3rd International Dog Health Workshop Paris 2017: Update December 2016

Target audience: Stakeholders in the dog world who are working to promote health and/or welfare in dogs, including, for example: breeders, members of breed club health committees, kennel clubs, breeding advisors, veterinarians, educators, researchers, geneticists, behavioural specialists, regulators, welfare organizations, and show judges.  Those who have participated in the first two International Dog Health Workshops and newcomers are very welcome.

Themes for Breakout Sessions: 
1.    Breed-Specific Health Strategies: Needs and opportunities; innovations, nationally and internationally.
2.    Exaggerations And Extremes In Dog Conformation: Health, welfare and breeding considerations; latest national and international efforts. 
3.    Education and Communication: How can international collaboration improve education and communication within and across stakeholder groups (esp. between veterinarians and breeders); using the example of antimicrobial resistance.
4.    Behaviour and Welfare: How can we better integrate actions to address issues in welfare, behaviour and health in breeding and raising dogs?
5.    IPFD Harmonization of Genetic Testing for Dogs: An international, multi-stakeholder initiative to address selection, evaluation and application of genetic testing.
6.    Show Me The Numbers: Integrating information from various sources for prevalence, risks and other population-level information; latest national and international strategies to collect data and disseminate information.

 
Format: Biennial event spanning three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) with registration and reception the first evening and ending after lunch on Sunday.  A cruise dinner on the Seine is planned on Saturday.  The workshop consists of a sequence of :
►    Plenary sessions: introducing issues, emphasising important points to discuss, presenting summaries, as well as
►    Facilitated breakout sessions by theme, and
►    Posters outlining projects, programs, new initiatives.

•    This is a working meeting.  All participants are requested to read material that will be sent prior to the meeting and to actively engage in discussions, and to attend the entire Workshop.  Each participant will be assigned to one Theme (based on their indicated preference, where possible) and is asked to stay with that Theme for all breakout sessions.  That said, there will be ample sharing from all breakouts in intermittent plenary and summary sessions. 
 

Outcomes:  It is not the mandate of the International Dog Health Workshops or the IPFD to produce regulations or directives.  However, in order to facilitate and promote ongoing and substantive actions and developments, as deemed needed by the participants, these are some of the outcomes and work product that it is expected will arise from the meeting:
►     Sharing of existing information, templates, and tools, e.g., for data collection at the national or international level and for descriptive information about organizations and breeds; resources needed to address issues within and across themes.
►     Guidelines and priority lists, which could be general or specific, e.g. for development of harmonized terminology; for key actions to support breeding, health and welfare; for sharing of material and resources; identifying gaps in our current resources and knowledge.
►     Collaborative strategies and community building, e.g., outlining of communication and cooperative strategies (involving DogWellNet.com or other platforms); opportunities to build or enhance existing relationships, especially, across various stakeholder groups.
 

Pre-meeting Working Groups: have been struck across all the themes in order to increase the likelihood of achieving the desired outcomes.  Their goal is to collect and collate information; connect relevant stakeholders; and to outline key issues, goals and challenges to be addressed at the Workshop.

For more information see:

Program Schedule and Plenary Speakers on DogWellNet.com 
 

 and see the official conference website for registration OPEN NOW! and other practical information, as it becomes available. Or visit the SCC's Workshop 2017 website for more contact.