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Conyers Kennel Club Newsletter
Officers Board Members President – Don Watson Anne Crum Vice President – Randall McCurry Mike Shelton Treasurer – Rhea Spence Audrey Lycan
Secretary – Jerri Dandelske
Merry Carol
Houchard
AKC Delegate – Mike Houchard
Renae Watson
January 2010 Newsletter
Hello Everyone and Welcome to the Conyers Kennel Club Newsletter. Things will be back on track this month and we will meet at IHOP in Conyers on the second Monday of the month which is January 11, 2010 at 6:30pm to eat and the meeting usually starts around 7:30pm.
We all had a good time at the Christmas party with the gift exchange and we enjoyed the good food.
Since we didn’t have a regular meeting there will be no minutes in this newsletter. The election of officers and board members was discussed. There were no nominations from the floor so the panel stands as below.
OFFICERS:
One of our new members, Steve Donahue, suggested a fun field day. I look forward to this and I am sure many of you look forward to this as well. I will get the details out as soon as he gives me the information on this.
The Cherokee Rose Cluster show is February 5th, 6th, & 7th. Our day is Saturday the 6th. I will send out a separate e-mail to let everyone know when to meet for set up.
If you haven’t paid your club dues for 2010, don’t forget. I will get a new list of club member phone numbers out by March 1st.
There will be a Cluster Meeting January 12th, 2010 at 7:30pm. at the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church , 800 Lawrenceville Hwy., Lawrenceville, Ga. All officers and board members are expected to attend.
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American Kennel Club and Canine Health Foundation Release Podcast about Responsible Breeding Practices [Thursday, December 17, 2009]
The
American Kennel Club and the Canine Health Foundation are pleased to debut the
next podcast in the Genome Barks series.
Dr. Bell
discusses why genetic testing is important, describes the different types of
genetic tests and how to best use the test results.
an inside
look at the work being done by the AKC and the Canine Health Foundation.
website at
www.caninehealthfoundation.org - click on "Podcasts." They are also available on
Apple's iTunes® or directly at
www.genomebarks.com.
American Kennel Club and Canine Health Foundation Release Podcast about Nutrition for Chronically Ill Dogs [Thursday, December 17, 2009]
The
American Kennel Club and the Canine Health Foundation are pleased to debut the
next podcast in the Genome Barks series. Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition, Dr. Michel discusses therapeutic diets, feeding dogs with illness and other topics useful
for
dogs with health challenges.
an inside
look at the work being done by the AKC and the Canine Health Foundation.
website at
www.caninehealthfoundation.org - click on "Podcasts." They are also available on
Apple's iTunes® or directly at
www.genomebarks.com.
American Kennel Club and Canine Health Foundation Release Podcast about Bartonella Infection [Thursday, December 31, 2009]
The
American Kennel Club and the Canine Health Foundation are pleased to debut the
next podcast in the Genome Barks series. received funding from the Canine Health Foundation for various infectious diseases including Bartonella spp. In this podcast, Dr. Breitschwerdt describes
Bartonella,
explains what clinical signs to look for in a potentially ill animal, and also
discusses the various research projects underway.
owners an
inside look at the work being done by the AKC and the Canine Health Foundation.
Foundation
website at www.caninehealthfoundation.org - click on "Podcasts." They are also
available on Apple's iTunes® or directly at
www.genomebarks.com. Click here to listen to the podcasts.
Contact:
888-682-9696
AKC
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
Coonhound, Boykin Spaniel and Redbone Coonhound. Gazette, which has been the 'Official Journal for the Sport of Purebred Dogs' since 1889, to the anniversary. We have also chronicled our accomplishments in Dogs:
The First 125 Years of the American Kennel Club, an update to the well-known AKC
Sourcebook last printed in 1984.
AKC and Cat Fanciers' Association, and presented by Pet Partners, Inc. Invitational at a brand-new location, and the ever-popular National Agility Championships. And not to forget that the team we sent to the World Agility
Championships in Austria this September returned home with two silver medals!
department worked closely to make this an opportunity to educate the public
about the breed, purebred dogs, and responsible breeders.
Bo's arrival. Their work on this campaign helped them win many local and
national PR awards and keep the AKC and purebred dogs front-and-center with pet
owners.
popular AKC Canine Good Citizen test, which will get puppies and their new
owners off to a good start.
to the insight and information that will allow us to continue leading the
dialogue when it comes to enhancing and protecting canine health and welfare.
be hosting stand-alone obedience, agility or rally events open to mixed breeds.
together like-minded people who share our passion for dogs and our commitment to
responsible dog ownership.
climate, our preliminary numbers show that we will have a reasonable operating
profit for the year, in addition to record-breaking investment results.
Do you have a win photo that We'll email it to over 100,000 judges, handlers, agents and fellow exhibitors.
Be a part of the first
official AKC Weekly Wins Gallery email. so quickly and with such visual impact.
Each standard listing includes a jumbo color photo of your win shot, plus captions including dog's registered and call names, breed, owner(s) name, handler, show date, judge and even a live link to your web site. See the sample format at right. Your actual listing will be enlarged to fill the
computer screen. That's far less than a penny per email. Compare that to print advertising where you'd pay more, reach far fewer people
and usually take weeks to appear.
212-696-8259 so I can personally be of assistance to you.
scheduled for Wednesday, January 6.
EXCELLENT ARTICLE ON DEFINITION OF "PUPPY MILL".
A SAOVA message to sportsmen, pet owners and farmers concerned about protecting their traditions, avocations and livelihoods from
anti-hunting, anti-breeding, animal guardianship advocates. Forwarding and cross posting, with attribution, encouraged.
From: Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance (SAOVA)
SAOVA Friends,
Once again Cindy Cooke, Legislative Specialist, is right on target with this essay. Cindy notes that our acceptance of the animal rightist term puppy mill was a mistake and "it’s rapidly becoming fatal today." I recently attended an HSUS Lobby Seminar where the HSUS Director used the terms commercial breeder and puppy mill interchangeably, and stated that anyone with more than 6 dogs or who bred more than one/two litters a year was a commercial breeder/puppymill.
Even if you have read this article in UKC’s Coonhound Bloodlines it is worth reading one more time.
Susan Wolf
Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance - http://saova.org
Issue lobbying and working to identify and elect supportive legislators
An Obituary for Words
by
Cindy Cooke,
Legislative Specialist
censoring our speech. So I'm not going to tell you not to say "puppy mill".
I'm going to give you some very good reasons for not using that phrase. "puppy mill," invariably the definitions given include: § People who "overbreed" their dogs; § People who don't take care of their dogs; § People who have too many dogs; § People who breed dogs "just for money"; and § People who don't take health issues into account when breeding their dogs. Let's look at these definitions in turn. What is "overbreeding"? In the wild, most canids can only reproduce once a year. Most domestic dogs can have two litters a year. When I first became a dog breeder, it was almost a religious belief that no female dog should be bred more than once a year. We were told that it was important to "rest" the uterus between litters. Today, however, thanks to advances in veterinary medicine, we know that a uterus is actually damaged by the elevated progesterone levels that occur in each heat cycle, whether the dog is pregnant or not. Veterinary reproduction specialists recommend that dogs be bred on their second or third heat cycle, that we do more back-to-back breedings,
and
that we spay the dogs at around age six. female dogs actually want to be bred when they're in heat and, with few exceptions, enjoy raising their puppies. It's not an unwelcome event for
dogs. neglect or abuse dogs. Sadly, a small minority of all dog breeders - commercial, home and hobby - commit neglect and abuse. Some of these
do so out of ignorance, some out of laziness, and some out of meanness. All are
already breaking the law. It just needs to be enforced. have required every kennel to be air conditioned. Many owners of working dogs prefer that their dogs be acclimated to hot weather so that they can work when the temperature goes up. Likewise, sled dogs in the north often sleep outdoors in the snow. Dogs can live and thrive in a wide range of environments. The Arctic Circle, the jungles of Africa, and the deserts of Arabia have all produced breeds of dogs that can live happily in conditions that might not suit all dogs. It is important that we not let activists redefine the needs of dogs to the extent that we are forced to provide a brass bed and a down pillow for every animal in the kennel! What is "too many" dogs? Most of our breeds were developed by wealthy people who kept large numbers of dogs. Hound breeders traditionally kept good-sized packs, and early show breeders did as well. Now that our sport includes more mainstream people - people with jobs or people who need jobs - it's hard for many of us to keep large numbers of dogs. There is no inherent link between numbers of dogs and neglect. People
who
have the resources to keep big kennels provide a service for all of us,
particularly if they maintain a good number of useful stud dogs. and stud services. Without that income, the vast majority of middle class breeders could not afford this sport. When our sport was solely in the hands of rich people, it was the norm to sneer at people in "trade", and part of that attitude was handed down to us with the culture of our sport. Today, however, the majority of us in the sport are "in trade", in the sense that we have to work to support ourselves. Our dogs must, at least in
part, support themselves or most of us would have to get out of the game. nothing about health. In fact, I've never met a breeder who wasn't concerned about the health of his dogs and the health of his breed. Most health problems in dogs don't have simple solutions, so it is only natural that breeders are often going to disagree about how to address health problems. When there's no right answer to a question, then breeders who follow a different path than you might choose are not necessarily wrong or unconcerned. I know that many believe that commercial breeders don't care about health, but the fact is that their professional organizations
provide some of the most sophisticated health seminars in the country for their
breeders. who were breaking the law by neglecting their dogs. In a futile attempt to placate activists, many hobby breeders adopted the term "puppy mill" and used it to separate "them" from "us". It was a mistake then, and it's rapidly becoming fatal today. Every one of these so-called "anti-puppy-mill" bills has a definition that could easily include breeders of hunting and show dogs. Every time you use that phrase, you're
contributing to the idea that dog breeders need to be regulated out of
existence. predictability, and that people should shop at least as carefully for a puppy as they do for a car. We don't need to help the animal radicals spread
their message by using their favorite term: puppy mill.
The message above was posted to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky residents by
the Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance (SAOVA). only national organization fighting this struggle for both sportsmen and animal owners, natural allies, in these arenas. Visit our website at
http://saova.org for this program's goals, methodology and list signup details.
________________________________________________________________________________
AKC has a veterinary scholarship program and also invites vet students to the Canine Health Foundation conferences. Those students who attend take information back to the schools, sharing what they have learned about dogs. AKC also provides copies of dog books to upper class vet students. Unfortunately AKC does not broadcast these efforts.
Monica Stoner __________________________________________________________________________________
puppy's health history, she advised that if I spayed my little dog before her first heat cycle, the risk of mammary cancer could be eliminated. "Good
to know," I replied. "But how will that affect her future as my foundation
bitch?"
commercial artist to co-author a peer-reviewed paper for the American Journal of
Veterinary Ophthalmology. sportsmen, and food producers, is being transformed by an activist reduces owners to "guardians" and elevates health providers to the
self-appointed role of animal "advocate." breed standards, despite the fact that the majority of purebreds are produced by family pets and commercial breeders, their puppies as far
removed from the show ring as a second-hand pickup from the Formula One track.
of
some controversy, these procedures serve both aesthetic and practical ends,
injury prevention and hygiene among them.
insert itself into the fallopian tubes of its poodles. Association (CVMA): "These vets are not only speaking of cropping and docking. Several, led by New Brunswick, are openly critical of the CKC's breed standards, feel that breeders are poorly educated with respect to health, genetics and breeding practices to support an animal's welfare and are censorious of breeders -- in particular those breeders who breed conformation dogs for show. They are criticizing our standards for individual
breeds and are of the opinion that we are not supporting the puppy purchasers
with healthy dogs." slice open her abdomen to remove a healthy uterus? Who better to seek criminalization of ear cropping than a profession that declaws kittens for
profit? much less the diverse origins and forces that shape gene pools. It's unreasonable to expect them to -- it takes a lifetime of study to master a single
breed, much less hundreds. to everyday canine society -- rescue efforts, training classes, consumer advice, the millions raised, the efforts donated to health research. There is no profit in showing dogs, for costs quickly negate the returns. It's an esoteric pursuit, driven by love of breed, competitive reward, and that appreciation of form and symmetry shared by all artists, a thing we know as "beauty." The Doberman's "look of eagles," the merle collie's loud and luxurious coat, the silhouette of the Skipperke -- those things that fill the eye can determine the fate of breeds, for it is their beauty that so often
attracts and inspires human beings to devote resources to their perpetuation.
limited genetic diversity, it takes only one ill-conceived edict on the part of
policy makers to start it down the road to collapse. needs to crop ears on a Boxer. But then again, no one needs a Boxer at all, or any sort of pet. Purebreds (of all species) carry health risks derived from their genetic founding fathers. Breeds weren't created to compile longevity records, but to perform tasks for mankind -- to dispatch vermin, predators, and enemy barbarians, locate game, retrieve over water, to pull sleds, or warm a dowager's bed on a cold winter night. And so, they
remain imperfect. recruited the English bulldog as a symbol of resolve in World War II, but the massive head that encouraged a nation results in caesarian sections. The Dalmatian's spots are beloved of Disney and children everywhere, but the genetics that create them can result in deafness. The merry spaniel
can wag an undocked tail to bloody pulp, but no one hunts woodcock in these
parts. Better no cocker, they say, than no tail. declare something "beautiful" -- the eradication of the purebred dog is underway, aided and abetted by those we once considered friends. And yet, to this breeder at least, so seldom has one small thing carried with it such symbolism for what it is we are allowing them to destroy. There is an air of nihilism in what they do. Like "green" zealots who insist millions will die from climate change unless we reduce the earth's population by billions, their ideological sisters in veterinary activism would solve the problems of purebred dogs by eliminating them altogether. They seem oddly
disconnected from the reality that for veterinary medicine to survive, the
patient must reproduce. "Minuteman" kennel line include those ranked #1 in the breed in the USA, Canada, Brazil and England, along with the #2 MS in Australia and the Jr. World Winner at the World Show in Slovakia. ___________________________________________________
I decided to voice my opinions on the things brought up in the above article. I see nothing wrong with tail docking. It is done at 3 or 4 days old when a puppy doesn’t have much feeling in their tail yet, and it heals very quickly. Tail docking is most often performed in puppies to prevent tail damage in certain breeds, for hygiene reasons and to comply with specific breed standards.
In my opinion ear cropping is just for cosmetic reasons. There may be a time when it served more of a purpose and maybe for some breeds it still does but ear cropping is most often performed to comply with standards for various breeds. Several breeds either require ear cropping or accept cropped ears in the show ring. Whether or not to have the ears cropped, however, is a personal decision. People do a lot of things to themselves for cosmetic reasons, lipo-suction, tummy tucks face lifts and many other things. If we do these things to ourselves to make us look better what is the harm in making our dogs look better also. Some breeds of dogs would not be recognized if you didn’t crop the ears.
I believe as a whole that most breeds have improved over the years. Look at the Golden Retrievers now compared to a few years ago. However I also believe that is not the case with all breeds. I don’t believe we should strive to get heads so big that our dogs (such as the Bulldogs) have to have a caesarian sections in order to have their puppies. I also don’t like what has happened to the German Shepherd. They look deformed to me, crippled. If breeders would stop and think about these things before we breed then maybe these animal rights groups would leave us alone.
As I said previously, these are my opinions and do not reflect the opinions of this club or anyone else. If you have an opinion you would like published in the newsletter please e-mail it to me.
Sandra McCurry
Newsletter-Sandra McCurry
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