474 – Dreaming of Dual Dogs: Rush Hill Golden Retrievers
Dreaming of Dual Dogs:
Rush Hill Golden Retrievers
Vegas and Tonya take to the field.
Tonya Struble of Rush Hill Golden Retrievers joins host Laura Reeves for a deep dive into the dreams and ambitions of breeding, raising and training “dual dogs.” Fighting the labels, overcoming disappointments, making the hard breeding decisions and “giving it a shot” to preserve the purpose of our breeds.
BIS,BISS, Am.GCh. Can Ch. Rush Hill’s River Road Payoff WC, Vegas, winning Best BBE in Show in 2009.
Struble’s breeding program has earned notable success including national specialty winners, BIS winners and, over the course of time, multiple field titled dogs, including a GCH with Field Trial awards. Her secret goal? A Best in Show winning Master Hunter. Her advice? Dual dogs aren’t impossible, but they aren’t easy either.
Have a Goal
“You always have to have a goal,” Struble said. “Something that you can strive for. Not just going into the ring. I like to watch these dogs do what they are bred to do and they enjoy doing it. It is so much fun.
“What’s really hard, though, the Golden has the (nickname) of being a “swamp collie” the big hairy show dogs … and you’re double dipping on that one. Not only are you a show dog but you’re also “swamp collie” …
Give the dogs a chance
“I’ve been there where I’ve heard people talking about my dogs behind my back. I think people need to give these dogs a chance and see what they can do. Maybe they don’t go the distance you want. But at least you tried. At least we’re trying. At least we’re trying to keep their instinct and what they want to do there instead of saying ‘no it can’t be done.’
Share the dogs’ passion
“Sure, I have some dogs that just do not pick up the ducks… But one of the things that really made me feel good is when I took a batch of puppies in and (my field trainer) said to me ‘you got a lot of good ones this time around’ … you’re talking about someone who’s an avid field trial person telling you these are really good puppies here.
When the dogs are working in the field, “we share their passion … what they’re doing, it’s what they want to do, not what they have to do.”
418 – Cancer: Genetics, Environment or Both? Study Seeks Answers
Lori Cesario DVM DACVIM (Oncology), Owner, Canine Cancer Academy joins host Laura Reeves in a conversation about Cancer in dogs. Cesario breaks down what we know and what we don’t know about cancers, genetic basis, environmental triggers and more.
“I would say that we don’t know more than we know, unfortunately,” Cesario said. “I always feel like I leave people wanting a lot more when I have clients ask me why their dog developed cancer. Hopefully that will change. A lot of smart people are working really hard to find more information.
“The big picture is typically no one thing is going to 100% cause cancer in any one dog or person. So we’re looking for risk factors. So does your dog being a certain breed increase risk for developing a certain type of cancer? Or does a certain environmental component increase his or her risk for developing a certain cancer. In people we have some information about certain diets or components of diet increasing certain types of cancers. We’re really lacking a lot of that information in veterinary medicine.”
Cesario notes an important and wide-ranging study of Golden Retrievers that is seeking to answer some of these questions.
“The Morris Animal Foundation is running this study … they have 3,044 Golden retrievers participating and the goal is really to follow these thousands of Golden retrievers over their entire lifetime and get really an exhaustive amount of information. From what is going on in their environment, with their diet, with their genetics, to really determine what nutritional genetic, and environmental factors contribute to cancer and other diseases.
“Not only are they doing routine physical exams, not only are they collecting blood and hair and toenail samples on a regular basis, but they are asking the family questions like does your dog live with a smoker? Do you have carpet or hardwood floors? What does your dog eat? Does it eat vegetables? What type of vegetables? OK bell Peppers, what color Bell Peppers? How many Peppers? Does your dog swim in the pool? In a pond? At the beach? In the ocean?
“So, they’re getting as much information as possible and then they’re banking all of this data and other researchers can use the data. Then over time, they’re finding out which of these dogs develop certain diseases which don’t. We know that up to 65% of goldens will die of cancer, unfortunately, so they decided to run a parallel study called the Golden Oldies study. They are currently recruiting dogs. So basically, they’re looking for Golden Retrievers, purebred ideally, AKC registered better, 12 years old or older that don’t have cancer currently that have never had cancer.”
The link for the Golden Oldies study:
https://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/golden-oldies-contact-form