Inbreeding and health problems prevalence in a colony of guide dogs: A cohort of 40 Labrador Retrievers

ABSTRACT The aims of this study were to analyze the inbreeding (F) in a colony of Labrador Retriever (LR) guide dogs using information from pedigrees and to verify its role in increasing the occurrence of various genetic diseases (hereditary eye diseases, heart problems, hip and elbow dysplasia). Pedigree data and medical reports were collected for 40 LR bred for training by the National Guide Dog School (NGDS) of Scandicci (Italy). The chi-square independence test for two effects was performed: inbreeding level and disorders occurrence. The main disorder highlighted was elbow dysplasia (ED) (17.5%, 95% CI 8.40–26.60%). The number of inbred animals was 15 (37.5%) with an average inbreeding coefficient of 0.017. The association between inbreeding levels and disorders was not significant as there was a similar percentage of inbred animals and non-inbred animals among the sick. The results highlight that disease occurrence does not depend on low inbreeding levels.