How inbred are pedigree dogs?
We are currently conducting analyses of Australian pedigree files to answer this question. Until we have the results of this Australian study, our best guide is a recent analysis of 2.1 million pedigree dogs in the UK Calboli et al., 2009, Genetics 179, 593-601, involving the 9 most numerous British breeds, representing over a third of all dogs in the Kennel Club’s electronic pedigree records. This is the study featured in the documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed. Based on 6 and 7 generations of pedigree, the average CI across these nine breeds is 4.4%. This means that, on average, the most-numerous breeds in the UK are 4.4% along the way towards becoming inbred lines, compared with animals that existed 6 and 7 generations ago (around 33 years ago). In other words, the average CI in the nine most-numerous UK breeds has been increasing at less than 1% per generation.
