WHAT IS MEANT BY POLYGENIC?
Polygenic is how many serious problems in dogs are characterized genetically. This means more than one gene is responsible for the condition’s expression, and that means tracking the inheritance is more difficult and more frustrating than with simple dominants & simple recessives. Although it is certainly not precise, treating polygenic situations as you would treat simple recessives is probably going to get you the best results as to controlling canine genetic disease, when your options for “proof” are limited (and this is what most geneticists recommend as a practical solution to a complex problem for dog breeders). Certainly, both parents must be included as likely contributors to the disease. As a rule of thumb complex characteristics are polygenic: hip conformation & congenital heart disease, head conformation as well as the resulting bite, construction of internal organs (that end in heart, kidney, etc. malformation or malfunction as well as normal function, of course). In some c
