Genomic Risk for Severe Canine Compulsive Disorder, a Dog Model of Human OCD

Dogs naturally suffer the same complex diseases as humans, including mental illness. The dog is uniquely suited as a model organism to explore the genetics of neuropsychiatric disorders. Historical breed demographics have enriched purebred populations for founder effect mutations with tractable architectures, making genotypic analyses advantageous. Over a pet’s lifetime, owners observe the animal’s stress tolerance, arousal, and anxiety, and can inform on rich behavioral profiles for phenotypic analyses. Here we leverage these strengths in a search for inherited fac-tors that exacerbate canine compulsive disorder (CCD), the dog counterpart to human obsesssive compulsive disorder (OCD). Our rationale is that identifying pathways that predispose to disease severity will expand therapeutic options, and ultimately bring relief to those patients suffering the most. We have performed a Genomic Risk for Severe Canine Compulsive Disorder, a Dog Model of Human OCD Nicholas H. Dodman1*