Originally Posted by
Emma S
The overbreeding and unwise breeding is why I have always shied away from pure breeds. Always felt like mongrels have fewer problems.
I thought that, until I got involved with the basenji.
These dogs came out of Africa in the 40's, and even then, the people in Africa spoke of dogs that had the 'drinking water disease.'
It was also in the dogs that were brought here, called 'fanconi' and the club raised money in many ways, hopefully to figure out where it was coming from. One of the first things that becomes apparent is the the dog drinks copious amounts of water.
A human anesthesiologist, who had basenjis, one with fanconi, developed a protocol that enabled dogs on his protocol to live to old age. Medically, the way this disease is related to what an anesthesiologist knows, made it possible. He was made an honorary member of our club. How fortunate a fanconi basenji ended up in his home.
This disease didn't make itself apparent in a dog until it was 7 or so, so many times these dogs were bred. It became clear it was a hereditary disease, and that testing a dog's urine for sugar once a month allowed the owner to start the protocol at the earliest stages of the disease. But they were still having to deal with the protocol, which was among other things, 15-30 bicarbonate (baking soda) tablets a day. ever put just baking soda in your mouth? And the whole thing, protocol and disease progression, was not pretty.
The scientist kept telling us they weren't ready for our money yet, but when they were, the DNA test, and how the disease is passed on, was developed, and taught us who to breed together to avoid pups with fanconi.
The truly remarkable thing -
Some scientists contacted our breed club because they knew we had pedigrees marked with affected dogs(had been keeping track of this since the 70's - 20% of all basenjis were getting it, when in most breeds it's less than 1%)
At the time there were 500 children WORLDWIDE that had fanconi and they were hopeful that our detailed records might be able to assist with these CHILDREN!!!!
I am no longer breeding or showing because of my brain injury, but I see myself belonging to that club a very long time, if only to fund the next disease they tackle.
So sure, purebred dogs may have diseases, but if a group works on a disease, it may benefit children, in a way that only human testing will not. Our situation allowed us to work together and let breeders work towards eradicating a disease. I will forever be proud of being a minor part of all this.