The Kennel Club has approved an official DNA test reporting scheme for leukoencephalomyelopathy (LEMP), an inherited neurological disorder in Rottweilers.
LEMP affects the white matter of a dog’s central nervous system and usually appears between the ages of one and four.
Symptoms include problems walking, an inability to walk in a straight line, and spontaneous knuckling and dragging of the paws. Affected dogs become increasingly immobile over a few months with a rapidly decreasing quality of life.
Dogs tested for this autosomal-recessive condition will be recorded on the Kennel Club systems as clear, a carrier, or affected.
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