Breed Population Studies

1. Icelandic Sheepdog

• History and structure of the closed pedigreed population of Icelandic Sheepdogs

Abstract
Background: Dog breeds lose genetic diversity because of high selection pressure. Breeding
policies aim to minimize kinship and therefore maintain genetic diversity. However, policies like
mean kinship and optimal contributions, might be impractical. Cluster analysis of kinship can
elucidate the population structure, since this method divides the population in clusters of related
individuals. Kinship-based analyses have been carried out on the entire Icelandic Sheepdog
population, a sheep-herding breed.