NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
The last time we had classes at Midland Counties was in 2018 when there were only 3 entries, but since then most years there has been a Buhund presence in the AVNSC classes and this year was no exception, with Marinda Taylor Smith’s puppy bitch Trelowen Illusion Siberstorm keeping the Buhund flag flying. Her pet name is Pink and in the local pub she is known as Miss Pink! This was her first show as she was born on the 18th of April 2026 and is by Ir Ch Trelowen Forest Gump (ai) x Fjordriket Magic (Imp US). She made a great start to her showing career winning BBP & then RBB under judge Elizabet A Caminade -Lavault, who was born in the Uk but was brought up in Zimbabwe and is an FCI International All Breed Judge. Marinda some of you may remember previously showed her late mother Jean Platt’s Ch Ailort Just In Time.
This happened a few weeks ago but as I had other news I delayed writing about it.
Those you that are on the Norwegian Buhund Forum will have seen the press release from the RKC that they are stopping DNA testing, why that is important to the Breed is a long story but as we have some members that are reasonable new to the Breed I think it is worth telling. I came into the breed in 1992 not long after Hereditary Cataract had been discovered in the breed. It nearly wiped the breed out as so many gave up breeding. Only Sue Avery (Trelowen)Lorraine Bolton (Rikarlo)Jacque Cobb (Knytshall), and Kathy Hay (Wolfen) and a few others staying with the breed. We showed horses at the time and I had spaniels and an Elkhound and dog showing and breeding was not on my radar .The cocker spaniels at that time had a lot of mouth problems so I wanted a breed about the same size with a tight mouth and came across the Buhund .Kathy had a litter and lived reasonably close ,Okie came home at 8weeks and later became Ch Wolfen Just In Time (Time is named after him as he goes back to him).I had joined the club and was sent a show schedule so went along to my first dog show (I had done obedience)and was hooked),Okie sired a litter from which I kept Flekke who became the first Int in breed in the Uk ,the following year Okie mated a Trelowen Bitch ,but when the puppies were about 6wks old a couple had a very slight head tremor, this became much worse and they lost coordination, Sue took them to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh to see if they could find a cause and treatment. They could not find either, and the puppies were pts and they said do not repeat the mating which of course we didn’t. We put it down as unexplained and continued to hope that a DNA test could be found for HC, to this end we sent numerous cheek samples for testing to the Animal Health Trust, at one point swabbing virtually all the dogs at a club show so the AHT had something like 100 samples, we also paid them a couple of thousand pound that we had been left by a member some years previously to help with the health of the breed .It was to no avail and it is now thought that the HC is specific to the breed .Therefore although it does not cause the dog go blind the veterinary advise is we go on testing and make sure we do not breed from any affected dogs as we do not know where that might lead, of course we still hope that perhaps one day we may have a DNA test for it.
So, with HC our primary cause of concern you can imagine my surprise when in early 2017 I had an email from the AHT to say they had found Cerebellar Ataxia in the breed and had a DNA test for it. Apparently, they had a member of staff who was interested in Ataxia and decided to test the 100 samples they had from the breed. Well over half of the dogs tested had a parent that was carrier but happily not both, many of the dogs had passed on as we had been collecting the samples for many years. We set about testing all the breeding stock a number were carriers but only one my Fizz had both parents that were carriers, but he was clear. You will know I am sure the science will tell you if 4 puppies are born to carrier parents,1 will be clear 2carriers and one affected. It is called recessive which means that two copies of the mutation need to be inherited by a dog one form each parent for it to be clinically affected, so if two carriers are mated there is a chance that affected puppies will be produced One of Fizz’s litter died at birth was it affected, we will never know. Of course, we then realised that was what those 2 puppies were suffering from all those years previously. Lorraine Bolton looked back into many pedigrees to find out where it might have come from but to no avail. On 4th December 2017 the AHT published the following statement.
‘GENETIC CAUSE OF HEREDITARY CEREBELLAR ATAXIA IN NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS IDENTIFIED AND DNA TEST LAUNCHED’
In order to protect this numerically small breed from the threat of affected puppies, DNA testing can now be used to promptly eliminate this neurological disease. Genetic researchers at the Animal Health Trust (AHT) have discovered a genetic mutation for cerebellar ataxia in Norwegian Buhunds. This disease affects dogs as young as 12 weeks of age, with uncoordinated movement and head tremors. There is currently no effective treatment and the disease is progressive, worsening over time. Affected animals are often euthanised on welfare grounds. The causative mutation was identified by geneticists at the Kennel Club Genetics Centre at the Animal Health Trust (AHT), in collaboration with the AHT’s Neurology unit. A DNA test was then available from the AHT from Monday 4 December 2017 to help breeders identify carriers and prevent the birth of affected puppies.’ We of course tested all breeding stock and now are in a position to say that all the breeding stock are hereditary clear, although it is suggested that several generations down the line that it might be a good idea to test again to make sure nothing had crept in. Also, any dog coming in from abroad must be tested before it is breed from and any offspring from AI from abroad must also be tested before breeding. The RKC did do testing for Ataxia but so do Laboklin UK, sadly the AHT closed on July 31st 2020, but all the samples were transferred to The Canine Genetic Centre in Cambridge who still do the DNA testing so we will be using those in future.
I finish with a warning if you walk your dogs in the woods, the vets are warning that the weather has encouraged the growth of mushrooms and in fact I have had a few on the lawn, some of these mushrooms are toxic if dogs eat them often because some can look like a small ball, so if you know your dogs has eaten one it is good idea to get it checked by a vet.
Margaret Deuchar margaretdeuchar@gmail.com
Any views expressed in Margaret’s Breed Notes are hers and hers alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Norwegian Buhund Club of the UK