A Database Is - The BERNER-GARDE Database Explained
Access to the BERNER-GARDE Listing of Dogs
How to Become Part of BERNER-GARDE
The Need for Cooperative Efforts
Terminology, Language, and Methods
How to Contact the BERNER-GARDE Foundation
The mission of the BERNER-GARDE Foundation is simply to reduce and eliminate genetic diseases in Bernese Mountain Dogs and ensure that they can live a long and healthy life. This can only be accomplished if the occurrence of several serious hereditary diseases can be decreased. To do this, evaluation of every dog that is born is important, whether or not it will ever be allowed to reproduce.
There are scientific ways to predict the package of genes each dog carries, both the ones that are obvious (phenotypes) and the ones that are not obvious, but which are carried and can show up in later generations (genotype). This can be accomplished by reviewing the genetic histories of as many relatives as possible. From this review a formula can be applied which will predict the genetic characteristics of all progeny - including genetic carriers of disease.
The BERNER-GARDE is a non-profit, tax exempt corporation established in 1995. Berner-Garde was set up to facilitate the orderly acquisition and dissemination of information related to genetic traits in Bernese Mountain Dogs (Berner Sennenhund, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Bouvier de Bernois) and to provide for the perpetuity of the database initiated by the San Francisco Bay Berners (SFBB). The Foundation is a tax exempt organization.
The Governing Board consists of eleven trustees, three of whom have been nominated by the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America's Board and who have served as Board members. At this time, the Berner-Garde Trustees consist of Teresa Glenn-Godfrey (CA), Chairperson Lori Jodar (MI), Stephanie Merchant (NV), Susan Muick-Giangarra (CT), Barbara Packard (CA), Roger Pearson (WA), Anne Simonson (CA), Nancy Stewart (AZ), Patricia Tackett (TX), David Kitchen (AZ) and Treasurer Mary Brown (CA). Martin Packard (CA) is the File Manager and Margrit Kitchen (AZ) is assisting.
A Scientific Advisory Committee comprised of experts in various fields of veterinary science are appointed by the Governing Board.
The BERNER-GARDE Foundation was established to help breeders reduce genetic disease while breeding for good temperament and type. The Foundation is dedicated to educating and sharing accurate information about genetic disease, using the data collected in the BERNER-GARDE Database. Access to information in the database is available to all owners and clubs of Bernese Mountain Dogs both national and international, approved researchers, and other appropriate users. This database model is available to other breed groups who want to share data in an open manner which reveals the problem traits as well as the desirable traits of a breed.
The benefits of this Foundation can be measured in both short and long range terms. There is an immediate benefit for breeders who use the information. In the long run, everyone who will own a Berner will benefit. The Foundation enables all Bernese Mountain Dog (BMD) lovers to share knowledge and to progress together.
Breeders can play an important role in determining the genetic mode of inheritance of diseases. All Berner owners and lovers can do something to reduce the incidence of genetic disease. Positive steps can be taken now to alleviate the pain, expense, and heartbreak these diseases cause.
Initial funds to publish the Berner-Garde Foundation Guide Book were given in memory of their dogs by Michael Cooper (Molly Brown), Anne Simonson (Kaefer), John/Monica Hudson (Sheppi), John/Lolly Menzies (Tasha), Charles/Garril Page (Kricket) and Sally Strine (Rika). Information on how to order a copy of the Guide Book can be found at the bottom of this page. The remainder came from numerous other donations. Future funding for the BERNER-GARDE Foundation will come from gifts and fund-raising projects by friends of the breed. Memorial contributions are encouraged. The long range goal will be to establish an endowment for permanent protection of the breed.
Data requests will be charged a minimal fee to help defray the costs of maintaining the database programs and the data entry and dissemination.
The BERNER-GARDE Foundation expresses appreciation to:
The many veterinarians, both domestic and overseas, who have contributed to the understanding of what is needed for control of genetic diseases;
The hundreds of Berner owners who have submitted data for the development of the database, and those who will choose to submit information in the future;
The founders of the West Highland Anomaly Task Council (Watch) who generously agreed to permit the use of their prototype booklet, as first published in February, 1989
The San Francisco Bay Berners for their financial support of the development of the Foundation,
The Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America for their endorsement of the database and their use of the data for the tumor study 1989-1995,
The American Kennel Club and the overseas counterparts that have been publishing numerous articles which encourage breeders to address the control of genetic diseases in their dogs.
A database is a place to store and organize bits of information (data). A card file can be a database.
The Berner-Garde computer database is a collection of information that has been entered by a person into a computer.The computer has been programmed by using a purchased set of instructions which has been customized by Berner owners. The computer organizes and retrieves this data in almost unlimited ways of sorting at the direction of an operator. The computer can handle data with a volume and complexity that would be virtually impossible with only the human mind (which is in itself a remarkable database!).
NEW ! Searching the B-G ListingPartial Public Searches of the B-G Database is possible by the dogs registered name. If you wish to search the listing of dogs, click here for access to the B-G Listing.
We recommend the use of a modem supporting speeds of 28Kbps or higher in searching the B-G listing. Graphics have been kept at a minimum, but some Dog's Name Pages are quite large and may take a long time to load with older modems. |
Each owner will know that their breeder has entered their information in the database if they receive a blue proof-sheet after getting the puppy. If the breeder has not submitted litter data, the individual owner can report data directly to the database manager or to the regional site operator, by submitting the INDIVIDUAL FORM at the end of the Berner-Garde Guidebook.
Each breeder fills out the LITTER FORM at the end of the booklet. This identifies every puppy that they produce and the person with whom the puppy has gone to live. A separate file is set up for each of these dogs and their owners and will be updated throughout the life of the dog as data is submitted by the owner. It will include such items as health records, adult measurements, registered name and number, achievements, whether it was ever bred or neutered, etc.
BMD breeders share a universal goal to breed better Berners: Berners that are winning dogs in the show ring; Berners that have good temperaments and make good companions with long, healthy lives; and Berners that are sound enough to do the work required of a Sennenhund.
There are existing forums for competition and evaluation of the first two qualities. Dog shows and their associated advertising promote dogs with above-average conformation. Obedience and working trials and satisfied pet owners speak for good temperament.
The BERNER-GARDE Foundation focuses on a third quality which involves the health and longevity necessary to achieve the expected 12 to 14 year life-span for a dog of this size.
The database provides a tool to identify those good winners, companions, or workers which are also good breeding stock and which will improve the number of healthy dogs in the breed while maintaining good conformation, temperament and working ability.
One of the responsibilities of the BERNER-GARDE Foundation is education. To carry out this responsibility, it is necessary to maintain an up-to-date, modern database and collect accurate data. When these data are shared with breeders, they will be able to make breeding decisions based on accurate information. For example a listing of the significant diseases with more than one entry in the database is given in the Appendix of the Berner-Garde Guidebook.
The objective of a genetic disease control program is to reduce the incidence of inherited disease in a kennel or the breed as a whole. Effective control of genetic disease requires that affected as well as unaffected individuals in litters of dogs be identified and recorded in a professional disease registry. The progress of a genetic disease control program can be measured by maintaining an accurate database of prevalence within the breed. Reporting these types of data can help to measure the progress of the breed as a whole. Improvements in the breed can be made more rapidly when the average for the breed is known.
Few persons can do it alone. Most breeders have small kennels and cannot afford or do not care to have a large breeding colony. Only by working with other breeders and sharing information can any long term control of genetic disease, on a breed-wide basis, be achieved.
To speak the same language, those who wish to work together to reduce genetic disease in the breed need to agree on methods for evaluating dogs and on the terminology used to describe the findings. Professional registries that are established to record evaluations by experts for a particular disease will develop this terminology and methodology.
First-stage disease registries are those established by a group of owners/breeders seeking information for their personal use. Usually the information is unavailable to others. Current registries of this type are:
OVC (Ontario Veterinary College): Normal hip certifications are reported only to the owner. No evaluations are released to the public.
Second-stage disease registries are those that release only normal evaluations to the public. The owner agrees at the time of submission to release the record of their dog if it is normal. This type of registry aids in selection of a normal phenotype. (visible characteristics of an individual). Examples are:
OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals): The first registry to exist to record hip evaluations. After several years, OFA released quarterly reports of normal evaluations only to national breed clubs on request. After public release of normals, one could choose to breed only to normal mates. This process is termed "mass selection" (breed normal phenotype to normal phenotype) and does work slowly towards improvement. Since the majority of BMDs are not evaluated by the OFA, it is not possible to use the OFA data to identify the extent of 'carrier risk' that a particular dog has, nor is it possible to establish what is the average for the breed and make choices which will improve the average.
CERF (Canine Eye Registry Foundation): Founded to register evaluations of eyes. Normal evaluations are given a cleared rating on a certain date, after which they must be repeated; the current normals list may be released publicly.
Third-stage registries which are "open" were first used with success in Norway and Sweden. In this type all information is available to the public and aids in selection of mates whose bloodlines indicate the most normal genotype (reproducing characteristics). These registries have served as the model for the Institute for Genetic Disease Control in Animals (GDC).
The GDC, founded in June of 1990, is the first registry of this type in the USA. The GDC is a registry which records expert evaluations for genetic diseases of soft tissue as well as joints. Owners agree at time of submission that all data on their dog may be released. The normal certifications are released for the BERNER-GARDE database. An individual can ask for reports about other dogs and their relatives that are normal or affected. This forms a genetic history which is available to owners (potential breeders), veterinarians, and scientists who want to trace the genetic history of a dog. In order to control the increasing presence of genetic diseases (such as those of the major joints, or eyes, or heart, etc.), one must know how prevalent such diseases are in the breed and in any particular dog's bloodlines.
Registering both normal and affected reports for EVERY dog is important. The purpose of an open registry is to help breeders and owners reduce the presence of genetic diseases in their breed as rapidly as possible. In order to be effective, the registry must record data on as large a group of animals as possible, both normal and affected. To encourage this, the GDC does not charge for registering affected evaluations. The screening evaluation of every single dog, whether pet or working dog, increases the ability to accurately predict the risk in a bloodline being considered for breeding.
What you see in the normal phenotype does not assure a normal genotype.
The Basic Data For Genetic Disease Control depends on accurate information from EVERY breeder at the birth of EVERY litter: the correct birthdate, parents, the number and sex of siblings, and the identification of the new owners of each puppy.
Data Collection After the Puppy Leaves the Breeder depends upon the accurate information from the owner of EACH puppy as it matures and ages.
BMD Regional Groups Have A Key Position as intermediaries between the individual and the BERNER-GARDE Foundation for collecting the needed data on the dogs within their neighborhood and transferring it to the BERNER-GARDE Database. The File Manager is available to help establish a compatible regional data site.
To "Think Litter", Breeders Must Keep In Touch with their litter(s) so they don't lose contact with the owners, including those who do not want to show or belong to a club. What happens to each dog contributes to the knowledge of the health of the breed-as-a-whole, whether or not the dog participates in activities or is ever bred.
The genotype is predicted by looking at as large a number of close relatives as possible.
When data is available for a sufficiently large family of dogs, a breeder can evaluate the risk for genetic disease transmission by a dog from that family. The Berner-Garde does not provide for genetic risk counseling. This risk counseling can be sought from qualified experts in the field.
Members of the governing board of the BERNER-GARDE Foundation are available to help interpret information and share their knowledge of the mechanics of the database. Return phone calls will be made collect.
The majority of genetic diseases are single gene traits.
The Westie "Watch" has developed criteria and methods (which can be used for all breeds) to perform scientifically correct test matings which provide accurate information on simple recessive genetic anomalies. These traits are influenced by a single gene site and are the traits that will be: (1) observable on the average in 25% of the pups in a litter if both parents were 'carriers', (2) passed on as carriers without symptoms on the average in another 50% of the pups and, (3) avoided on the average by 25% of the pups which receive the 'normal' part of the genepackage from both parents and will not be carriers.
Dr. George Padgett, Michigan State University consultant, reminds us that all breedings are test matings if appropriate records are kept and are available to the public. The BERNER-GARDE database is designed for such a use.
Reducing polygenic (multigene) disease is more complicated and relies upon the guidance of an expert to assess the genetic risks for an individual animal. These are the traits that are influenced by multiple gene sites and will be expressed only when all of the chromosomes at those sites are combined in a particular way to produce the observable trait in the offspring.
The BERNER-GARDE database is designed to provide data for this counseling service when data for sufficient numbers of relatives are in the file. Many more dogs can have these genes without our being able to identify them than in simple single gene traits.
Until the polygenic sites can be identified, one must rely upon the identification of the amount of 'risk' of being a carrier that each dog has. This is done by evaluating the appearance of the particular trait in all litters of the full and half siblings (brothers/sisters) as well as of the aunts and uncles of a particular dog.
Current research will lead to identification of DNA probes which will become additional tools for use in the future.
You may contact Berner-Garde at:
Berner-Garde Foundation
Information Service
20 Tynan Way
Portola Valley, CA
94028
A full description of the Berner-Garde charter, objectives, methodology, and registration forms may be obtained by writing to the above addresses and requesting a copy of "The Berner-Garde Foundation - Guide Book" A suggested donation of $10.00 plus $2.00 for postage is needed to defray costs.