Boxer is first dog to have full genome revealed

• 18:00 07 December 2005
• NewScientist.com news service
• Rowan Hooper

A female boxer dog has provided the DNA for the first complete sequence of the dog genome, putting into the doghouse the patchy, 80% coverage of a poodle called Shadow, published two years ago.

A publicly funded consortium led by Kerstin Lindblad-Toh of the Broad Institute, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, used the shotgun sequencing technique to map the genome of Tasha, an inbred boxer. With this technique the genome is first broken into fragments and the DNA sequence of each determined. Then a computer stitches the fragments back together.

The process must be repeated several times to ensure accuracy, and the new draft is the product of 7.5 repetitions. The genome of Shadow, the poodle owned by gene-entrepreneur Craig Venter, had only 1.5 times coverage. The boxer was chosen as it is highly inbred. That means the difference between its paired chromosomes are smaller, making sequencing easier.

Domestic dogs vary wildly in appearance, yet their genomes are 99.85% similar. The boxer and the poodle, for example, differ by about a single nucleotide change in every 900 bases. “A dog is a dog in a genomic sense,” says Lindblad-Toh.

Cancer, epilepsy and diabetes

Dogs also have more genes in common with humans than do mice, despite splitting from our common ancestor before mice did. So the more detailed coverage will greatly improve our understanding of the genes underlying appearance and some diseases.

“Dogs and humans share many diseases, including cancer, epilepsy and diabetes,” says co-author Elinor Karlsson, also at the Broad Institute. “By directly comparing the disease genes found in dogs to genes in humans, discoveries made in dogs can benefit human medicine.”

As well as Tasha’s genome, the researchers sequenced smaller parts of the genomes from 10 other dog breeds, such as the German shepherd, beagle and Italian greyhound, as well as closely related species, the grey wolf and the coyote. They catalogued some 2.5 million individual DNA differences between breeds.

The greater than 99% coverage of the 2.4 billion letters of Tasha’s genome has also revealed an important twist in our understanding of how natural selection works on DNA. Much of the non-coding DNA in dogs is the same as that in humans, indicating that it is under strong natural selection.

“Hence, non-coding DNA is not just ‘junk’,” says Hans Ellegren, of the department of evolutionary biology at Uppsala University, Sweden. Instead, he says that such sequences may constitute non-coding RNA or may have a regulatory function.

Journal reference: Nature (DOI: 10.1038/nature04338)

Can You Handle a Pet Boxer Dog?

The answer is "no" if you are the type who mostly leave your dog on a chain. Boxers require much of your love, attention and companionship although they are easy to take care of.
One Boxer-lover even said to never get one as pet if you work full time!

Another point to consider is that the costs for food, training, grooming, medical care, toys and other supplies do add up.
Still, for many years now, the Boxer has ranked in the top 10 of favorite purebreds by the American Kennel Club, numbering about 35,000 Boxers registered in 2003.

Boxers Crave Attention
Boxers need constant attention and love to be babied. Treat your Boxer as your best friend and play, play, play with him.
One three-month old Boxer loves her bath more when the owner sings to her. Be it playing, talking or singing to them or taking them for a walk, Boxers simply love the attention.
Shower them with love, affection and attention as well as some treats.

These keep Boxers happy. Left to their own devices, Boxers can become very destructive when lonely, bored and ignored. One is known to jump over 6-footer fences if the owner is gone for too long.
Give extra space when you have to leave Boxers alone over extended period. They don´t like to be locked in a room. One owner gives a 4-year old male Boxer the run of the hall stairs, landing and its own bedroom and the dog is much happier and not destructive at all.
When you have to leave Boxers alone, you better make sure they have a toy they really like or they'll find something to do that you probably really won't like.

Destructive Streak in Boxers
Boxers are too smart and strong for their own good, and if they're bored and undisciplined they can be a disaster in the house.
That is why obedience training is important, in order to prevent the destruction of too many of your belongings. Training makes a happier dog.

The accepted temperament for Boxers rules out aggression, hyperactivity and extreme shyness in the breed. You want to have these under control in your pet.

Experts suggest that, when adopting a Boxer, you should at least check the parent dogs for these undesirable traits before even looking at the puppies.

Aggression
One owner said: "I love my Boxer girl, but she can be a terror sometimes and could get really hyper to where she´d attack us. I'd hate to think what all she'd get into without any training at all!"
By the way, there are more accounts, from owners, of aggression among their female Boxers, especially towards other female.

Hyperactive
Boxers have high play drive and they need their exercise or they´d get excitable and destructive.

Play, play and play with them. Give them extra space especially when you have to leave them alone for long period. Tire them out with long walks and play sessions but within a fenced area or on a leash.
When going for their walks, opt for body harness if you have a Boxer that pulls or strays.

Harness is the answer to the Boxer slipping out of the collar. The chain-harness combo looks good as well as trains the Boxer to walk without pulling or straying.

Extreme shyness (not to be mistaken with independence)
It's critical to socialize your Boxers. When they are still puppies, take them to public places like a pet store so they won´t be so shy.
Begin training in an area that is familiar to your Boxer, where there is minimum distraction. Once both of you are skilled at several obedience commands, take him to practice at different areas with increasing amount of distractions present.

This may seems like starting all over again, but it's worth the effort. One family took theirs to the local mini-mart and practiced obedience training right outside, where there were distractions from people.

"Strangers came over and petted him and gave him treats. He met all kinds of people and learned to follow commands despite the distractions, and is a better dog today."

About the Author

For more information about boxer dogs visit: http://www.dog-owner.net

Amy Howells

Boxers have been traced to exist for over a hundred years now. They are said to have originated from Germany as the crossbreed between the Brabanter Bullenbesser (from Belgium) and the English Bulldog. Boxer dogs are known for their intelligence, hardiness, loyalty and its being family-oriented which makes it a great family pet. It is often commented that a family with a boxer is one that is filled with laughter and joy.

Boxer dogs have the natural tendency for learning new things and mental stimulation. It is widely recognized that bored boxer dogs make bad dogs. They need to be constantly trained, just like with other dogs.

Contrary to popular beliefs, boxer dogs are not guard dogs, they can be excellent watchdogs though as they will bark at any strangers if need be. However, they don't like isolation and are not naturally aggressive or viscous. Actually, the majority of boxers are known to not stand a time separated from their owners. They need continuous interaction with the family and are very affectionate to their owners. In fact, one of the most difficult training exercise for this breed is not to attack their own owners.

Because of their sturdiness and other "strong" physical features, they are mostly trained to become guard dogs. Sadly, many are left into abandonment due to their owner's dissatisfactions. In actuality, they cannot be easily trained for attack and they are abused for such.

Boxer dogs are overwhelmingly playful. On a poll survey conducted, dog owners described boxers as clowns, contradicting the aggressive portrayal widely accepted today. They are exuberant from day one to their senior years. Boxer dogs is an entertaining breed and always have the knack for making unique tricks like the "kidney beaning" and the "woo-woo". These two are often manifested when they are excited or overly happy (which is true in most cases).

Kidney beaning is a dance, which is characterized with a semi-circle turn then a turn for a full circle. On the other hand, "woo-woo" is a distinct sound they made which appeals like a bark but is actually not.

Boxer dogs have the personality that is unique in their breed, but this does not apply with all dog owners. They need to be constantly fed with physical and mental exercises to spend their high resource of body energies and add to it the attention they require. Boxer dogs are not known of sleeping the whole day away or go off 0on their own. If they are not sufficiently exercised, they may be very destructive, this they do to amuse themselves. For at least twice a day, they must be exercised or jogged.

One good way of providing worthwhile activities for boxer dogs is the obedience training. In fact, it is a must for all owners of this breed but to be sure, obedience training is both a win-win situation for both the owner and the dogs.

During training, it is not unusual to see stubborn boxers. Due to their intelligence, they tend not to listen to commands given to them. But above this, they are quick to learn and are eager for further learning.

A Boxer dog is an outdoor pet, nor can it tolerate extreme weather conditions. They have short coat and a short nasal cavity; both are not apt for cold weather and hot weather respectively. Additionally, these are lap dogs however large they get.

A boxer dog with chronic hypertrophic gastritis resembling Menetrier's disease in man

I. van der Gaag, R. P. Happe and W. T. Wolvekamp

Chronic hypertrophic gastritis in a 7-year-old Boxer dog is described. This gastritis resembles Menetrier's disease in man. The dog was emaciated, lethargic, vomiting and had a poor appetite over a 4-month period. There was anaemia, and the blood smear was characterized by hypochromasia, strong anisoplania and striking poikilocytosis. There was a protein loss and at a later stage of the disease, a hypoalbuminaemia. On gastroscopic examination the plicae gastricae were numerous and strongly marked; moreover, they were granulated with numerous small haemorrhages. Radiographically, the stomach had a marked folding, primarily at the greater curvature. The passage of contrast medium from the stomach into the duodenum was strongly retarded. The pathological findings included macroscopical folding caused by local gland cell hyperplasia in the body as well as the pylorus, foveolar hyperplasia and, in the fundus and in the corpus near the greater curvature, folding of the muscularis mucosae and the submucosa. A superficial gastritis was found particularly in the fundus and corpus, whereas the pyloric antrum showed a more diffuse inflammation.

Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy Causing Sudden Cardiac Death in Boxer Dogs. A New Animal Model of Human Disease

From the Institute of Pathology, University of Padua Medical School, Padua, Italy (C.B., F.C., G.T.); Caspary Research Institute of the Animal Medical Center, New York, NY (P.R.F.); the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Columbus (K.M.M., A.W.S.); the Department of Pediatrics (Cardiology), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex (J.A.T.); and the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, Minneapolis, Minn (B.J.M.).

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: philip.fox@amcny.org .

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