Yes, it’s true. Banana Joe is the child of forbidden love, at least when humans are concerned. When you can’t come up with the pedigree of a certain dog using a simple Google search, you know there is some sort of problem.
It wasn’t hard to pull his pedigree together and with regards to inbreeding, this is about as bad as it gets. A father to daughter mating results in an inbreeding coefficient (COI) of 25% i.e. there is a 1 in 4 chance a dog will inherit the same version of gene from the same dog that appears in both the sire’s and dam’s pedigree.
Click To Enlarge Pedigree Of Banana Joe V Tani Kazari
Inbreeding is commonly used by dog breeders to increase desirable traits and eliminate undesirable traits. Unfortunately, too much inbreeding leads to loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding depression.
Inbreeding depression is the result of poor genetic diversity in individuals. Inbred individuals are more likely to live shorter lives, have immune system disorders, have reproductive problems (small litter sizes, higher incidences of infant mortality & reduced sperm motility) and an increased risk of having genetic disorders.
High levels of inbreeding and dog shows seem to go hand in hand. Malachy, the Pekingese that won last year, has a COI of 14.9%. The Best Of Breed Collie last year had a COI of 16.4% AND his sire is both blind and deaf.
The UK Kennel club finally took a stand and banned dogs with a COI of 25% or more from being registered. The Swedish kennel took a stand in 2009. The Finnish Kennel club forbids close matings and discourages grandfather/granddaughter matings. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale recommends a COI of no greater than 6% for common breeds and no more than 10% for rare breeds. It’s time for the AKC to step up to the plate and do something meaningful.
Breeding a dog like Banana Joe isn’t about improving the breed, it’s about the ego of the breeders. It’s about winning ribbons and trophies and simply everyone just dying to be your new best friend. If they are so proud of Banana Joe, why isn’t his pedigree displayed on their website? Dog Fanciers are supposed to be the guardians of their respective breeds and not the cause of their demise. I found it rather hilarious that even after all the yappity yap the commentators made about Westminster being a show case for the only best dog breeders that *really* care about their dogs, the judge picks an inbred mutant with a pushed in face to be the winner. Oh, the irony…
I can’t think of anything more intelligent to say than “eeeeeww” but I really mean it.
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As long as the results of inbreeding produce dogs that become world famous, breeders will continue the practice unfortunately.
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Good point. The onus is on the judges and the kennel clubs. Someone needs to take a stand and stop rewarding this kind of thing.
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You know what I would love to see? The coefficient of Inbreeding next to the dog’s name in the show catalog. That shit would stop right quick.
All for a stinkin’ trophy. You’d think there would be better ways to gain attention than breeding sickly dogs. Why don’t they attempt one of those crazy Guinness records or something and leave poor dogs alone?
Kristine recently posted..Less Wordy Wednesday – Snow Day!
Well, I guess that everyone has their “thing”, don’t they?
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So the question is this: how does he get to win? There is still something very wrong with the standards in place.
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The dog conforms to the standard just perfect. However, there are no standards for genetics.
This is pretty interesting. I guess I don’t know much about dog breeding and pedigrees and all that and didn’t realize that inbreeding was so popular. Wow, can’t believe it.
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Apparently they get a fixed look ,if they breed back to the father.It is my understanding that you never breed back to the mother.When you do you get undesireable traits and health problems.I would prefer the good ole’ non relative, pure strangers for good health.Most of them I would think, are sold to families who want a healthy dog.