The NRTA is setting up the Rat Terrier Foundation Network. A Network of breeders dedicated to producing good dogs for the improvement and the preservation of the breed. Why? After completing the initial health survey it is apparent that our breed has problems. We are asking all our breeders to participate in the project. We have created a foundation stock registry database that will list those dogs that qualify. This will make the search for stock free of defects easier to locate. In addition the database will also identify and mark carriers of genetic defects. Any dog entering the system must have 3 generations of complete pedigree information. It is the goal to compile 200-300 dogs to be used for studbook records that must be free of and free of producing all major defects. The Registry will be kept open to allow new blood to enter which is essential to the future of the breed.

     The first and major hindrance to recognizing the significance and cost of genetic disease is that most breeders believe that the MAJORITY OF DOGS ARE GENETICALLY NORMAL. This is not the case at all. In dogs, we do not have good estimates of the number of defective genes they carry, but it is estimated that each human being carries three to five major defective genes. It is likely that, as a minimum, each individual dog is equivalent to humans in this regard. Aside from what is likely to be the case, if you believe most dogs are genetically normal and you find out your dog carries a defect, whether it's cataracts or something else, you do not want to talk about it because you believe your dog is different (less worthwhile) than MOST dogs.

     This belief causes a person to be secretive about a trait, to deny that it occurs and as a result, to fail to address the defective gene as a problem that can be solved.

     It is difficult to convince breeders that ALL dogs carry defective genes because people tend to hide problems and thus they are not an obvious part of the dogs, those that contribute a disproportionately high number of genes to the gene pool of the breed, allow us to get a better look at the problem for two major reasons. The first is that a good stud is used on bitches outside the control of the owner of the stud and thus the offspring of the stud are observed by multiple people and with multiple people it's hard to keep a secret. As a result, GOSSIP occurs. It may be true (also may not) but it's treated as gossip and sort of whispered rather than being openly discussed. Alternatively, a stud of lesser quality and thus not as well used, producing say two litters, may well have expressed the identical gene but the gossip is controlled (only two breeders are involved). The second reason relates directly to the first. For a genetic disease to exist in a breed, there must be
affected dogs, carrier dogs (heterozygotes, those having one gene for the trait), and dogs' normal for both genes existing within the populations. Obviously, a dog bred more widely has a better chance to contact a carrier bitch and thus give the trait a better chance to express itself than a dog that produces one or two litters, even though both dogs are themselves carriers [controlled test matings may be the only way to establish who's who].

     As a result of these two major features of genetic diseases and dog breeders (i.e., odds of producing a defect and gossip), you cannot name a single major dog in most breeds that has produced 200 puppies or better (40 litters, 5 per litter) that has not produced some defect (try it, see if you can think of one). Further, once you know the dog has produced a recessive defect, then you know that each of his puppies has a 50:50 chance of being a carrier for that defect whether the puppy was born before the stud produced the defect or after he produced it.

     What breeders most often forget, however, is that the reason you know a superior dog has a defect is that the dog is in fact superior. He is used more often than dogs of lesser status because he produces winning offspring. He adds quality to the breed or he would not have been allowed to produce so many puppies (remember, this is controlled by the owners of the bitches, not the owner of the stud). We now have 200 puppies on the ground, many of which are already champions (or you wouldn't have 200 puppies on the ground!), half of which are carriers. The owners of these dogs have already made a large investment in them and now they do not want to talk about any defects involving their dogs. What I call "THE CODE OF SILENCE" is imposed; it is unethical to talk about defects, owners that talk about defects are loathed, breeders that admit their dogs have or carry a defect are hounded by others no matter what quality the dog nor how healthy the dog. The stage is set for what breeders do best to one another: THEY LIE TO EACH OTHER or they prevaricate or they do not involve themselves in "useless" discussions,  they fib, or they do anything they can to avoid the fact that THEIR dog carries a gene for a given defect or may in fact have the defect (if it cannot be observed without special techniques).

     This is the dilemma that dog breeders face no matter what the breed, no matter how famous the dog. ALL DOGS HAVE DEFECTIVE GENES LIKE ALL PEOPLE HAVE DEFECTIVE GENES. The question now becomes what should you do about it and what can you do about it?

     Dog breeders in general ... cause defective genes to spread within a breed by failing to approach genetic defects in an open manner. They control the mating of their dogs, but somehow they end up expecting "nature" to correct defects in the same manner natural selection works in a wild population. If "nature" bred their dogs there might be some basis for the belief that a disease such as cataracts might be corrected over a period of one or two hundred years by natural selection. The fact that none of the breeders (having the belief that natural selection is protecting them) would be alive when it happened doesn't seem to faze them.

     TRAIT'S WILL NOT DISAPPEAR BY THEMSELVES. NATURE WILL NOT SAVE YOU BECAUSE NATURAL SELECTION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH DOG BREEDING.

     Dog breeders in general need to face genetic defects as a realistic part of the problems encountered in the process of producing good sound animals. We need to quit whispering about defects and gossiping about defects and instead set up a sound program that allows the standard selection procedures to go on so that we breed good dogs and avoid major defects.

     [Bearded Collies] as a breed have only a few major defective traits [around 7], compared to 30 or 40 in several breeds. The average for genetic defects in each breed is about 14. The decision that needs to be made is, do you want to control what you have or shoot for 30 or 40?

(Dr. Padgett is a Professor in the Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine at
Michigan State University. This article is reprinted, with his kind permission, and was the first of a
series, which forms the nucleus of a far more complete and complex presentation on this and related
subjects. Here Dr. Padgett attempts to outline the problems that interfere with or hinder an objective

Continued from above
     All breeders participating in the program should have a goal for producing true to type, within specific size ranges and breed like to like. Foundation breeders will be signed up and identified on the breeders list with an insignia next to their name with a write-up about the breeder and their program. All breeders must be able to share information about genetic problems and be committed to working towards health goals.
     All dogs that are enrolled in this program will lead to and become our foundation stock for the breed, heightening NRTA breeders above all others. You all have existing dogs now and if they are free of defects and conform to the Breed Standards of the NRTA they may be considered for initial foundation breeding stock.

     An initial Foundation Stock database will be set up marking any potential defects to direct breeders to dogs that can help enhance their programs. Breeders are encouraged to create a dog and puppy exchange program. This will make correcting defects easier and reduce the chance and expense on unknown breeding dogs.

     There will be a central database set up consisting of informative articles on correcting specific defects and an exclusive chat room for open discussion on all problems, how to correct them and general sharing of information on all breeding concerns. It will cover all topics such as
Recognizing the hidden Problems, Correcting Problems Recessive, Dominant, Inbreeding, Line breeding, Out Crossing, Homozygous, Heterozygous, Faults, Culling, Type, Strain, Hybrid, Progeny, Pre-potency, Bloodlines, Genotype, Phenotype, Modes of inheritance and anything you would like to talk about.

     If we are all working towards the same goals and concentrating our efforts towards healthy dogs with traits and characteristics of their original instincts the breed will go far and stand strong for a long time to come. We must not just breed for a pretty dog and forget what they were put on earth for.
Doing it right can only benefit you and the Rat Terrier because if the breed gets a bad reputation, we all lose.

     If you are determined to breed only an old established strain, you need to be either unspeakably rich or surround yourself with people of like mind. It would be more fun to be the former, but the latter is more reasonable. If you can establish a cooperative network of breeders that you can get along with, you increase the number of dogs in your breeding program dramatically. This is very difficult to do, but it is the only reasonable way to maintain the numbers needed to preserve a strain in healthy condition.