Many purebred dogs exhibit a higher prevalence of inherited diseases
compared with non-purebred dogs. One of the most popular breeds in the
UK is the Labrador Retriever, which has a high prevalence of hip dysplasia
resulting in high costs for surgical operations and impaired animal welfare.
Considering the many complications of highly managed populations,
mainly due to breeder’s conventions and the resulting population structure,
is of great importance for the proper development of a strategy
against the disease. In this study, we have compared the utilities and performances
of both genomic and phenotypic selection against hip dysplasia
in a simulated population with the characteristics of the British Veterinary
Association and Kennel Club (BVA/KC) hip dysplasia scheme. The results
confirm the potential benefits of genomic selection by showing a moderate
increase of 1.15-fold (assuming a realistic accuracy of r2 = 0.5)
in response to selection due to the higher accuracy (between 0.96- and
1.32-fold, considering 0.35 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.7) and more than a threefold
increase when all the offspring in each litter are tested (between 3.25- and
4.55-fold, again considering 0.35 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.7).