Archives for February 2014

One the oldest breeds known, the pug has always been a companion animal that has wanted to be around people. It dates to at least 400 B.C., and likely served as a foundation for several other breeds – including the bulldog, Pekinese and King Charles spaniel.

The pug is believed to have originated in Asia, likely China. Buddhist monks in Tibet were among the first to keep pugs as pets. Pugs were then taken to Japan, followed by Europe in the 16^th Century. They were imported by the Dutch East India company and quickly became a favorite to royalty – including House of Orange (legend has it that a pug saved the life of the prince by alerting him to assassins), William III and Mary II, as well as Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife, Joséphine, and Queen Victoria and her grandson (King George V) and great grandson (King Edward VIII). The pug made its way into the homes and hearts of Americans in the 19^th Century and was recognized by the AKC in 1885.

Ever a people-dog, pugs have been depicted in paintings and writings throughout history as accompanying their owners on travels, at parties, sitting in portraits and ...

Since early in canine domestication, humans have been selecting individual dogs with desirable behavioral and physical traits to be founder breeding animals for the hundreds of dog breeds we have today. Early on, the traits selected for were often of great importance for their role as working animals. With time, as the world of dog fanciers took shape, dogs with particular physical traits of aesthetic value began to be the chosen bearers of future generations regardless of their ability to work. Unfortunately however, there are multiple examples of selected physical traits that are significant risk factors for disease.

One important example is a disorder seen in Rhodesian ridgeback (RR) dogs known as a dermoid sinus that has been associated with the characteristic “ridge” trait in the skin overlying the spine. In 2007, a large genetic duplication on canine chromosome 18 was identified as the underlying genetic cause of the ridge in this breed.² Unfortunately, the same genetic duplication responsible for ridge formation has also been found to predispose RRs to formation of dermoid sinuses.^1,2

Dermoid sinuses are tubular to round shaped cavitations in the skin often filled with hair and keratin that are present at birth. It ...