Hemophilia
As far as is known, the first haemophiliac German Shepherd Dog was Canto vd Wienerau SchH2. He was born in 1968 and died in 1972. He was used heavily for breeding, as he had and produced structure that was considered desirable for the breed at that period in time. He was a showy, well-angulated animal. Unfortunately, he also was the first known haemophiliac German Shepherd Dog, a fact that was to remain hidden until his daughters began to produce affected males. Because
Haemophilia A is carried on the x
chromosome, the gene can pass from generation to generation through daughters of
haemophiliacs to their female progeny. Blood testing can reveal which females are
carriers
of the gene, and why the SV did not take measures to
eliminate the problem when it was first discovered, I do not know. There are
different degrees of the severity of the disease, which may explain why some
dogs, such as SG Udo v Haus Goldschmeid, lived nine and a half years despite
being haemophiliac. Because so many generations have passed, Canto vd Wienerau
usually is too far back on pedigrees to appear, making it harder to identify
pedigrees with the potential for haemophilia. The disease is still out there,
however, and passing from female to female, could travel generations. A son of a
female carrier has a 50% chance of receiving his mother's normal X chromosome,
and a 50% chance of receiving her haemophiliac x-chromosome. Some males out of
haemophiliac pedigrees have been tested and found to be normal, such information
is usually provided by the owner of the male. In the absence of such
verification, any male from a haemophilia potential pedigree must be considered
possibly affected unless proven otherwise. Two of the most prominent sons of
Flora Konigsbruch (a Canto daughter), Reza v Haus Beck, and Nick vd Wienerau,
were FREE of the haemophilia gene. The breed "got lucky" there because these two
males had widespread influence on the breed in
Germany. A number of haemophiliac males were sent to the
United States, because Americans were impressed with German dogs and German
titles, and did not know of the problem. Some breeders thus managed to unload
their haemophiliacs and make some money in the process. I heard of someone paying
$20,000 for an import, a Canto grandson, which died of haemophilia not too long
after his arrival in the US. Only a very few haemophiliacs were openly
acknowledged as existing, in the SV-Zeitung magazine.
These are listed below:
Bedwins Finnigan
Bronco v Haus Ellenbeck
Lido v Holtkamper See
Santo v Sulterkamp
SG-Udo v Haus Goldschmeid
Urso vd Wienerau
Xray v Trienzbachtal
Zello v Piastendamm (the only dog I have
seen officially rejected from the Zuchtbuch for
being a hemophiliac.)