Clinical and genetic investigations of idiopathic epilepsy in the Bernese mountain dog

A study was conducted to investigate the clinical aspects and to define the mode of inheritance of idiopathic epilepsy in the Bernese mountain dog. Pedigree analyses were carried out on an open, non‐preselected population of 4005 dogs. Five different subpopulations with 50 epileptic dogs from 13 generations were included. Almost ail epileptic patients showed generalised seizures of the grand‐mal type with a well‐defined prodromal and postictal phase. The majority (62 per cent) of the epileptic dogs had had their first seizures at between one and three years of age and it was found that the age at first seizure was significantly (P