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If your dog has had any illnesses or ailments, you can tell us about them at any time without having to complete the rest of the questionnaire. Simply login to your dog's profile by visiting www.dogslife.ac.uk and click on the link underneath your dog's graph.
Happy Birthday Dogslife!
Hereditary Nasal Parakeratosis testing for Labrador Retrievers
Guide to tackle canine obesity launched
Prize winners!
What do you think about Dogslife?
Happy Birthday Dogslife!
July 1st this year is the sixth birthday of the Dogslife project. Together with thousands of owners contributing to the project, we have achieved a tremendous amount over this time. We currently have over 6,400 dogs registered with the project, whose owners have provided us with information detailing their dog’s lifestyle, location, healthcare, diet, illnesses and veterinary care.
We have used this information to look at the lifestyle of Labrador Retrievers in the UK, the diseases they develop, and the factors that affect them. From the data gathered so far, we have been able to identify factors which affect how much weight dogs gain when they are adults, helped find a gene which affects appetite, and reported how common limber tail is in Labrador Retrievers and the factors which are associated with dogs developing this under-recognised condition. We have also helped other research groups establish similar studies and published guidelines for how these types of studies should be set up. To read more about the achievements of Dogslife so far, click here to view a poster which explains some of the study’s findings to date.
Dogslife has a bright and exciting future to look forward to. We are in the process of developing a new website which should make data entry simpler for everyone involved. We have a new project looking at the gastrointestinal health of dogs, and are in the midst of generating a complete genetic sequence specific for Labrador Retrievers to help underpin our searches for genetic factors which cause diseases.
As you can imagine, there is an enormous amount of unseen work which underpins the scientific discoveries of Dogslife. Erica Rose, the project secretary, has provided full time support to the website, participants and scientists working on the data since the project was first launched to ensure that we can collect all the information required for the next discovery. Dr Carys Pugh has worked full time on the data collected by the project, and most of the discoveries we have reported on have been thanks to the enormous amount of work she has put into analysing the data. Finally, we would like to thank all the Dogslife participants for their dedication and the time they have spent reporting to us about their dog’s heath. We hope you’ll agree that it has been a success so far, and we wish everybody and their pets the very best of health for the next six years!
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Hereditary Nasal Parakeratosis testing for Labrador Retrievers
Hereditary Nasal Parakeratosis (HNPK) is an inherited condition in Labrador Retrievers. A mutation in a particular gene causes the affected dog’s nose to dry out, which in turn leads to chronic inflammation and irritation of the skin on the dog’s nose.
Labrador Retrievers typically start to show signs of HNPK when they are between 6 and 12 months of age. Symptoms include rough and dry crusts (which can be grey or brown in colour) around the edge of the nose, and sometimes cracks can appear on the tip of the nose and around the nose which are painful. If the condition is not treated, dogs can develop superficial bacterial infections. The noses of affected dogs characteristically change to a lighter colour as the skin depigments. HNPK is not life threatening but does require continuous lifetime care to avoid excessive symptoms of the condition.
HNPK is a recessive disorder, which means that a dog must have two copies of the gene mutation for the condition to develop. If a dog only has one copy of the mutation, it will not show signs of HNPK, but is a carrier of the condition, so it can either pass a normal gene or the mutated gene to any offspring if they are bred. If two carriers of HNPK are bred, there is a 25% chance of offspring receiving two mutated copies of the gene meaning that they would be be affected.
In April this year, The Kennel Club announced a new official DNA test for HNPK. This test has been approved with the aim of assisting in responsible breeding decisions, promoting awareness of the condition to potential new Labrador Retriever puppy owners, and for the future health of the breed.
To find out more about the new DNA testing scheme for HNPK, please click here.
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Guide to tackle canine obesity launched
Obesity is a prevalent and growing problem in dogs (as it is in people) so the Kennel Club have launched a guide to help dog owners tackle it. The guide provides information on what causes obesity, how to tell if your dog is overweight, and advice on how to reduce your dog’s weight.
Obesity can affect dogs of all breeds and ages, and can lead to health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis. These health problems affect a dog’s quality of life, and can shorten their life expectancy. Obesity can be avoided, and reversed by healthy weight loss if it occurs, so dogs can enjoy a longer and better quality of life, and the risk of them developing disease can be reduced if they are not overweight.
To view the Kennel Club’s ‘Managing your dog’s weight’ information guide, please click here. If you missed our newsletter last month, you might also be interested in the recent findings from the Dogslife project identifying a gene which is associated with appetite in dogs. To view our previous article, please click on the following link: http://www.dogslife.ac.uk/newsletter/view/73#POMC.
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Prize winners!
Congratulations to our June prize winners! The following ten Dogslife members have each won £10 of Pets at Home vouchers: Mrs H from Leicestershire, Dr M from Nottinghamshire, Mrs S from Worcestershire, Mrs M from Fife, Mrs S from Cheshire, Mr C from Cheshire, Mrs W from Cumbria, Mrs O from London, Mrs E from Staffordshire, and Mrs M from Northumberland. We hope you enjoy spending the vouchers!
If you haven’t won a prize this time, don’t worry! You will automatically be entered into the next prize draw by logging in at www.dogslife.ac.uk and updating your dog’s record. Another prize draw will take place in September.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support the Dogslife project and helps us find out what keeps dogs healthy over their lifetime.
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What do you think about Dogslife?
Dogslife would really appreciate feedback from members about the study, as your (participant) views are very important to us. We have a short survey which can be accessed by clicking here: https://edinburgh.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/dogslife-participant-views-2 and would be extremely grateful for a few moments of your time to complete it. This will help the Dogslife project enormously going forward. The survey will close at the end of August so we would love to hear your views before then if you have the chance to complete it. Thanks again for your participation in the biggest ever study of dog health!
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Don't forget to come back to www.dogslife.ac.uk and update your dog's record!
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