DogWellNet Digest: Issue #34 - 12 November 2020

News & Highlights

IPFD News

IPFD Board Update
 

We're delighted to introduce our newest Board Member, Alexandre Balzer.

Alexandre is a vet practitioner in his clinic in France. A prolific writer, he frequently authors articles on pet health and collaborates on training resources for vets, breeders, and dog trainers, and he is the author or co-author of a several books and numerous scientific articles. Alexandre often works with the Société Centrale Canine (SCC) and with breeders on health issues, and he has considerable experience talking to owners and the public about dog health and well-being. He and his wife breed Newfoundlands and Golden Retrievers.

In addition to currently serving as Vice-Président, Société Centrale Canine (SCC) and the SCC Scientific Commission, Alexandre has numerous affiliations in the dog world. See his full bio and more on all of our Board Members here.

We also wish to thank Gregoire Leroy for his contributions as he steps away from the Board. We wish him all the best in his new endeavours for animal health and welfare!
 

IPFD In The News

• Refer to the Spotlight below for a list of media stories and articles posted by IPFD Partners and other contributors who are helping to spread the word on IPFD's Call for Collective Actions for Health and Welfare of Pedigree Dogs.

   

Blogs

• In her latest blog, IPFD CEO Dr. Brenda Bonnett links to some new research, and ponders some wider implications. See German Shepherds - Research confirms the obvious?? Starting with ''According to a press release from the University of Surrey in the UK:  "Movement of German Shepherd Dogs is dependent on their shape.", the blog asks us to think about how much evidence we need in order to address issues that are quite clear to most.

Breeds Listings

★ This Month's Breed is the Australian Shepherd ★

Description: The Aussie is a medium size breed of dog that was developed on ranches in the western United States. Despite its name, the breed was not developed in Australia. So why the Australian Shepherd name? Its name comes from an association with Basque Sheepherders who came to the United States from Australia in the 1800s.

• Check out the Australian Shepherd Breed Profile in our Pedigreed Breeds Database.
• A new article on Aussies (Get a GRIHP! on the Australian Shepherd) is part of a series to highlight the Big Picture of health, welfare, and breeding and to help develop Globally Relevant Integrated Health Profiles (GRIHPs) for many breeds. See IPFD's Get a GRIHP! on Breed Health Initiative.
• A 'Meet the Breed - Australian Shepherds' was also featured in a recent IPFD article in the WSAVA Bulletin.

Updated Breeds

This month, we'll feature several content updates to the Australian Terrier page in our Pedigreed Breeds Database.

Did you know??? From the F.C.I. breed Standard:  "Although produced from British ancestors, the Australian Terrier is one of the few breeds in the  terrier group to have been developed outside the  United Kingdom. It can also rightly claim to be the first breed developed in Australia."

This relatively low population breed's registrations have been dropping since 2008. How do we know this? Thanks to a thorough presentation written by Dr Grace Massey & Vicki McKee, entitled: Australian Terrier Sustainability starts with Global Statistics.

WOW - this is one IMPRESSIVE document!

Along with other breed club websites that offer terrific information, The Australian Terrier Club of America's website is truly a treasure trove of information on this breed, including health and world-wide population data, judge's educational content, ongoing surveys, Dr. Jerold Bell's video presentation, "A genetic Overview of the Australian Terrier", as well as a delightful collection of links to breed-specific articles. While there may not be many Australian Terriers, the commitment of fanciers to these dogs exemplifies the very best approach to breed education and management within this breed's community to work towards a bright future for the breed. 

IPFD Partners in Action

• IPFD Collaborating Partner, The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA), has recently published the latest edition of Dog Breeds: What You Need to Know, a regular feature in their online news section (and in the WSAVA Bulletin) that highlights IPFD resources on a particular breed with a focus on breed-specific diseases.

          In this Issue: Meet the Australian Shepherds – Not, in fact, Australian!

• Also included in the 11 November WSAVA bulletin is an article profiling IPFD's Harmonization of Genetic Testing for Dogs (HGTD), entitled: Do you know what HGTD can do for you?
  
  You can also view previous editions of Dog Breeds: What You Need to Know in our archive article here on DogWellNet.com.

• Dr. Jerold Bell is a long-time leader of international actions for dog health and welfare and a great friend and supporter of IPFD. Chair of the Hereditary Disease Committee of the WSAVA (IPFD Collaborating Partner), he has a new video entitled: Understanding Mixed-breed and Purebred Populations and How it Relates to Genetic Disease in Your Patients.

Harmonization of Genetic Testing for Dogs (HGTD)

In our continued effort to improve HGTD, we have made major changes to our breed-specific genetic test listings. We’ve added a number of new features and information to help owners, breeders, and canine health professionals make the most of the breed-specific test listings. See the updated article: HGTD - What is a Breed Relevance Rating? for more details.

HGTD & Genetic Testing Blog
The HGTD & Genetic Testing blog, HGTD This Week, provides regular updates on our rapidly expanding genetic testing resources. It currently features regular input from Brenda Bonnett and Aimee Llewellyn-Zaidi, but be sure to look out for future posts from special guests! 

• See Aimee's latest blog: HGTD This Week: NEW Inclusive breed-specific test listings on HGTD
   
• In another entry, Calling All Breed Experts!, IPFD welcomes input from breed experts to provide breed-specific guidance on diseases important to their breed(s), links to current ongoing research, and feedback on HGTD features that are most beneficial or in need of improvement.

Ask Aimee

Our HGTD Project Manager, Aimee Llewellyn-Zaidi, provides answers to your questions on canine genetic testing in Ask Aimee. If you’d like to submit a question to Aimee, please email her at aimee.llewellyn-zaidi@ipfdogs.com.

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 and/or HGTD Project Manager, Aimee Llewellyn-Zaidi.