Fading Puppy Syndrome – One Possible Cause: Until relatively recently, canine herpes seemed to be a problem only in the whelping boxes maintained by rank novices in breeding dogs. Experienced breeders could control it, prevent the effects. But it appears that perhaps a different strain of virus may be running rampant and causing more and …
At the end of November, on my way to judge in a neighboring country, I was pleased to be invited into the ring to take pictures and converse with the officers and judge of the 2003 Peru Sieger Show. This was my second trip to Peru, the first having been 4.5 …
For a number of reasons, this year’s United Schutzhund Clubs of America (USA) Sieger Show was smaller than usual, though there were sufficient world-class dogs there, that anybody would be proud to own. The relative isolation of a West-coast location kept many from east of the Rockies from attending, although last year’s show in Las …
There has been a political revolution in the metaphoric halls of the SV recently, and many have wondered how it would affect the dog itself. The judging (of adult dogs, especially) at the Sieger Show 2003 was watched carefully for clues to the answer. In this year’s “Impressions”, I am emphasizing those Gebrauchshundklasse results, from …
Revised December 2011. It seems that every-other trip I make to Taiwan coincides with renewed national (or nation-to-nation) turmoil. That island country was once known by foreigners as Formosa (“beautiful island”), and I still catch myself using that name, a holdover from the days I was a star geography student in the 1940s. In the …
Revised December 2011. An infrequent, puzzling phenomenon is the litter in which many, if not all, of the whelps become strangely deformed sometime in the first two weeks of life. A flattening of the thorax and abdomen, top to bottom, becomes evident about a week after birth from some unknown cause. It apparently happens most …
Revised December 2011. Proportions, Leg-length Ratios, and Breed Standards: Using the Vizsla and the German Shepherd Dog as Examples In early 2003, there began an argument in the circles of Vizsla fanciers in the Vizsla Club of America, VCA. This Hungarian breed of dog is a moderately-sized and agile hunter well suited to “upland” field …
A disorder sometimes easily mistaken for hip dysplasia is Legg Calvé Perthes disease, perhaps more frequently referred to by the dog fancier as Legg Perthes. This is an avascular (pertaining to inadequate blood supply), aseptic (not infected), developmental osteonecrosis (dying of bone tissue) of the femoral head and neck, …
Revised December 2012. Sometimes the seasoned exhibitor fails to remember how long it took him to get the hang of things when he was first going to dog shows. To the first-time spectator and for some time afterward, the activity at a show is confusing. After a few discussions with someone who knows the ropes, …
This article is slightly more than an update on the hip registries operating in the U.S. (and Canada, to a great extent). It is a revision of one that appeared at the turn of the 2001-2002 year, because a couple of things have changed since then. I hope to not only …