DM is more spread in the breed then we thought!

[massimo]

I read on Italian forum that if somebody found his/her dog as carrier, they would sterilize the dog.
That is REALLY a hysterical reaction, totally WRONG.
I hope everybody doesn't get hysterical about things.
A POSITIVE dog is not a SICK dog, he just is "at risk" for DM.
A CARRIER or NEGATIVE dog will never be sick for DM

DM/DM=Positive (He "could" be sick of DM, he surely will pass the gene but only "risk" about illness)
DM/N=Carrier (he CANNOT be sick of DM, he "could" pass the gene)
N/N= Negative (non può avere DM, he CANNOT pass the gene)

This is obvious to many but it seems not to ALL:

Possible Combinations:
DM/DM + DM/DM = DM/DM 100%
DM/DM + DM/N = DM/DM 75%, DM/N 25%
DM/DM + N/N = DM/N 100%
DM/N + DM/N = DM/DM 25%, DM/N 50%, N/N 25%
DM/N + N/N = DM/N 25%, N/N 75%
N/N + N/N = N/N 100%

The "risky" couplings are the ones indicated in bold
No mating will SURELY give sick dogs, because even a Positive dog can be super healthy till he dies.
I believe best would be to "avoid" risky matings but not to condemn them.

It is true, if you don't care about making puppies it's not so important to make the test...BUT
if you do make the test
1)you give indirect information about the parents of your dog ( a N/N dog CANNOT come from a DM/DM dog, a DM/DM dog CANNOT come from an N/N dog)
2) you will be more careful about the illness if you know your dog is DM/DM, you will be more careful about symptoms, and eventual cures that will be discovered.
3) you will anyway contribute to map the illness/genetic predisposition and to help find out if it's as widespread as is believed or if it is a minor problem for our breed.