Watch our webinar on IVDD & CDDY with Dr. Casey Carl, DVM, the Associate Medical Director at Paw Print Genetics.
Webinar with Dr. Casey Carl on IVDD and CDDY (chondrodystrophy) in dogs. In the first part he covers what CDDY is and the differences between IVDD Types I and II, with helpful diagrams.
In the next part he talks about how to breed away from CDDY in breed populations. He recommends against removing all carriers from the breeding population, as it will greatly reduce the gene pool of affected breeds, especially ones where CDDY occurs in high amounts (like dachshunds). He recommends either breeding carriers to non-carriers if possible, or breeding dogs that carry one copy of CDDY to other single-copy dogs to produce more clear puppies. This will take many generations of breeding, but can reduce the number of CDDY carriers in the breed.
He also addressed the concern that eliminating CDDY would mean that dogs now have legs too long for standard: The CDPA (chondrodysplasia) mutation will shorten the legs without the attached risk of IVDD. He doesn't mention it in the webinar, but dachshunds do carry the CDPA mutation.
Next part is best practices for preventing or managing IVDD-- the biggest one is daily moderate intensity exercise. He also said that he encourages his sport-oriented clients to continue doing agility with their dogs because it's a great way to strengthen their back muscles. He mentioned using ramps instead of allowing dogs to jump off furniture, but stair climbing may be beneficial. IVDD is also less common in dogs that are neutered/spayed after 12 months of age. He could not find any evidence that supplements are helpful in prevention.
Fourth part is IVDD treatment, where he covered what he's seen done and what he has done in his own practice. Basically it's medical management (crate rest, medication), surgery, and euthanasia.
One of the questions was if a dog with two copies of CDDY should be bred. He said that if the dog is otherwise a good breeding prospect, it would be best practice to breed the dog rather than removing them from the breeding population. He said to breed it to a clear dog if possible. (This was of particular interest to me, with Himself. I've decided to collect him in a year or two and hang onto it. If he's IVDD-free by age ten or so, I'll see about finding a bitch to breed him to.)
He also covered screening for calcifications in the spine. He basically said what I've seen in my own research-- where it can be a useful tool, but plenty of dogs have calcifications but never develop IVDD.
Excitingly, he said that there is evidence that dachshunds have shown a decrease in the prevalence of IVDD in the last several years. Breeders have actually started to avoid breeding to dogs with known back issues. Woo!