When generating the OpenAPI schema, properties with JSDoc comments that are not simple types will create invalid JSON.
Code:

OpenAPI JSON:
"DogResponse": {
"properties": {
"currentMembership": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/MembershipResponse",
"description": "The current active membership of the dog."
}
}
}
$refs cannot have other properties. So the description is overwritten.
If you had several properties sharing the same type, this will cause ambiguity e.g. currentMembership pastMembership
the correct output should be:
"DogResponse": {
"properties": {
"currentMembership": {
"allOf":[
{
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/MembershipResponse",
}
],
"description": "The current active membership of the dog."
}
}
}