Posts by Laura Reeves
462 – Talk ON! Juniors and Canine Partners
Talk ON! Juniors and Canine Partners
Morris, Laura’s 4-H project dog — a mixed breed of Beagle, Dachshund, Cocker, Lhasa, Poodle heritage. The dog without which, I wouldn’t be here today.
As part of Pure Dog Talk’s commitment to engaging conversations, modeling appropriate dialogue and encouraging thoughtful discussion, we are bringing you two sides of the currently white-hot topic in the dog world: AKC’s pilot program to allow junior handlers to exhibit Canine Partners in Junior Showmanship classes.
From Dog News:
At its January meeting, the American Kennel Club board of directors green-lighted a proposal from the Delegate Junior Sub-Committee and AKC staff to allow non-purebreds to be exhibited in Junior Showmanship.
The AKC pilot program is modeled after the rules used in 4-H, where mixed breeds are permitted. In order to compete, dogs must have an AKC Canine Partner number and meet the ownership eligibility criteria. Juniors will indicate the breed that the dog is being exhibited as on the entry form. So, for example, a dog entered as a Golden Retriever mix would be presented in the same way as a purebred Golden.
The rationale for allowing mixed breeds in Junior Showmanship is to provide an opportunity for a wider range of youngsters to participate in the sport of dogs, and give them an opportunity to learn, practice and improve their handling skills, as well as find mentors.
This pilot program will go into effect on July 1, 2021, and continue for 18 months before it is assessed in 2022. It is limited to all-breed shows or events holding all-breed Juniors.
Predictably, this topic has engendered heated discussion amongst the children and adults who populate this arena. Sadly, many of those conversations have devolved into the 21st century curse of ugly discourse.
As an antidote to this, we’re bringing you two weeks of conversation, devil’s advocate positions and insight from two perspectives in this debate. Listeners may or may not agree with one “side” or the other. But I firmly believe that until we *hear* one another, we can’t make progress … in anything.
Feel free to share your thoughts on the Pure Dog Talk FB page, or here in the comments. But rest assured, ANY ugliness, name calling or other inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated. Be passionate AND polite.
Today, Jody Davidson, long time Juniors coach and advocate, along with Bevin Towell, junior showmanship exhibitor, join host and moderator Laura Reeves to make the case for their position.
Next week we are joined by 4H leader and advocate Sarah Gardner for the “rebuttal.”
As always, talk ON!
461 — Genetic Ancestry – Deep Dive on Genetic Testing
Genetic Ancestry – Deep Dive on Genetic Testing
Aaron Sams, the principal scientist at Embark, joins host Laura Reeves to take us through the algorithms and data sets that create the genetic codes for each purebred dog breed.
“Dog population and dog evolutionary history is really complex,” Sams noted. “There’s a lot of dogs in the world and most of them are what we call village dogs. They are just free-breeding free-ranging dogs that live with human populations … then you have some of these ancient breeds … salukis and other what I think of as landrace breeds, these are dogs that are living with humans, they are purpose bred, they’re adapted to the region in which they live… Then you’ve got the purebred dog breeds that we are most familiar with in Europe and America.
“A registration organization decides these are the standards, this is what this dog has to conform to to be a registered purebred of this breed. But genetic variation is a lot more complex. Within each of those breeds, there are genetic variation across those dogs. They’re not clones of each other. They’re not genetically identical. A lot of breeds are related to each other.
“So it’s all pretty complex. How do you do ancestry testing and decide, given some random dog, what ancestry is the best fit for that dog? What’s our best estimate of the ancestry of that dog? So rather than thinking of it from a single reference genome, we have to think about it as a population. We have a reference database with large numbers of individuals that serve as references for that given population.
“What we’re trying to do is capture as much of that genetic diversity that represents that population as we can, so that anytime we take a new dog and we compare it to those reference individuals we can see that this dog shares DNA that’s very, very similar to those reference individuals.
“There’s different levels of genetic diversity in each of these populations. If you have a very inbred breed that doesn’t have very much genetic diversity, you might need a smaller number of individuals to capture the genetic diversity for that entire population. The more individuals you add to your reference, the more accurate you’re going to get, the more you can match those individuals that you’re testing identically.
“Let’s say you send one of your dogs in and we say it’s around 90% German wirehaired pointer and 10% English pointer … that happens. Those are very closely related breeds. Sometimes you have lineages of that breed that we don’t have in our reference database. So sometimes you’ll see that kind of thing happen. But a year later, you come back and we’ve added more registered German wirehaired pointers. Now we have dogs in our reference data set that are actually better matched for that DNA … Over time these things are going to change.
“If you take a frozen semen sample from several generations ago, say 5-6 generations in the past, then you bring that forward and you breed a dog with that frozen semen sample. If there was more outcrossing or the breed was still kind of information (when that dog was alive), there’s definitely a good chance that if we now have a very well-established reference data set for that breed, that you bring that genetic diversity forward, it may not actually be present in most dogs in that breed today. Now you’ve got ancestry or DNA from earlier in the population that’s maybe been lost over time and you’re reproducing it … if we don’t have that in our reference data set for that breed it’s going to be called as something else….”
For more on this absolutely fascinating deep dive on genetic ancestry DNA testing, listen to the podcast episode above.
460 — New Airline Regulations on Service Dogs
New Airline Regulations on Service Dogs
“All dogs are therapy dogs, most just freelance.”
Sarah Howard, educator and advocate for people with disabilities, joins host Laura Reeves to discuss the new airline regulations regarding service animals and why this is a big deal and why breaking those rules causes harm.
Members of the public and even dog people have taken advantage of the service dog regulations in the past in order to bring dogs on board rather than ship them. PHA, AKC registered handler and AKC government relations all have strong policies against this.
“I think that too often we get wrapped up in what’s important to us and lose sight of what our responsibility is to one another,” Howard said. “At the end of the day, it’s about equity. It’s about everyone having the same opportunity to enjoy things. So I think when people look at this topic, they misunderstand it. They’re defensive and they’re worried about what’s going to happen to them, instead of thinking if that were me, I want to be treated and have the same opportunities as everyone else.
“Looking at the new guidance that the Department of Transportation has offered, you wanted the big overview, dare I say the view from 31,000 feet. So looking at it, it really tries to address the issues that keep coming up. The big takeaway is that ESA’s, emotional support animals, can be viewed by the airlines as pets. That service dogs and service dog handlers, people with disabilities, have certain rights and responsibilities. ESA’s are not service dogs, therefore they can be treated like pets.
“Another added benefit to the new forms is they, at the very top of the form, say this is a federal document. If you misrepresent yourself and this animal there are consequences and repercussions. It does make it clear there will be punitive consequences
“When we think of service dogs, the most important thing for people to remember is this is a civil right. This is a legal guarantee that all people will have the same opportunities regardless of their identity and their circumstances.
“A service dog is trained to do a task for the handler at the end of the leash. Any dog breed individually trained to do work or perform tasks. We mentioned that work would be the thing that a guide dog does. It’s a whole sequence of activities, as opposed to a task, which is usually something you ask the dog to do. It must be for the benefit of the individual with a disability in order to qualify. You have to have a disability. That’s why we mentioned that it’s a right. It’s for people that need it. It can be any type of disability and it can be almost any task which mitigates an aspect of the individual’s disability. The task that a dog does must be related to the disability.
“I think something that we can do in our dog community is have some positive social pressure. We already know it is not cool to not pick up your poop when your dog does it, it should be equally as understood that you don’t lie about this. It is too important. People had to fight for these rights. These were not just handed to us. And to abuse them is just not acceptable.”
459 – Eurasiers: “Floofy,” quiet, mellow companions
Eurasiers: “Floofy,” quiet, mellow companions
Pure Dog Talk listener Marissa Armstrong shares her passion for Eurasiers with host Laura Reeves.
Developed in the 1960s in Germany, the Eurasier is a Spitz type breed with a double coat, a calm demeanor and a tendency to not bark. They are recognized in Canada, FCI and in the FSS by the AKC.
“I do love the fur,” said Armstrong, who acquired her first Eurasier in 2012 and is the secretary for the Eurasier Club of Canada. “That’s the big thing. They’ve got these beautiful coats. I always liked the spitz breeds but one of the things I don’t like about most of the spitz breeds and the Pomeranian is the barking dogs. The bark bark bark bark bark that just drives me nuts.
“So, I was looking at like the Samoyed and the Keeshond (but) they bark. A lot. (Eurasiers) don’t bark. I mean if someone’s at the door they bark a couple times, or like the deer that were outside of my door this morning, they might bark. But they really don’t bark very much. Once or twice and that’s it and it’s like a low bark it’s not that shrieky spitz bark.
“They’re a great breed for people that like the little bit primitive looking (breeds) but maybe can’t handle some of the more working type breeds or the truly primitive breeds. They don’t have the time or maybe experience of meeting the needs of those kind of breeds… the sharper temperament in the more super aloof breeds… so a lot of people really like the Huskies you know after ‘Game of Thrones’ and everything … but a lot of those people that like the sort of look but maybe want a more beginner friendly dog, the Eurasier is good choice.
“They do need socialization, specifically. They can be a bit reserved with people but it’s not like they’re going to be aggressive or anything. Basically, they’re hard to mess up too badly. I think they can be a good breed for people that are looking for that sort of (aloof) temperament but not quite there.
“This breed definitely needs their people to be around … You don’t have to not work and just look at your Eurasier all day, but if you’re out working an 8-hour day, you have to be dedicated to say ‘OK my day is over. I need to go do something with my dog’ and give them that attention. That is their purpose.
“They’re a companion breed even though they’re in working group up here (in Canada). They want to be with their people. It’s actually in their breed standard that they must have lots of close contact with their people in order to have the correct temperament and behavior. Obviously, if you don’t like vacuuming, this is probably not the breed for you. I have a vacuum on each floor at this point.”
To learn more, listen to today’s episode and visit any of the following links.
Eurasier Club of Canada: http://eurasiers.ca/
United States Eurasier Club: https://www.useurasierclub.org/
Breed standard (CKC): https://www.ckc.ca/CanadianKennelClub/media/Breed-Standards/Group%203/Eurasier.pdf
458 — Dog Breeding: Back to Basics with Dr. Marty Greer
Dog Breeding: Back to Basics with Dr. Marty Greer
Dr. Marty Greer joins host Laura Reeves for a review of breeding basics for our bitches. How old? How often? How many Csections? What about an oops? We start with these basic questions and detour into deep dives on critical micronutrients, breed specific cysts, what dog bodies are most difficult for abdominal surgeries and much more of the fascinating exploration of knowledge with one of the country’s pre-eminent canine reproductive specialists.
At what age should I breed my bitch for the first time?
That depends on the breed. If it’s a breed that needs to have hips X rayed after the age of two, then after the age of two is appropriate. A lot of people want to wait until the bitches are older, either because they want to see what kind of health problems they have or the bitch may have a career… when we start to see people breeding when (the bitch is) six or seven years old for the first time, we struggle a lot with fertility. So my recommendation is to not wait too long. If you have a breed that you can do hips early on or don’t need to do hips or you don’t worry about seizures when they are five, then breeding young is fine.
I like to breed young bitches with a shiny pink healthy new unused straight off the showroom floor kind of not beat up and bedraggled when she’s seven years old and now you want to use this really valuable frozen semen. Please don’t do that. The higher the stress of the semen, like frozen and fresh chilled, the younger and more fertile the bitch needs to be. We can’t have a subfertile male and a subfertile female and expect to have a good outcome.
I don’t like breeding on the first heat cycle for a couple of reasons. One is they tend not to be a fertile cycle. Two is the bitch tends not to be mature emotionally or psychologically. And three is she tends not to be physically mature. So I think that pushing to breed on the first heat is not a great idea. That does that mean it doesn’t work … plenty of bitches that plan their own breedings with their own stud dogs in their house. That may have been the breeding that you planned to do after she turned 2 and she and he decided that they would preemptively do a strike.
What happens if my bitch has an accidental breeding?
You know when you get an accidental breeding, statistically it’s 62% that get pregnant 38% don’t. There are methods to interrupt those, but I generally recommend against them unless it’s a really strong reason, like a brother sister or something along those lines. We have a lot of people who are embarrassed in their breed club, they’re worried that people are going to drum them out. If someone tells you, and they have males and females that are intact in their homes, and they tell you ‘I have never had that happen to me,’ either they are lying to you or it hasn’t happened to them yet. Because at some point the sex drive is strong and males will chew through doors and females will crawl over kennels.
There are ways to interrupt pregnancy if it happens. You have three choices if you do have a mating that went better than you wanted it to. Most the time when we have people crying at the ultrasound it’s because their bitch didn’t get pregnant. Sometimes it’s because their bitch did.
You can either let her have the puppies and teach her to be a good mom. #2 is you can spay her, which of course is the end of her breeding career. #3 is there is a series of injections and oral medications that can be used that are not estrogen. So please, please, please no diethylstilbestrol, no ECP. None of those drugs. They cause bone marrow suppression and can cause your bitch to die. We can see pyometras and we still see people giving those drugs. So basically, we give prostaglandin and another oral medication. If somebody gets herself into a pickle, email me I’ll help you out. I’m not going to go through the whole protocol because it’s not really the kind of thing that we want to talk about today but there are choices for what you can do that are safe for the bitch and will not interfere with future breeding.
How often should I breed my bitch?
We did use to say skip a cycle in between (breedings) but you’re right, the uterus starts to age and progesterone is what causes the aging. So, every time she’s exposed to progesterone during each cycle and not bred, you beat up the uterus little bit more. So, breeding back to back makes a lot of sense. Now I also know from the other side of things … it takes a bitch eight months nutritionally to get back to where she was before she was bred. My middle ground on that is to breed back to back, then skip a cycle, then breed back to back again. That’s four litters in five cycles, if you’re going to breed that many times.
Secret recipe to success?
Make sure that nutritionally you really workin’ it when it comes to (nutrition). She should be on puppy food. The other information that we know is from (a) study that was done with the collaboration of Eukanuba with Canine Companions for Independence, CCI, out of Santa Rosa, CA that raises service dogs. They discovered that on a bitch’s first litter, 50% of her puppies were successfully graduating as service dogs. By her fifth litter they were down to 25%. It was determined that was a DHA deficiency, based on 5800 puppies in the study.
There really isn’t a published dose (for DHA) but basically if you use a reasonable number of capsules, like one capsule a day (of the human supplement) that makes a lot of sense. We have clients that have anecdotally reported that they think their puppies are smarter now.
It’s a fatty acid, so I typically will give it to them between heat cycles as well as during because you don’t want to wait until the very last minute to administer it. Go ahead and start it as soon as you get ahold of it. You can start it now. It’s going to help the bitches and I just give it on a daily basis.
Pay attention to this kind of nutritional micronutrient that you may or may not find in adequate levels in your pet food. Supplementing it above and beyond (what is in some puppy food) is certainly not going to hurt the bitch or the puppies.
Can a bitch whelp naturally after having a c-section?
A C-Section does not interfere with her ability to have a vaginal birth at a future breeding. Just like in people, “Vbacks,” OK vaginal birth after C-section, it’s safe for her to have another litter born vaginally if she’s had a C-section. I’ve done as many as five C-sections on one individual bitch and I don’t have a problem with that. I do try to avoid surgical breedings if it’s also a breed that’s going to have a C-section.
Seventy-five percent of C-sections are maternal causes. 25% are fetal causes. Fetal causes are things like an oversized fetus, and deformed fetus, like a walrus puppy. A puppy that malpresents, in other words it comes down and it starts to come down out of one uterine horn and instead of coming down to the cervix, it makes a U turn and goes back up into the other horn. Those are all fetal causes. Those do not necessarily mean that you’re going to need another C-section. So it’s really a good idea to have a conversation at the time of the C-section with your veterinarian to find out if they could determine the underlying cause for the C-section.
457 – Breaking the Sounds of Silence
Breaking the Sounds of Silence
Every single breeder I know has said at one point or another they want to “change the conversation.” To blunt the sledgehammer of the Animal Rights vs Animal Welfare message with John Q Public. To stand up for our legal rights. To champion the brutal hard work … the literal blood, sweat and tears shed… the labor of love we undertake in order to provide the gifts of companionship, beauty and living history to our communities.
And damn near every one of those people has turned around and bashed some other breeder of whom they disapprove for whatever reason. As a result, the “divided they fall” approach implemented by the AR playbook has been spectacularly successful.
Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
I’ve made my resolution for 2021. We’re going to break that sound of silence. I hope you’ll all join me in this goal. I’ve grabbed a megaphone, stepped outside the holy church of “Dogdom”… I’m using the voice you’ve all given me in a determined effort to *successfully* preach *beyond* the choir.
And in the naked light, I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
If you haven’t subscribed to the Good Dog Pod, now is the time. I’ve joined forces with Good Dog in a determined effort to leverage reach, resources, technical skills and insight of a team who already speaks a language many of us have never known or have long forgotten. Regular Joe. Dog lover. Perhaps even “fur mommy”…. For some of us, it’s like learning Swahili. Talking AT people who don’t understand your language and culture is frustrating and has caused a great deal of misery throughout history.
The Good Dog Pod and other educational initiatives sponsored by Good Dog are aimed specifically at meeting regular people where they are. Googling Golden Retriever. While we’re over here, hiding in the “church,” chipping away at our stone tablets.
The Good Dog Pod, along with a full suite of accessible resources, is also providing education and mentorship scaled to an enormous audience of new and wannabe breeders who want to do the right thing, but don’t know what it is. Or that there even IS a “right” thing. By applying standards to ALL breeders, by celebrating and promoting breeders, by providing access and support for health testing, in just the last year they are already changing the conversation within the larger dog breeding community.
Because the reality check is, AKC and others estimate that dog owners in the US will seek roughly 9 million replacement dogs *each year*…. And that isn’t counting a pandemic. AKC breeders register something like 1 million of those dogs. So 8 million dogs are being produced with little to no access to meaningful resources. And owners are acquiring them because they CAN. Because someone answered their call and didn’t belittle them for not knowing the decoder ring secret password. Because someone spoke their language.
Education is the Answer. To Everything.
As you have heard me say time and again, education is the answer. To everything. And, if a little education is good, a LOT is definitely better.
The Good Dog Pod, with training insights, breeding, whelping and raising tips, legal advice and general dog knowledge, will continue to drop every Wednesday. You can subscribe anywhere you listen to Pure Dog Talk.
Speaking of which, YES, Pure Dog Talk IS going to continue. The Pure Dog Talk episodes will drop every Monday. Veterinary Voice, Love the Breeds, The Interviews and The Conversations will retain their focus on the world of competitive purebred dogs. The Voice of Purebred Dogs will mos def NOT be silenced.
In fact, we’re kicking off some super exciting news right here!!
Collections
FIRST, Pure Dog Talk Classic is a series of new collections, with RSS feeds of their very own, showcasing the first early episodes which currently are only available by keyword search on the website. They will also be available by specific category.
For example, currently available collections include:
https://feeds.captivate.fm/puredogtalk/the-interviews/
The Interviews
The masters, the legends and the larger than life people world wide who have influenced purebred dogs over the last 50-plus years. Preserving 20th century knowledge and presenting it in a 21st century format. Want to know about a dog show judge and what matters in their ring? Learn directly from the source. Want to build an incredible family of dogs? Learn from the giants in our tribe.
https://feeds.captivate.fm/puredogtalk/love-the-breeds/
Love the Breeds
Laura interviews the *experts* to learn about breeds from Azawakh to Xoloitzcuintli. Long-time breeders, respected authorities and devoted owners cover personality, activity levels, grooming requirements, health and longevity of their chosen breeds. Dive into the living history represented by dog breeds from around the world and across the ages.
https://feeds.captivate.fm/puredogtalk/breeding-and-whelping-hands-on/
Breeding and Whelping: Hands-On
Learn from veterinarians, master breeders, and experts about the critical nuances, best practices, and science of successfully breeding and whelping your next litter. From progesterone numbers to semen evaluation; from c-section, decisions to free whelp help; from troubleshooting to the celebration, you’ll find the answers here!
Coming in the near future: Masters in Breeding Theory, Show Ring Handling and Grooming, Performance Events, and anything else y’all want! If you have a collection request, just shoot me an email at laura@puredogtalk.com If fact, a HUGE shoutout to listener Jenna Vermette-Gerow for planting the seed of this idea in my brain!
Cyber Sweepstakes
SECOND, with the pandemic cancellations still decimating enormous swaths of our sport, particularly notable here on the west coast, where our HUGE January shows in California, Washington and Oregon are moved or removed from the calendar, we’re bringing back the Pure Dog Talk CyberSweepstakes presented by Trupanion!!
Debuted in March of this year after Louisville was shut down, with a variety of shows through the summer, I let it subside during the few months of actual dog shows that started back in Oklahoma. But I wanted to bring it back in solidarity with our local exhibitors. If you haven’t already, like the FB page of the same name for updates and details in the coming weeks.
Patrons!
THIRD, don’t forget the Pure Dog Talk Patrons! We’re hosting an event in March and another in August. These training days, seminars, and retreats are one of the major perks of joining the most supportive and welcoming circle within our tribe. For as little as $5/month, you can gain access to monthly After Dark conversations, events, insider tips and more.
Finally, join me in thanking and supporting Trupanion and Embark who elected to remain in partnership with Pure Dog Talk in providing GREAT content to the purebred dog community. And, join me in welcoming Good Dog to the family.
2020 tried to crush us. It took lives, friendships, and often sanity. It cost jobs and comfort zones. But if you’re listening to this, it means you won. You beat that bitch. You survived. You learned how strong you are. You discovered new ways, fell back on old ways, or invented whole new paths to keep moving forward. But you did it! And so did I.
So let’s all keep that momentum going into the new year. Break down the barriers. Break out of the ruts in your brain. Break the sound of silence.
Peace out …. Wishing you a blessed new year.
456 – Rhonda Cassidy: For the Love of Dogs
Rhonda Cassidy: For the Love of Dogs
Dog show photographer Rhonda Cassidy tells the story of the intersection between her lifelong passions for dogs and art.
Starting with a newbie’s understanding of dog shows but a lifetime love of dogs and art, Cassidy’s humble beginning and dedication shine through her art in her forthcoming book, For the Love of Dogs.
“When I was a kid, I collected postcards of dogs,” Cassidy said. “I made a scrapbook. Back then I’d go to the library and check out every book I could find about dogs and learn about breeds … I would write stories and illustrate them.”
From the first photo of her Irish Water Spaniel she had published in the AKC Gazette column to photographing some of the top show dogs in the United States, Cassidy’s journey has been driven by her twin passions.
“It wasn’t something that I thought I should do,” Cassiday said. “It was something I *had* to do. It was like I had a hand on my shoulder. It said you have got to do this.”
Cassidy’s photography raises the form to an art, reaching beyond the physical specimen to capture the character, the soul of the dog.
“I feel it,” she said. “I can explain it to you, but I can’t make you *feel* it… Whether it’s doing candids or ring shots, I get goosebumps… I know what I want to see and sometimes it just happens. Sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s just there for a second.
For the Love of Dogs
“I have hundreds of thousands of pictures. I wanted a collection that somebody could hold in their hands. I wanted something just for people to remember me. This was Rhonda Cassidy and here’s what she loved. This is who she is.”
455 – I’ll Be Home For Christmas and the Ghost of Christmas Past
I’ll Be Home For Christmas and the Ghost of Christmas Past
For decades, coming home was the very best feeling. Long grueling days on the road gave way to hibernation on the deck …. Until the next time.
2020 has turned hibernation on the deck, home, our safe space – into a form of torture for many of us. This whiplash dichotomy, the sense that what was safe is suddenly maddening, has left us feeling unmoored. Which has made us all, frankly, a bit nuts.
Solstice, the shortest, darkest day, has passed. In this, the most challenging year in generations, the coming of the light in the new year is profoundly important.
The holidays are upon us. The spirit of Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, solstice and more all emphasize the magic of Giving … Let’s take a minute to concentrate on gifts given and received in the world of purebred dogs.
Give to newbies
Sometimes, especially for folks just entering this tribe, it can feel like everyone around is one more Grinch that stole Christmas … when you find yourself trapped in the Grinchy glee of bad mouthing, gossip and holier than thou, take a step back and go find a Cindy Lou Whoo … your time at dog events will be much more pleasant. If you don’t know any, come join the Pure Dog Talk Patrons… This group of “crazy dog ladies” represents the VERY best of our tribe.
Gifts of Mentorship Given and Received
We are all standing on the shoulders of giants. Sir Isaac Newton’s famous quote, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” is a very fitting one in the world of purebred dogs. Thank the breeder of your dog, your foundation bitch, the influential stud dog. Nobody here achieved one single blessed thing on their own account. Everyone started somewhere and with the knowledge, hard work and blood, sweat and tears of those who went before them.
The gifts we give and the gifts we receive
Our dogs… Dogs give without thought…. Unconditional love is a thing, or at least a reliable thing, mostly in dogs. As breeders, we create this gift for others every day. We give the gift of unconditional love in a furry four-legged package year ‘round. That is a powerful and beautiful thing.
Ghost of Christmas Past (with a few 2020 updates…)
’Twas the Night Before Christmas
And all through the house, it was an uproar!
Puppies c-sectioned today and now we’re really poor.
Singing Silent Night, off key, to soothe the hungry babes. What’s verse four?
What I wouldn’t give for a long winter’s nap, before…
Oh Lord, what was that clatter.
I stumble from bed to see what’s the matter
And what to my wondering eyes should appear
But eight naughty dog rears,
Running amuck through the room,
Stockings and tinsel and ribbons trailing. Wait! Is that my broom?
OK, I’ll spare you the rest of the agony. Meter and rhyme are clearly not my skills.
Despite the inability to pen a limerick or a sonnet, I’d like to take the liberty of using this space for a bit of reflection, in keeping with the holiday season.
This is the one week of the year that we’re all guaranteed to be home from the shows. Dog toys under the tree and stockings for each of our pets. We spend way more time wrapping balls and bones and outfits for our dogs than we do shoving a bottle of wine in a gift bag for friends.
What about all of you out there? What are your traditions? Do you invite a few solo folks from your kennel club to dinner? (Maybe this year you can take dinner to them in a safe delivery.) Take donations to your local animal shelter? Help serve a holiday dinner for the homeless in your community? (This year, food insecurity is devastatingly real for people in every community. Consider a donation to FIDO to help feed hungry pets as well.) Or stay home, watch football and play cards? Whatever you do, make the most and the best of it.
When I was little, the rule in our house was Christmas morning present opening would not begin until you could read a book without the lights on. My parents’ brilliant scheme to get some sleep was thwarted by all my years reading after bedtime and, thus, my *uncanny* ability to discern words on a page by the barest of starlight.
The mad dash and rush and scramble to open presents was followed by Christmas dinner — literally over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we went. The menu was always the same, like Groundhog Day each year: clam dip and Ruffles potato chips, then turkey and whipped potatoes with gravy and candied carrots, and, finally, pecan pie and pumpkin pie and chocolate pie. Milk for the kids and iced tea for the grown ups. Eventually, Gramma would break out her boiled custard. She was a very proper Southern Belle and would no more buy alcohol than spit in public. But each year she’d send Sister Jequetta, one of the nuns from the hospital where Gramma worked, into the liquor store to buy a small bottle of “flavoring” for the custard.
I’ve spent lonely Christmas Eves over the years since then, some very, very tough ones. But those images, engraved in my memory, have always brought me comfort.
My Christmas wish for you, and you, and you, for all of you, is to feel the magic of stillness, if only for a minute. The love of family near or far, whether by blood or birds of a feather, matters not. The quiet nuzzle of an old, familiar muzzle or the mischievous romping and sparkling eyes of a pup. Rest from a job well done, a year well spent. The simple comforts of home and hearth and good food. Hushed refrains from the carols of holidays past and the deep, abiding pleasure of giving to others. Twinkling lights and evergreen scents and a few pretty bows. Laughter and reindeer and cookies for Santa. After all, even Mr. Grinch was charmed by Cindy Lou Whoo.
My dream, dear friends, is truly peace on Earth and goodwill to man (and beast).
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
https://puredogtalk.com/podcast/351-attitude-of-gratitude-at-the-holidays-pure-dog-talk/
https://puredogtalk.com/podcast/christmas-dinner-with-dogs-and-why-it-matters-pure-dog-talk/
https://puredogtalk.com/podcast/143-laura-reeves-sings-12-puppies-of-christmaspure-dog-talk-2/
454 – Danish Swedish Farmdogs – Friendly, Low Maintenance, Sturdy
Danish Swedish Farmdogs – Friendly, Low Maintenance, Sturdy
Dr. Marty Greer joins host Laura Reeves to talk about the FSS breed with which she’s fallen in love. Danish Swedish Farmdogs date to the 1700s but were saved from extinction by the joint effort of the Danish and the Swedish Kennel Clubs in 1987.
History
Greer notes that the breed was originally from Denmark and their job was “sort of an all-purpose farm dog”.. so they were to herd, they were to play with the kids, be able to be Watch Dogs … “that’s kind of what appealed to me about them, is they’re a hardy little dog.”
“They’re cool little dogs,” Greer said. “I find them to be absolutely fascinating and really easy to get along with. Every time you see pictures of them, they are stacked on top of each other sleeping. They don’t have that terrier snarky, sparring kind of attitude.
Size and Grooming
“The males are probably 22 to 24 pounds. The females are 18 to 20. They are small enough dog that you can pick them up under one arm, you can put them in a Sherpa bag and fit them under the seat of an airplane. So if you’re going to be traveling they’re portable.
“One of the things that appeal to me about them is that easy to maintain coat. When I got into Corgis back in the 1980s, you’d wash your dog, you blow her out and you take her in the ring. You didn’t do anything else. Now there’s quite a bit of grooming that goes into a Corgi … I find that to be a little upsetting when you’re supposed to be showing a dog that’s natural.
“Well, this dog really is natural. There’s no trimming. There’s nothing you could trim other than their toenails. When you travel with them you just need a towel. You don’t need a brush. You need a towel and a leash.
Temperament and Activity
“There’s no dog aggression, no people aggression. Just kind of chill little dogs … they come in the house, do one loop-through, flop down on the couch and hang out with you the rest of the day. I really appreciate that about a dog because, by the time I’m done with a 14-hour shift, I don’t really want to come home and throw the tennis ball for two hours. So I appreciate a dog that has the ability to settle in the house. At the same time, there are a lot of activities that people do with them. They’re doing lure coursing, lots and lots of flyballs, lots of agility. They can be shown in FSS in AKC.
“They do have the ability to jump. My 4-month-old Farm Dog puppy is already scaling expenses. They’re relatively quiet. They will bark occasionally if the Corgis set them off, but they don’t usually initiate the barking.”
For more information, check out these resources.
http://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/356g02-en.pdf
https://dsfca.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=0&club_id=459025
453 – Dr. Jerold Bell: Dog Breeding is Not “Paint by Numbers”
Dr. Jerold Bell: Dog Breeding is Not “Paint by Numbers”
Dr. Jerold Bell returns in part two of a wide-ranging conversation with host Laura Reeves sharing more thoughts on popular sire syndrome, as well as addressing COI, inbreeding, linebreeding, outcrossing, CHIC programs, genetics of temperament and much more.
On owning a popular sire
“It does become a personal issue as well. It is a very ego boosting thing to have a popular sire. To have a top winning stud dog. To have a national champion … everybody wants to come and breed to it. To turn people down and say I’m not going to breed to your bitch, that’s also something that involves personal emotions. We need to really think about those things. So it is up to the stud dog owners to think about how their dogs are being utilized, what you have been able to evaluate from what they have produced so far and at what point you slow it down… It really is something that the stud dog owners also have to make some concerted efforts about not causing a popular sire syndrome.
On Coefficient of Inbreeding (COI)
Concentrating on a popular sire or a popular sire line, then everyone is going to be related to that sire or sire line and therefore their matings are going to have higher homozygosity overtime. So if I see an increasing homozygosity over the generations, that tells me that they are truncating on a sire line. So it is a very valuable tool to use in a population sense.
What’s happening now is that we’re being told to utilize the tool of the inbreeding coefficient as the goal of mating. So we’re artificially manipulating the inbreeding coefficients, so we can no longer look at it and say this is an honest assessment of how the breed is utilizing their gene pool. All we can say is it’s an honest assessment of how people are manipulating their inbreeding coefficients.
Linebreeding vs Outcrossing
This is why it’s wrong to breed based on increasing coefficient. You need to breed based on what issues do you have, what issues do you not have and what do you want. So if some people feel that some breeds are having diminishing litter sizes (for example) we need to select specifically against that issue of small litter size and breed individuals have larger litters. But it’s not necessarily an inbreeding coefficient thing. It is about deleterious genes that are accumulating in the background.
Some people can line breed and have wonderful things and some people if they even attempt a mild linebreeding we’re seeing lots of disease. If they have a high amount of liability genes in their breeding dogs, then they need to decide ‘who is most important to me that I want to pass things on. Who is less important, maybe shouldn’t be breeding it because they’re producing a lot of disease.’ Then outbreed to individuals that aren’t having those issues and bring in new genes. That’s the way you utilize outbreeding to bring new things in because you’re seeing an issue. But it’s not just a breed by number situation. It’s very specific for what you’re looking for or what you’re selecting against.
How to Utilize on Outcross
Outbreeding in order to bring things in that your line doesn’t have is the proper way of doing outbreeding. You need something that you’re not getting. You’re not getting that level top line consistently. You’re not getting that reach. You’re not getting that quality of hair or whatever other things you’re selecting, or hunting ability or herding ability or whatever else. Then you want to go to lines that have that, that you don’t have. You need to make a list of what you want, what you have, what you don’t have, what you don’t want in terms of diseases or deleterious traits or conformational faults.
Then you need to prioritize those things and actually in prioritizing those things you also need to understand that certain traits, certain diseases, if you have a genetic test, now certain things you can change in one generation. But other things, conformationally wise as well as health wise and hips and so forth, can take multiple generations of selection to get what you want.
They’re complexly inherited, there are multiple genes involved. So for those types of things you really need to prioritize over many generations of ‘this is what I want.’ You don’t get it in one generation. Or if you do get it in one generation, you can easily lose it in the next generation. Because you haven’t fixed all those genes in your breeding stock.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that there is no simple easy way out of breeding dogs. ‘What’s the one thing I can do that just makes everything good?’ … there isn’t one. This is a job and we need to pay attention to what we’re doing. We need to pay attention to what we’re producing.
You know one thing I say to breeders is that on the birthday of every single litter you’ve ever produced, take the last contact that you have and contact that owner and say happy birthday and how is your dog doing. Because if you don’t know what you’ve produced over time how can you help yourself. Breeding is complicated and there isn’t a quick fix. Breeding is an avocation. But if we’re going to do it, we need to do it well.