Another common breed, which likely has a even higher cancer rate, is the boxer, and I think they ought to include a study on that breed as well.
According the Swedish pet insurance studies, the boxer has four times the tumor rate of the golden retriever.
Definitely share worthy… great info.
TheGolden Retriever Club of America and its Golden Retriever Foundation, as well as many local clubs, are strongly behind this sort of research. Our local club,for instance, held a clinic where more than 70 Goldens participated in exams and blood collection for three different genetic studies.
The same should be done for giant breeds–the rate of osteosarcoma in giant dogs is 20 times that of small dogs. That in large dogs is 8 times that of small dogs. There’s a pattern (and a lesson) here.
If they find something significant in Goldens’ DNA, they can then look for that factor in other breeds (and in people, which is a primary motivator in this study. Might not be necessary to do such a large study in each breed individually.
The Golden Retriever community has been a big supporter of the Broad Institute studies. Local clubs collect DNA samples for those wishing to participate at their health clinics. The GRCA conducst DNA collection at the National Specialty each year. The Board institute has been doing a great follow up on the dogs in these studies and I can’t stress how important your participation is.
You dont have to have any titles to help us out with this research.
Great initiative of course, but,for the here and now, there are better alternatives for maximising the chances of having a long lived healthy pet than perversely choosing a breed which is inclined heavily towards getting cancer.
Well that’s good advice, unless you happen to prefer this breed over others. Then you’re screwed.