sandgrubber

I don't see the problem unless the requirements for breeder registration are stupid. It makes sense for the state to control people breeding problem dogs or breeding in horrible conditions. The worst breeder I ever encountered when I lived in WA was an ANKC judge (he moved on long ago). His kennels were filthy and much of the meat in his fridge was rotten; his dogs got very little exercise. As for misbegotten pig dogs...sure, there are some. But the majority of family dogs come from non ANKC registered breeders, and many of them are wonderful.

I don't think the public's "furbaby" attitude helps. Customers are given what they expect. It seems like the default prescription is a painkiller and an antibiotic...come back in a week if it's not better. Then do bloods or other tests or take an Xray.

It can be viewed as a way to restrict competition. IMO it's a corrupt practice. Firstly because you can't readily judge show prospects at 8 weeks. Secondly because it drives people who put more emphasis on health and temperament out of the pedigree system. Say I want to breed Bostons with a relatively good nose, or Iggies with bigger bones and less danger of fracture...fat chance of finding a pup. I've owned many dogs, and in running a boarding kennel, gotten to know thousands. There are exceptional dogs with good health and charismatic temperament. Very few of them are on Main Register.

Well said. It's interesting to note that the hunting dog breeds of the past are different. Gundog breeds were (mostly) selected for biddability, trainability, and a soft mouth. Hounds were (mostly) expected to be sociable with both humans and other dogs. Rebanne also noted that sighthounds tend to be great companions. In discussing maladaption, it's also worth noting than many dog breeds were bred to work on a regular basis and some get neurotic in sedentary settings. Herding breeds come to mind.

Hate to add to the confusion (actually, I enjoy it) but let's say, going way back, kelpies derive from BC lines and they are all about 10% BC. Hmmm! The math gets complicated. Bottom line is that you might be reducing the BC component by a bit less than half.

Don't entirely agree. Verified pedigrees can lie. If you read Mary Roslin Williams, quite a bit of hound blood has been slipped into pedigree Labrador lines. True, it happened before most of us were born. I doubt this is unique to Labbies.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)01723-1?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=b124caafb6-briefing-dy-2022028&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-b124caafb6-45542558 Highlights • An ancestral variant on IGF1 locus regulates body size in ancient and modern dogs • Variant alleles are associated with body size in dogs, wolves, and coyotes • The large body size-associated allele arose more than 53,000 years ago in wolves • Human selection for small size may have been a major force during domestication

If he's eating the puke and not puking it up a second time... I'd say it's just a dog thing and not to worry.

I'd ask a lawyer. I don't see how an ideopathic condition can be pre-existing (or were you looking at getting insurance after the seizures). "No" is the default answer for many insurance companies. They have been known to back down when challenged.

Vet's vary in their approach to seizures. Any good vet will start with taking a history and trying to rule out toxins. Videos and notes will help here. Note some herding dogs don't tolerate Ivermectin, which is in many heartworm meds. I had one dog who went into seizures from synthetic pyretheroids in flea treatments. So be sure to note any parasite meds you use. Presuming no obvious cause shows uo, routes diverge. One route is to do a full battery of tests. This sounds good but may return a verdict of ideopathic epilepsy, which basically means no cause can be found. My vet told me that the tests usually come out negative and that ideopathic epilepsy was by far the most common diagnosis. Meanwhile the bill will come to hundreds of dollars, or more if MRI is done, and afterwards seizure meds will likely be prescribed. The other route is to go directly to seizure meds and see if the problem gets better. This requires monitoring and blood work, initially, but saves a lot of testing costs. Many dogs live to a good old age on seizure meds. It's your choice. Do you have insurance? Check to see what it ccover. And ask your vet for an option of the likelihood of a positive diagnosis if you go the testing route.

not to mention that the parents must be on Main (not Limited) Register. This information is on their pedigree papers.

In defence of the vet... sort of... most vets get very little training about whelping and aftercare of the nursing bitch. Many come out of vet school never having witnessed a natural whelping (I talked to a few vet students who said that watching a sow farrow was as close as they came). In my days as a breeder, I often found that breeders were a better source of information about such things that the run of the mill vet. I had the good fortune to have a vet who was a breeder before she went to vet school. She agreed that vet school was pretty shallow on natural whelping and aftercare.

If you are going the Small Claims route, find out from the local court how it's working these days and get a copy of the forms. I used the system many years ago. Covid may have changed procedures. When I went, in WA, some people (mostly property manager who use the system regularly against renters) did use lawyers. Those who were layered up were heard first. It was a tedious day. I spent almost the whole day in court and won by default because the person I sued didn't show. If you win you can probably add the cost of going to Court to the settlement. This may include lawyer's fees. So although a lawyer isn't required, and will be expensive, it may still be worthwhile to hire one.

Small claims tribunal does not require a lawyer. I'd suggest googling "demand letter" to find a good template. Demand a refund by xx/01/2022 and state that you are planning to go to small claims tribunal if the deadline isn't met. Organise any relevant documents and a chronology. Be matter of fact. Not polite, but not threatening.

3 mo is fine for heartworm. It takes 4 or more months for the parasite to get to reproductive age, so killing any possible juveniles every 3mo is adequate. My vet in Oz said it was sufficient to give heartworm meds on a 3mo schedule. I used Bravecto when I lived in Florida (horrible for ticks, fleas and mozzies, heartworm common) and Bravecto alone was great. I don't know about allergic reactions. I think they say to avoid Bravecto for dogs with any nervous system problem.

Embark and Wisdom Health Genetics now provide tests that calculate a coefficient of inbreeding (COI) based on DNA. Does anyone know if any such test is recommended by any of the breed clubs?

For anyone that isn't up to reading the original article you can find a short verse here https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202162148.htm

https://cgejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40575-021-00111-4 First article I've seen that relates a DNA based measurement of genetic diversity to health outcomes. Raises questions about the mantra "improving the breed". Impressive dataset. AND NOT BEHIND A PAY WALL Extracted from the article Abstract Background Dog breeds are known for their distinctive body shape, size, coat color, head type and behaviors, features that are relatively similar across members of a breed. Unfortunately, dog breeds are also characterized by distinct predispositions to disease. We explored the relationships between inbreeding, morphology and health using genotype based inbreeding estimates, body weight and insurance data for morbidity. Results The average inbreeding based on genotype across 227 breeds was Fadj = 0.249 (95% CI 0.235–0.263). There were significant differences in morbidity between breeds with low and high inbreeding (H = 16.49, P = 0.0004). There was also a significant difference in morbidity between brachycephalic breeds and non-brachycephalic breeds (P = 0.0048) and between functionally distinct groups of breeds (H = 14.95 P < 0.0001). Morbidity was modeled using robust regression analysis and both body weight (P < 0.0001) and inbreeding (P = 0.013) were significant (r2 = 0.77). Smaller less inbred breeds were healthier than larger more inbred breeds. Conclusions In this study, body size and inbreeding along with deleterious morphologies contributed to increases in necessary health care in dogs.

Sad story. It would be interesting to know if the rest of the litter was similarly affected. Overemphasis on the visual aspect of conformation at the cost of temperament is a widespread malady in the pedigree dog world. It sickens me when someone is shamed (instead of encouraged to do health testing) as a back yard breeder because they want to have a pup from their boy because he is a fantastic dog and they love him so much. Most of our pups end out as family pets. Temperament should be far more important than conformation to a somewhat arbitrary breed standard set down more than a century ago.

There may be individuilized cancer therapies that could belp but if they exist they are probably experimental. Try the vet school at your nearest university. As for conventional cancer treatment, my understanding is that once it has spread, there's not much that works. Support your pup and be grateful for the time you have had. Get the best out of the time to come. Many cancers aren't painful until the end... and you may want to consider the green dream when it gets bad.

Time spent on hobbies is counted differently.

Oh Crap! What idiocy. I'm in NZ but this requires fighting. Are the KCs lobbying? Are there petitions circulating?

http://click.springernature.com/f/a/oKglD9AWT7aEH9jvg9nD9Q~~/AAEGiQA~/RgRjRTDpP0RIaHR0cHM6Ly9jZ2Vqb3VybmFsLmJpb21lZGNlbnRyYWwuY29tL2FydGljbGVzLzEwLjExODYvczQwNTc1LTAyMS0wMDEwOS15VwNzcGNCCmFg6atiYYjSN1ZSE2pyb2Jpbi5hdUBnbWFpbC5jb21YBAAAAAA~ Heritability and genetic variance estimation of Osteosarcoma (OSA) in Irish Wolfhound, using deep pedigree information Mehdi Momen, Nyah L. Kohler, […] Susannah J. Sample Canine Medicine and Genetics volume 8, Article number: 9 (2021) Cite this article 3 Accesses Metrics details Abstract Background Osteosarcoma (OSA) is a devastating disease that is common in the Irish Wolfhound breed. The aim of this study was to use a pedigree-based approach to determine the heritability of OSA in the Irish Wolfhound using data from a large publically available database. Results The pedigree used for this study included 5110 pure-bred Irish Wolfhounds, including 332 dogs diagnosed with OSA and 360 control dogs; dogs were considered controls if they lived over 10 years of age and were not reported to have developed OSA. The estimated heritability of OSA in the Irish Wolfhound was 0.65. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that OSA in the Irish Wolfhound is highly heritable, and support the need for future research investigating associated genetic mutations.

If a dog regards laughter or smiles as a reward, and acts to provoke that reaction, I'd say it has a sense of humour. No anthropomorphism required.

I believe it's all over the map. Some breeders place dogs on breeders terms with no payment, often to friends or relatives or dog people they respect. Others sell the dog/bitch for real money but expect it back for a mating/litter.