The Popular Sire Syndrome in Dogs

Popular sires in dog breeding, while initially seen as beneficial for breed diversity, are now recognized as a major contributor to the spread of genetic diseases. The podcast explains that the high number of offspring from these popular sires increases the frequency of recessive mutations in the population, leading to a higher probability of producing dogs with inherited disorders in subsequent generations. This problem is not solved by DNA testing because we can only test for muations we know about, but there are many lurking in the gene pool that we don't know about. The resulting rise in breed-specific genetic diseases is detrimental to breed health and highlights the need for responsible breeding practices to mitigate the negative effects of popular sires. Restricting the number of offspring per sire is suggested as a potential solution, although enforcement challenges remain.

More resources - blog post: https://www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/the-pox-of-popular-sires.html