DogWellNet Digest: Issue #24 - 3 May 2019

News & Highlights

Breeds

• Breed of the Month

★ This Month's Breed is the Basenji ★

WHY? Educational content - including links to an outstanding collection of breed history and tools for breeders and judges available from The Basenji Club of America as well as videos and publications! 

• New information for the following breeds has also been added to our Pedigree Breeds Database:

Updated Breeds:

Brussels Griffon | Great Dane | Keeshond

New Breeds:

German Spitz

Historically, the German Spitz was primarily used as a working dog on farms. He is usually stubborn and independent, so you will have to establish yourself as a dominant leader through persistent obedience training. Mittelspitz is often curious and will definitely try to explore the surroundings whenever he gets a chance. This is a very agile breed, kept as companions or family pets, known to be good watchdogs with bold and fiery personalities.
All German Spitz dogs share some common characteristics, such as intelligence, agility, cheerfulness, playfulness, alertness, loyalty, resourcefulness, boldness, independence, and curiosity.

Source: Primitive Dogs

Petit Brabançon

The Petit Brabançon is a small companion breed that was originally developed from ratters working in the stables of Belgian carriage men. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) recognize them as one of three different breeds of griffon from Belgium, the other two being Belgian Griffon and Brussels Griffon. The American Kennel Club and Kennel Club recognize all varieties as a single breed.

Articles

• The struggle against hypertypes: an old dog fancier’s point of view, by Raymond Triquet, France
  Pr. Triquet addresses hypertypes, matters of perception of beauty, dog showing and judging, the importance of Breed Standards and Club Newsletters in relating correct ideas about dogs qualities. The guiding statement made is that "beautiful dogs must also be happy dogs".

• Why did cross breeding become taboo in the world of pedigree dogs?
  From reading materials for the 4th IDHW - See more at Concept of Breed Theme.

• Questionable Phenotypic Traits in the Rottweiler
  Prof. Dr. Peter Friedrich covers recent FCI breed standard revisions adopted to clarify functional aspects sought in the breed (including the complex of traits of concern in the head area) and comments on application of the JLPP test and other factors that impact genetic diversity, health and welfare of this breed.

Blogs

• In her latest blog post, Breeding: A Moral Choice?, IPFD CEO Dr. Brenda Bonnett reflects on Kevin Colwill's thoughtful piece in Our Dogs entitled: "Breeding: Is it a moral choice?". The original article is also provided (re-published with permission).

• Why do people choose the dogs they do - and what is the impact on dog health and welfare? Check out Dr. Brenda Bonnett's blog post for discussion points, which include a reference to recent research, Published: 28 March 2019 -- "Acquiring a Pet Dog: A Review of Factors Affecting the Decision-Making of Prospective Dog Owners".

IPFD Partners in Action

• We're delighted to announce that The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) are now IPFD Partner Collaborators.

WSAVA previously supported IPFD through the collaboration of their Hereditary Disease Committee.

Harmonization of Genetic Testing for Dogs (HGTD)

New Features in the HGTD Databases!

Users can now see when a new Genetic Test Provider (GTP) has joined, and their participation level: Leadership Sponsors, Sponsors, or Participants. 

We are also proud to be listing our HGTD Sponsors for 2019. You can find their logos and links prominently displayed on the front page of the Harmonization section. We thank all of our Sponsors for supporting this important project. 

Did You Know?

We work throughout the year to ensure the data from participating GTPs is up to date, as accuracy is very important! You can find a GTP's last data update in the GTP information in the Search the HGTD/Lab Test Providers section.  

Thank You to Our Researcher and Breeder Community!

Collaboration is key to building the HGTD. Thanks to researchers and members of the breeder community, we are able to improve information and provide more accurate and useful data in our Phenes database. If you spot a possible error, or if something doesn't seem right, please reach out to us. We will do the research and make any necessary changes! 

Get Involved in HGTD! We welcome additional participant GTPs, more collaborators from any stakeholders concerned with dog health and welfare, the advice of experts, the participation of breed clubs and other consumer groups. We stand ready to provide more information to ongoing discussions.

Please feel free to contact us as we work together for healthy dogs and to support those who breed and own them: IPFD CEO, Dr. Brenda Bonnett, at brenda.bonnett@ipfdogs.com and/or HGTD Project Director, Aimee Llewellyn-Zaidi, at aimee.llewellyn-zaidi@ipfdogs.com.

     4th IDHW Pre-Meeting Resources

We're still adding pre-meeting background materials for participants of the 4th International Dog Health Workshop (IDHW), but this information will also be of interest to non-attendees who are interested in the topics addressed in the IDHW themes. Click on a Theme below, or visit the main Pre-Meeting Resources page here.

Theme #1: The Concept of ‘Breed’

Theme #2: Supply and Demand

Theme #3: Breed-Specific Health Strategies

Theme #4: Genetic Testing for Dogs

Theme #5: Exaggerations and Extremes in Dog Conformation

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