The Dachshund Spine - Book Review

Post date: Jul 22, 2012 7:4:19 PM

I met Lisa Emerson in London recently and she was kind enough to give me a copy of her book "The Dachshund Spine" which was first published in 2011. The book is described as "a must-have" for all owners and breeders of Dachshunds. It's also aimed at vets and those interested in the other pedigree breeds where back disease is a common problem (e.g. Basset Hounds, Corgis and Pekingese, among others).

Lisa's publicity for the book says: “Covered in this book is the anatomy of their spine, the degeneration leading to calcification that noticeably affects many of those dogs and around 1 out of every 2 dachshunds, what can be done to ameliorate the degenerative process, how to handle a disc herniation (including the latest medications and what medications not to give, especially if surgery might be needed), how to test for severe degeneration, how to breed away from it, and how to choose reputable breeders and healthier dogs when buying.”

Overall, this is one of the most comprehensive texts I've read on the subject, bringing together evidence from a vast array of research papers (fully referenced). The other text that takes a similar approach is Patricia J. Luttgen's Canine Intervertebral Disc Disease booklet, written for the Dachshund Club of America and published in 1993 [http://www.dachshund-dca.org/discbook.html]. This latter text was essential reading in its day, but the science has moved on and is brought fully up-to-date by Lisa.

Probably the most significant paragraph, in my opinion is as follows:

"The latest genetic data, however, indicates that Hypochondroplasia (HCP) may not be a major, or potentially, even a minor factor in the development of Hansen Type 1 IVDD (IVDD-1), as the FGF4-R insertion does not exist with any frequency in beagles, cocker spaniels, french bulldogs, or poodles, all of which often experience the same kind of IVDD that dachshunds do, and also because of IVDD-1's high familial heritability in certain HCP dogs and its apparent absence in others. If it is true that HCP is not necessary to induce IVDD-1, then it's good news that it should be possible to produce HCP dogs without IVDD-1 while retaining the shortened legs, once the degenerative mutations have been identified.”

This is consistent with our Breed Council Health Sub-committee's thinking that focusing our IVDD research on the genetics of the condition is our best hope for finding a way to reduce the prevalence of the problem.

Incidentally, our Dachs-Life 2012 Health Survey showed a range of prevalence data for the six varieties of Dachshund (from nearly 1500 dogs):

Thankfully, none of our data is as bad as Lisa's view that 50% of Dachshunds may have a back problem (although she does say 1 in 5 clinically affected and 1 in 2 sub-clinically affected).

Lisa goes on to describe the X-ray screening approach she has been adopting with her own Dachshunds in the USA. This is based on the approach recommended by Danish researchers and which has been adopted by other Scandinavian and European Dachshund Clubs,as well as the South African Dachshund Club. It is based on assessing the degree of calcification of the spine (typically at 18-24 months) and research evidence that calcification is correlated with herniation.

The Breed Council discussed this screening test with the Kennel Club's health experts and geneticists in 2010 to see if they felt it was something we should adopt in the UK. At that time there was insufficient evidence that the test led to a reduction in disc disease and we agreed to initiate a DNA research project. Our project was given further encouragement in 2011 when Danish researchers identified an area of Chromosome 12 that correlates with calcification. [http://goo.gl/KOwbf]

Clearly, this project is not going to give us a “quick fix” and there are some clear messages that breeders, owners and potential Dachshund buyers should be aware of:

    • Back disease has a high heritability and there is strong evidence that it runs in families

    • Until there is a UK screening test breeders should identify, as far as possible, any history of back problems when planning matings

    • Puppy buyers should be asking about any history of back problems when they speak with breeders

    • Our advice on the importance of keeping Dachshunds fit, healthy and not overweight continues to be sound advice

Lisa Emerson should be commended for the huge amount of work she has clearly put into researching back disease for this book.

You can order a copy of The Dachshund Spine, by Lisa J Emerson here: http://wienepedia.com/