Veterinary session

The Hungarian Kuvasz Breed Care Association (MKFE) launched the Breeding Planning Online Search System (FEDO.HU) in 2020 in cooperation with the Hungarian Association of National Associations of Dog Breeders (MEOESZ) and the Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics of the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest (ÁTE-ÁTLT), to help prevent the increase of inbreeding in this indigenous breed (OGY Decision 32/2004 (IV.19.)). The idea for the system was inspired by the online service of the English Kennel Club - Mate Select, which is no longer freely available since 2020.

Today, the breeding objective for purebred pet dogs is not profitability but almost exclusively "good looks". Genetic diseases have proliferated because of this and inbreeding for at least a hundred years, often rendering our dogs unfit for their original breeding purpose.

We try to help breeders avoid this in the Kuvasz breed. For the litter planned from the selected breeding pair, the inbreeding coefficient (COI) determined from the pedigree data using a graph theoretic method is calculated by the FEDO.HU system. At the decision of the breeders' association, the calculated COI of the breeding animals must not be higher than the average COI of the association's living stock.

The results of the first two years of live operation of the FEDO.HU system was examined in my thesis.

The total number of animals registered in the system is 8201. Since its launch, the system has been used for 17198 tests. The initial average COI of the breeders' association's livestock was 5.36% in 2021, which has now been reduced to 5.07%. The highest new COI recorded was 9.83%.

Our experience has shown that non-professional dog breeders and hobby breeders can be easily persuaded to produce healthy litters with low COI, as they do not need to be convinced of the inappropriateness of inbreeding. The task is much more difficult for those who grow litter for a living because decades of faulty practice and often financial interest make it difficult to change their attitude toward increasing.