Revised December 2011. Osteochondrosis is a term applied to a number of similar disorders of the joints where bone (osteo) and cartilage (chondro) are involved. If they are inflamed we use the term osteochondritis. It is now a fairly common diagnosis in young limping dogs, the defects being found in one or more of those …
Fred judged the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog sweepstakes at the “national” weekend and presented a seminar for the club in the fall of 1999 in Virginia Beach, VA. He is the author of “Canine Hip Dysplasia and Other Orthopedic Problems” and lectures worldwide on these and other topics. Another Look …
Jay Lush, father of modern animal breeding, stated that variation is the raw material with which breeder works. The focus of this article is on the use of variation and measures of variation, in making breeding decisions. It includes the related ideas of relationship and inbreeding, as well as systems of mating that make use …
In the course of my judging and lecturing all over the globe, I naturally see variability in how much emphasis is placed, by breeders and buyers, on orthopedically sound hips. I also see some variation in attitudes and techniques in the veterinary profession. For example, when I taught one vet in …
Revised December 2011. It’s been around a long time, and it’s not going to go away. Once considered an exotic or tropical disease, later associated specifically with German Shepherd Dogs but not your little Fifi, Ehrlichiosis is a disease that can range from stubbornly persistent to downright fatal. Actually, we might not be technically correct …
Continued from Previous Page Experience and History with ZW The current expressions of opinion are generally positive in outlook, supported substantially by two basic principles: The application is very simple for the breeder. For his bitch, whose HD breed value he knows, the breeder can select from a broad offering of dogs that are qualified …
Continued from Previous Page ZW Mandatory As Of July 1999 Wide implementation of the method of Breed Value Assessment has been effective in the “commercial animal” breeds (food & textile). This includes, in a computer record, all available data of the ancestors and any available progeny as well as of the personal phenotype of the …
Many GSD fanciers (yes, unfortunately even breeders) have either not heard of the Zuchtwert program or have almost no idea of what it is. For nearly four decades, the world of dogs has known about canine hip dysplasia (HD) and has followed protocols laid down in the 1950s and ‘60s for diagnosis and control. In …
TRANSITIONAL VERTEBRAE, TVS There has been a flurry of questions in recent years about conditions known as TVS and APA (asymmetrical pelvic attachment), which makes me wonder if it is the incidence or the diagnosis that is on the rise. A malformation of vertebrae, usually the last lumbar or first sacral vertebra (sometimes more than …
Revised December 2011. Spondylosis deformans is a condition in which bridges are formed along the ventral (bottom) parts of the vertebrae. It has been diagnosed in man, domestic cats (68%, yet almost no symptoms reported!), bulls, and even whales as well as in dogs. The term “spondylitis” literally means “an inflammation of the spine,” especially …