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BACKGROUND There is accumulating evidence in studies of allergic diseases in humans and dogs that environmental experiences during the first months of life can influence the development of allergic disease. No prospective study has evaluated this in veterinary medicine. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES To assess early-life risk factors for canine atopic dermatitis (cAD) and estimate its heritability. ANIMALS A West Highland white terrier birth cohort (n = 107) followed up to three years of age recording the development of cAD. METHODS AND MATERIALS The effect of environmental factors [house dust mites (HDM), hygiene, feeding, lifestyle] and early-life determinants [breeder, mode of delivery, birth season, sex, litter size, early-life immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels] were assessed, using Stata SE 15.1 statistical analysis. Heritabilities were estimated using the R program packages MCMCglmm and QGglmm. RESULTS Maternal allergic status [P = 0.013, odds ratio (OR 3.3)], male sex (P = 0.06), mode of delivery (P = 0.12), breeder (P = 0.06), presence of HDM (P = 0.11) and environmental hygiene level (P = 0.15) were identified as possible influence factors by bivariate analyses. In the multivariate analysis the male sex was significantly associated with the development of cAD in the offspring (P = 0.03, OR 2.4). The heritabilities on the observed scale were 0.31 (direct), 0.04 (maternal genetic effects) and 0.03 (maternal permanent environmental effects). CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE These results suggest that several environmental factors could influence the development of cAD but clearly demonstrate the genetic influence of the individual and the dam. Further studies are needed to identify specific environmental factors, which could be potential targets for primary disease intervention.

Additional file 5. Descriptive statistics of variables.

Additional file 7. Animal model of the birth weight in Labrador Retrievers using MTDFREML.

Additional file 3. Estimation of the dominance and sex-linked genetic variance components.

Additional file 6. Statistical Analyses of the birth weight in Labrador Retrievers using Stata.

Additional file 1. Effects of covariates.

Additional file 2. Sex-specific bivariate analyses of male and female PWB.

Presenting descriptive statistics for all variables in the analyses. (DOCX 27 kb)

Presenting the model development for the analysis of EOW. (DOCX 531 kb)

Displaying for Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 the predicted probabilities for the EOW outcomes, together with the P-values for the tests of predicted probabilities being different from zero. (DOCX 31 kb)

Die gesteigerte Nachfrage nach gesunden tierischen Produkten bei knapper werdenden Ressourcen und zunehmendem ökonomischem und ökologischem Druck, wird als eine der grossen Herausforderungen für die Tierproduktion der nächsten Jahrzehnte angesehen. Tierzucht- und Genetikforschung sind auch in der Schweiz gefordert ihren Beitrag zu leisten. Das selektive Anpaaren von Elterntieren stellt einen entscheidenden Schritt ganz am Anfang der Produktionskette dar. Technischer Fortschritt im Bereich der Genomanalyse und der Datenverarbeitung erlaubt heute die direkte genetische Bewertung von Nutztieren auf Basis von Markergenen. Genetische Erkenntnisse vertiefen unser Wissen über die Biologie der Tiere und des Menschen, auch im Dienste der Ernährungswirtschaft. Technischer Fortschritt hat Konsequenzen: U.a. gilt es die genetische Vielfalt innerhalb und zwischen Nutztierrassen aus Gründen der Nachhaltigkeit zu erhalten (Zuchtfortschritt, Inzucht, Krankheitstoleranz, Erbfehler, Leistungsbereitschaft, Fruchtbarkeit, Anpassungsfähigkeit). Der vorliegende Beitrag präsentiert aktuelle Beispiele aus dem Bereich der Tierzuchtforschung in der Schweiz.