of the study is to estimate the heritability or genetic component of these diseases and identify additional contributing genes and mutations for each disease. While this study won’t let us explore the environmental impacts on disease the way the lifetime study will; this part of the project will give us valuable information about the underlying genetic risk for these diseases. This part of our project will also give us some answers sooner than the lifetime study—so we can start improving Doberman health as soon as possible.

To read more about the Disappearing Doberman click here.

To read about the story of the dog that inspired this click here.