When you pick a purebred, you're buying it for its prize-winning look or maybe because it's a good hunter. Or because of it's sweet disposition. Those traits aren't accidents. They've been selected and bred into dogs over the years. But genetic diseases, like stowaways hiding in the good luggage, have been passed on too.
Every breed is known for some primary medical malady.
German shepherds get hip dysplasia and Dalmatians are prone to deafness. Boxers might get cancer and beagles, vizslas and Springer spaniels get epilepsy. At the university's vet school, they had a lofty idea. Simply put, they wanted to build a better dog. The doctors decided to focus on epilepsy.