This page will attempt to explain the origins and genetics of the Azawakh and help you to use the Azawakh Database site and its analytical functions.
When analysing a pedigree one can only take a single calculation into consideration. It is necessary for this to cover inbreeding as well as analysis of the proportion of foundation dogs.
The inbreeding coefficient (inbreeding) is an indicative item, although it only has meaning if one knows over how many generations it has been calculated. One can very well have 0% inbreeding over 3 generations, when ancestors may all be different although all cousins or brothers and sisters coming from the same original dogs. This 0% value will absolutely not therefore reflect the dog's genetic reality. When we compare pedigrees, we must always work out over how many generations the inbreeding coefficient is calculated. In the Database, the coefficient corresponds by default to the number of generations displayed, you can simply click on "inbreeding" to see the coefficient across all of the dog's known generations.
The inbreeding coefficient is a measurement of the proportion of homozygous loci due to the familial relationship between a dog's parents. In other words, it is the percentage of probability that a particular locus is homozygous through the relationship between its parents. Therefore "100%" would mean that the dog is homozygous for every locus. This means that for each gene inherited from its mother, an identical gene is also inherited from its father. This happens when the father and mother are closely related or twins. An inbreeding coefficient of 0% means that no locus is homozygous because the father and mother are not related.
Some values of the inbreeding coefficient:
When a dog is crossed with its brother/sister: 25 %
When a dog is crossed with its father/mother: 25 %
When a dog is crossed with its half-brother/half-sister: 12.5 %
When a dog is crossed with its grandfather/grandmother: 12.5 %
When a dog is crossed with a cousin: 6.25 %
The coefficient should increase by less than 0.25 to 0.5 points per generation. If this increase is higher, a threat of health problems due to inbreeding weighs on the population under consideration. It can take several generations before such problems are obvious, but when they appear, they are very difficult to eliminate from the line. Vigilance is essential since one very quickly loses the benefit of an introduction of "new blood" when bringing in new blood on old lines during subsequent generations. It is therefore preferable to introduce new blood or lines containing new blood on a regular basis in order to maintain an acceptable level of inbreeding.
The analysis of "Foundation" (foundation)corresponds to the percentage of genetic input from each of the foundation (original) dogs in the genetics of the dog being analysed. A foundation dog is considered to be a dog the origins of which are unknown, or a dog imported from Africa (or living in Africa when several of its descendants have been used in the breeding line).
Foundation dogs are listed in the following table:
So-called “French” line |
So-called “Yugoslav” line" |
Russia |
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Toboro II (Parigi) (Mali) |
Ileli (Chaventré) (Mali) It seems that there are no longer any of these descendants in current lines |
Gao (Mali) |
Attar (Mali) |
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Other later Imports from Africa (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger) only partially used in reproduction |
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France |
Germany |
Other countries |
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1980 to 1990 |
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B'Kleine Drei |
Mali |
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1990 to 2000 |
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Néférou |
Abarut Ag Tin Akouf |
Taikoussou (Burkina) |
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after 2000 |
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T'Ramsès |
Chaydara |
Django (Italy) |
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- The higher the % of a foundation dog in a pedigree with many generations, the greater the homozygocity on the genes that it has transmitted (good and bad).
- The lower the number of foundation dogs over several generations, the lower the genetic diversity and genetic vigour in the dog's genotype.
Examples of high inbreeding
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| - In pedigree 1, the inbreeding is such that it greatly exceeds a brother/sister or father/daughter mating. The 3 foundation dogs at the head of the list represent 60% of the dog's genetic capital. The risks of genetic defects and health or temperament problems. - Pedigree 2 is almost equivalent to a brother/sister mating. - Pedigree 3 is relatively similar to 2 with a higher % for Toboro II. Remark : These pedigrees are the result of 20 years or more of inbreeding on the same dogs. |
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- Pedigree 4 is a half-brother / half-sister litter were both parents are already inbred on C'Babasch who is 36% of the genetics here, so that the inbreeding is over 20%, much higher than a half brother-sister mating. |
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Litters presenting genetic defects
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In these examples, it is evident that the genetic percentage with regard to Toboro II is very high. In pedigree 5, it is shown 7 times in the father's origins and 17 times in its mother's origins, and over 9 generations! In addition, the 3 most represented foundation dogs accumulate 50% or more of the genetic capital. Across 9 generations, all the dogs are descended from only 12 or 13 dogs of different origins! One cannot deduce from such analyses that Toboro II is more to blame for genetic problems than the other ancestors, although the fact of having, many times over, used the same dogs in the pedigrees of both parents can only increase the risk seeing the appearance of recessive defects carried by them, which had until then been contained.
Examples in dogs produced from matings with a new import and a half-import
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It is however still necessary to juxtapose these results to the inbreeding coefficients and to the number of known generations. For a foundation dog representing 50% (pedigrees 7 and 8), when the inbreeding coefficient is 0%, means that we have here a mating with a new import. This dog and its unknown ancestors represent 50% of the genetic capital, all the rest has been transmitted by the other parent. There is no inbreeding but an increase in genetic diversity associated with a greater genetic vigour.
This pedigree, with a low inbreeding coefficient, is the result of 2 half-imports. The imports represent 50% new blood, considerably bringing down the % of the original dogs in the two French and Yugoslav lines. |
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Examples in dogs produced from matings with new imports over several generations
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Here, four new dogs in the origins (in 3rd and 4th generations for pedigree 10) have made it possible to bring the inbreeding coefficients down to insignificant levels with a balanced distribution of foundation dogs. We also therefore have pedigrees that are not inbred.
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Here, we can see that the foundation dogs of the French and Yugoslav lines are absent. This would, for example, be a good out-cross pedigree (outside of inbreeding) to be used for mating with a classic French pedigree. |
It is possible to analyse a mating envisaged between two dogs that are present in the Database. This helps to reinforce or rethink a planned litter. All one needs to do is display the pedigree (of a bitch, for example) and then add a partner using the “test mate” function. A new pedigree is then displayed showing half of the generations as blanks. A partner of the opposite sex can then be inserted (dog 2) by clicking on "add" to select the chosen partner. The pedigree for the planned litter is then created. All one then has to do, as is usual, is to consult the genetic analyses of such a mating.
Other functions in the database:
"Offspring": all offspring from this dog, listed by partner.
"Reverse": a sort of reversed pedigree showing all the offspring of a dog displayed in the browser.
"Photos": photos of the dog if available.
Corine Lundqvist
English Translation by Susan Bamford