Introduction Some 70-80 % of all dogs suffer at least once in their life from backaches. Disorders of the spinal vertebrae and their associated backaches belong therefore to any list of most-frequent illnesses in many breeds, particularly the German Shepherd Dog. The chosen treatment procedures …
The information provided here outlines an approach that has been used successfully by the author to reduce the prevalence of clinically expressed canine thyroid disease within susceptible families or breeds. EARLY THYROID DISEASE (THYROIDITIS) COMPENSATORY AND CLINICAL CANINE HYPOTHYROIDISM Most of the confusion about the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease …
Revised 2012 German Shepherd Dog Myelopathy, also known as DM for Degenerative (chronic and progressive) Myelopathy (spinal cord disease), or CDRM in the UK, is the first disorder that comes to mind when German Shepherd Dogs and spinal lesions are spoken of together. Almost peculiar to Shepherds, the first symptoms are usually seen at more …
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 …
The title of this article stems from a discussion list or website group in the U.K. with the name “Let’s Talk Breeding”. One of its subscribers said she couldn’t “sit by and listen to foolishness without speaking up.” While the forum is admirably open-ended, “designed to allow all sides of …
Early genetics When Mendel’s work was rediscovered at the beginning of the twentieth century, the new field of Genetics went in several directions. The T. H. Morgan (1) school quickly got tired of crossing green to yellow peas and moved on to discovering white-eyed fruit flies, linkage and genetic maps. …
Revised December 2011. The pup the Smiths bought was a very promising individual with a great pedigree. Here, they hoped, was the foundation of their successful showing and breeding future. But in a matter of a couple of weeks, a previously unnoticed cowhocked condition developed and worsened. They shrugged this off, having heard that dogs …
IT’S ALL IN THE GENES As dog breeders, we engage in genetic “experiments” each time we plan a mating. The type of mating selected should coincide with your goals. To some breeders, determining which traits will appear in the offspring of a mating is like rolling the dice – a combination of luck and chance. …
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 …