Canis Pyr Veritas, The Pyr Truth

30/09/2023

When we talk about Health Testing, Breeder Transparency, and Preservation Breeders, THIS is why. This condition was identified, and the research made possible, because of preservation breeders working together and with the research team to collect samples, provide detailed pedigrees to trace inheritance, and educate the breed community to prevent further Affected dogs. The dog in the video was only 26 months old. He was initially symptomatic at age 3 months. By age 4 years he could barely stand on his own. At age 5 years, 8 months, 26 days he was gone. His breeders initiated and drove the research to identify the condition, called Neuronal Degeneration. It has existed in the breed since at least the early 1980s, but was either misdiagnosed or concealed prior to 2013.

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1007%2Fs00439-023-02599-1%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0FHNtpDzEfiNFLOYiy-0bRIGckfMiqYwABk42rVn7zMB4v4yxk-YzXCVI&h=AT0EkTzxV3fFGsBURAcLTp0Xa4hx8TrGfBZyB9EbCbIkCdVeQbnbn2zRp6zVn7YBmcMTITxgx2IWG965M_WWj5DPfCbdhModbP8Dg5zeMVZk-dYqS7aKVXo3D2n7yJGygNvf&__tn__=H-R&c[0]=AT3HshTEAEpd1K91ydL4Fam-Bu1cJ9uCPIzLH48Pd-IPCafuZHNzQ7-KohXGhXRt58b92j5L1v9li2fV1v1yCZtFB6p-DgaJhG0Dua7Ems_8z9xZNEjg5YiggdktkYn2S0ba9bMcA5SkH182KJ4Mx9EV5U_3rwDpaucNeyF0aEZRCFY7AbLLg5JV3hRwR07oEQEJn8Z1jBwqFLzhffb1JJkm8-8aSlgOtPQ

05/12/2022

What did you do for your breed today? This year? The past ten years? Ever? How have you preserved, protected, and nurtured your chosen breed? Not your dogs. Not your program. The breed itself.
Did you educate your community via a Meet The Breeds event?
Did you talk an inquiry out of joining your breed, because the breed doesn’t suit their lifestyle or needs?
Did you form a National or Regional breed club?
Did you health test and post public results for a breed with historically low testing participation?
Did you produce a litter for an endangered breed?
Did you join a National or Regional breed club?
Did you post a dog with a failing or abnormal health test result in a public database?
Did you allow a necropsy for a dog that passed or was euthanized due to a breed specific health condition currently being researched?
Did you provide blood, saliva, or semen samples for a breed specific health condition currently being researched?
Did you approach your breed community because you had a health condition arise from your breeding that you had never seen before, seeking similar experiences?
If someone in your breed community asked about an unidentified adverse health condition they just experienced, and you had experience with prior cases, did you speak up?
Did you engage in rational, fact-based discussion about an aspect of your breed [Color, coat care, health, nutrition] to dispel myth?
Did you write an article or social media post to educate or dispel misconceptions regarding your breed?
Did you make the preservation, protection, and nurturing of your breed more important than your personal reputation?

What did you do for your breed today?

11/01/2022

COAT COLOR in purebred GREAT PYRENEES Breed standards worldwide are nearly identical, once you allow for language translation. When it comes to COLOR, they all say the same thing.
1) Either solid white, or white with markings. 2) A maximum of one third (1/3) body coverage for markings. 3) Marking colors are described across the various standards as 'appearing grey (badger or wolf)', reddish-tan, orange, wolf grey, or badger. In genetic terms, these markings are all shades of either Sable (ay) or Agouti (aw). A number of poorly researched or even disreputable sources claim that other coat colors, or even full body color other than white, exist in the breed. These claims cannot be substantiated by historic evidence or genetic testing of verifiable purebred Great Pyrenees. This brings us to claims of 'black' in the breed. There are two ways to express black coat or black markings. The first is the 'dominant black' combination of Kb (K locus) and B (B locus). While all purebred Great Pyrenees are indeed homozygous B, they are also homozygous for the recessive allele ky, aka 'pattern coat', and as such they express their A Locus color in their markings. The second option for expressing black coat or black markings is the 'recessive' combination of homozygous ky (K locus) and homozygous 'a' (A locus). As previously noted, the purebred Great Pyrenees population is indeed homozygous ky. HOWEVER, they do not possess the 'a' allele. There are four alleles identified on the A locus. In descending order of hierarchy they are ay (Sable), aw (Agouti), at (Tan Point) and a (Black). The purebred Great Pyrenees population only carries the ay and aw alleles.
There have been multiple cases of Breed DNA testing companies incorrectly reporting dogs with non-native color and coat alleles as 100% Great Pyrenees. While this will be addressed in greater depth in another post, please keep in mind that a result of 100% only means that the company's algorithm failed to isolate a large enough block of markers that they associate with a different breed. It does NOT equate to the dog being a purebred Great Pyrenees. The Coat and Color trait alleles found in purebred Great Pyrenees are: A Locus (ASIP): ay, aw B Locus (TYRP1): B D Locus(MLPH): D, d1 E Locus(MC1R): E, eA, e1 H Locus (Harlequin): h I Locus: i K Locus: ky M Locus (PMEL): m R Locus (USH2A): r S Locus (MITF): sp Additionally, the following Coat traits are found in the breed - Furnishings (RSPO2): I (Improper Coat/Unfurnished) Coat Length (FPF5): T (Long Coat) Shedding (MC5R): C (Heavy Shedding) Coat Texture (KRT71): C (Straight Coat)

06/09/2021

06/09/2021

24/06/2021

24/06/2021