The DDP is moving!
Thanks to your generous support and donations over the past 5 years, we are now able to enter a new phase for The Doberman Diversity Project. This marks the beginning of incredible innovation, and we're so excited to continue improving Dobermans together!

Over the past five years, we have recruited over 3,000 Dobermans, allowing us to form new relationships with research partners. These partners are now researching the biggest challenges of Doberman health, including one of our worst killers - Dilated Cardiomyopathy.
And now, we finally have the opportunity to make breeding tools for reducing DCM risk, cancer risk, improving behavioral outcomes - RIGHT NOW!
WHAT IS CHANGINGWith your exclusive permission, the Doberman Diversity Project is migrating data to the International Working Dog Research Consortium. The IWDR is a non-profit organization devoted to improving the breeding and rearing of working dogs through education and supplying next-generation breeding tools. They are connected with the most progressive canine scientists in the world and will continue to support critically important dog / breeding research
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WHY?To beat debilitating diseases like Doberman DCM and cancers, we need better breeding. To accomplish this with complex diseases, we must use Estimated Breeding Values. EBVs are the most effective selection tools for complex traits, like reducing DCM. And we can now make this dream a reality! IWDR has helped guide dog organizations create, use, and publish research on Estimated Breeding Values in their dogs, and the results are astounding! Now, with their partnership and your support, we can breed better RIGHT NOW
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HOW WE WILL SUCCEEDWhether you have enrolled 50 Dobermans or none at all, this new partnership is open to you!
We heard your stories and appreciated your generosity. In the past, we could not include any of your dogs that had not been DNA tested - a huge loss! Now, when you submit data to the IWDR, ALL your dogs' data (living, dead, DNA-tested, or not) will be used to inform and improve the breeding tools! The possibilities are limitless |
Did you know? Through EBVs, German Shepherds improved their hip scores from only 37% OFA Excellent to 93% OFA Excellent in 8 generations |
The best part is that we can use ALL of your dogs: living, dead, DNA-tested or not. We are not limited by DNA tests.... or time!
What is the iwdr?
The International Working Dog Research Consortium is a non-profit organization devoted to improving the breeding and rearing of working dogs such as guide dogs and dogs in law enforcement. They offer resources that expand upon various aspects of the working dog industry, including breeding, health and genetics, environmental and technological advances, working dog behaviors, puppy socialization and breeding program and organizational management. Why are you partnering with iwdr?
Our goal has always been to improve this incredible breed by better understanding the causes of Doberman health/disease and creating tools for breeders and owners to avoid or reduce risks. For too long, breeders and owners have demanded for these tools and nobody created them. Why? Because these tools are expensive, require a ton of data, and it was too hard to pool everything together. Until now! Through IWDR, we can finally create "Estimated Breeding Values", which will allow breeders to directly assess the riskiness of a breeding pair for virtually ANY quantifiable trait including: DCM, cancer, undesirable fear, and other heritable health or behavior traits! i already enrolled with ddp. Am I automatically part of iwdr?
No. To become part of IWDR, you need to agree to data migration and start fresh with IWDR. Do i need to pay to join iwdr?
Through our special partnership with IWDR, approved users affiliated with Doberman Diversity Project will be given complimentary free access to IWDR. This means that approved users will be allowed to input all their owned dogs' data, use whatever EBVs are created, and be a part of new research Why does ddp need to move?
Don't worry! We are still here. Everything you have given us will stay with us and we will continue to partner with other researchers. What we are doing is migrating all the important data tracking, breeding tool creation, and maintenance over to IWDR so that they can create functional breeding tools for you to use NOW. This is the critical missing piece for better Doberman breeding and more informed Doberman owners. Do i need to dna test my dog to join iwdr?
NO! This is the brilliance of our move! Any dog that you have owned - DNA tested or not, living, or dead - can be included in IWDR's calculations for breeding tools. The more dogs we have, the better! Now, you can finally add all those healthy dogs from 30 years ago who lived well into their teens. Their data MATTERS! |