Doberman Health: Idiopathic Head Tremors

On Friday I posted about the DNA survey for Doberman health. I got my sample package super quick! I swabbed Elka this morning and mailed it out. She let me do it without any kind of a struggle, but was overall less than enthused.

So, what do I think qualified Elka for the Doberman health study? Well, first off, every study needs a control group. Even if she wasn't "normal", they still might have wanted a DNA sample. There were two things on the survey that Elka displayed, though: Idiopathic Head Tremors, and a specific preference for a toy. We've talked about Gumby Love here before, but we haven't talked about the head tremors.

Doberman Health: Would you like to take a survey?

I noticed it first on Doberman talk, and then saw it mentioned on Dobermann Daze as well.

Dr. Mark Neff at The Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan is doing genetic research on inherited disorders in Dobermans. There is a survey ( around 2 minutes, not bad) and then you have the option to request a DNA sample kit so that you can enter your dog's genetic tissue in the survey. They pay the shipping both ways. The survey is on projectdog.org, and the goal is to have a sample size of 3000 Dobermans!

So if you, or anybody you know, has a Doberman, go on over and take the survey. There is no cost to you (other than the tiny time commitment of taking the survey and eventually swabbing your dog's mouth for DNA) and the results may give a lot of insight into things that Dobermans inherit, such as idiopathic head tremors (something Elka has), flank sucking, Wobbler's Syndrome (otherwise known as Cervical Vertebral Instability), DCM, and more.

This is a valuable opportunity, and if you could spread the word that the survey is at http://projectdog.org/, that would be awesome! All results are confidential, if you have concerns about that.