Boxer — Spondylosis deformans (hereditary; OMIA-verified breed predisposition)

--- license: permission_granted topic_id: companion_breed_health_boxer_omia1842_dog category: companion-breed-health title: "Boxer — Spondylosis deformans (hereditary; OMIA-verified breed predisposition)" lang: en source: "OMIA (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals, University of Sydney) breed-specific hereditary-disorder record, saved verbatim to source_file; C1 substring-verified. Pulled 2026-08-02 from local OMIA database dump." source_file: pdf-raw/breed-health/boxer_omia1842_1842.txt date_parsed: 2026-08-02 tokens_estimated: 506 verification: method: substring_match claims: 6 passed: 6 date: 2026-08-02 recovered: false path: companion-breed-health/companion_breed_health_boxer_omia1842_dog/01_companion_breed_health_boxer_omia1842_dog.md source_document: "OMIA — Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (University of Sydney)" citation: authority: "OMIA — Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (University of Sydney)" title: "Boxer — Spondylosis deformans (hereditary; OMIA-verified breed predisposition)" url: "https://omia.org/OMIA001132/9615/" retrieved: "2026-08-02" ref: "OMIA breed-specific hereditary-disorder records (omia.org), derived from local OMIA database dump; dataset: https://doi.org/10.25910/2AMR-PV70" doc_type: "academic animal-genetics database (breed-specific disorder entries)" needs_review: false

Boxer — Spondylosis deformans (hereditary; OMIA-verified breed predisposition)

Source: first-hand OMIA (University of Sydney) breed-specific hereditary-disorder record, saved verbatim to source_file; every claim below is a C1 byte-substring of it.

Claims

Breed: Boxer (Dog)
Disorder:
Mode of inheritance: This is a multifactorial disorder. Using radiographic data from 353 offspring of 24 sires in the Boxer breed, Langeland and Lingaas (1995) estimated heritability from half-sib correlation and from offspring-parent regression. For maximum degree of osteophyte development, the estimates were 0.42 and 0.62, respectively. For the number of affected discs, the estimates were 0.47 and 0.13, respectively. The same authors also observed a positive phenotypic correlation between spondylosis deformans and hip dysplasia.
Summary: This is a multifactorial disorder assessed via a radiograph. It appears to be positively correlated to hip dysplasia.
Defect: yes
Control: The intermediate values of heritability indicate that selection against the disorder will be successful in reducing the incidence and severity of the disorder, as judged from radiographs. We cannot be certain that this would be translated into reduced incidence of the clinical signs, but it is likely that this would happen. If the positive phenotypic correlation between this disorder and hip dysplasia (also assessed via a radiograph) is a reflection of a positive genetic correlation, then selection against this disorder will automatically select against hip dysplasia as well, which is good news. However, breeders must realise that in each case, they are selecting on the basis of a radiograph, rather than on clinical signs, and that the genetic parameters (heritabilities, correlations) have been obtained from radiographic data, rather than from clinical signs. Unfortunately, there are still no estimates available of genetic parameters for either spondylosis deformans or hip dysplasia. It must be a fairly safe bet, however, that they would not be too different from those that have been obtained from radiographic data. In the immediate future, we have no option but to make this assumption, and then act on it.

Evidence (references)

Derived from OMIA database dump (omia.xml, local); structured field, not verbatim prose.

1956. Canine and feline spinal osteoarthritis (spondylitis deformans). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association — PubMed:PMID13331829 — OMIA Phene_Article / Article
1995. Spondylosis deformans in the Boxer: Estimates of heritability.. J Small Anim Pract — PubMed:PMID7603058 | DOI:10.1111/j.1748-5827.1995.tb02872.x — OMIA Phene_Article / Article
2004. Prevalence of spondylosis deformans and estimates of genetic parameters for the degree of osteophytes development in Italian Boxer dogs.. J Anim Sci — PubMed:PMID14753351 — OMIA Phene_Article / Article
2019. Spondylosis deformans as an indicator of transport activities in archaeological dogs: A systematic evaluation of current methods for assessing archaeological specimens.. PLoS One — PubMed:PMID30995245 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0214575 — OMIA Phene_Article / Article
2026. Thoracic spondylosis deformans in search-and-rescue dogs.. Am J Vet Res — PubMed:PMID41771257 | DOI:10.2460/ajvr.25.08.0309 — OMIA Phene_Article / Article

Comparative medicine (human OMIM)

Derived from OMIA database dump (omia.xml, local); structured field, not verbatim prose. Links this animal disorder to its human OMIM entry for comparative/translational context.

OMIM:184300 (type: trait) — OMIA Group_OMIM (via OMIA_ID)

Evidence (references)

Derived from OMIA database dump (omia.xml, local); structured field, not verbatim prose.

1956. Canine and feline spinal osteoarthritis (spondylitis deformans). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association — PubMed:PMID13331829 — OMIA Phene_Article / Article
1995. Spondylosis deformans in the Boxer: Estimates of heritability. J Small Anim Pract — PubMed:PMID7603058 | DOI:10.1111/j.1748-5827.1995.tb02872.x — OMIA Phene_Article / Article
2004. Prevalence of spondylosis deformans and estimates of genetic parameters for the degree of osteophytes development in Italian Boxer dogs. J Anim Sci — PubMed:PMID14753351 — OMIA Phene_Article / Article
2019. Spondylosis deformans as an indicator of transport activities in archaeological dogs: A systematic evaluation of current methods for assessing archaeological specimens. PLoS One — PubMed:PMID30995245 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0214575 — OMIA Phene_Article / Article
2026. Thoracic spondylosis deformans in search-and-rescue dogs. Am J Vet Res — PubMed:PMID41771257 | DOI:10.2460/ajvr.25.08.0309 — OMIA Phene_Article / Article

Comparative medicine (human OMIM)

Derived from OMIA database dump (omia.xml, local); structured field, not verbatim prose. Links this animal disorder to its human OMIM entry for comparative/translational context.

OMIM:184300 (type: trait) — OMIA Group_OMIM (via OMIA_ID)