Health
As with all created breeds, the Elo's small population size results in the risk of inbreeding and its after-effects of inbreeding depression, and frequent occurrence of hereditary diseases. There is a susceptibility to Distichia, in which corneal damage can occur. Part of the process of accepting a dog for breeding is an eye examination (for prevention of Distichia) and X-rays to avoid breeding dogs with hip dysplasia.
A genetic study has been done in Germany using the Elo, calculating the proportion of genes of the different founder breeds, of the inbreeding coefficient and relationship coefficients, and the percentage of stillborn puppies in litters. The study also found that all but 3.5% of the Elo were related to each other. The significant gene percentages of the Elo are 48% Eurasier, 23% Old English Sheepdog, 10% Chow chow. The inbreeding coefficient was found to be 12.04%.
Read more about this topic: Elo (dog)
Famous quotes containing the word health:
“Criticism is often not a science; it is a craft, requiring more good health than wit, more hard work than talent, more habit than native genius. In the hands of a man who has read widely but lacks judgment, applied to certain subjects it can corrupt both its readers and the writer himself.”
—Jean De La Bruyère (1645–1696)
“Some fear that if parents start listening to their own wants and needs they will neglect their children. It is our belief that children are in fact far less likely to be neglected when their parents’ needs—for support, for friendship, for decent work, for health care, for learning, for play, for time alone—are being met.”
—Wendy Coppedge Sanford. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, introduction (1978)
“All climates agree with brave Chanticleer. He is more indigenous even than the natives. His health is ever good, his lungs are sound, his spirits never flag.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)