sandgrubber

A little quick on the draw there, mate. 1. I can think of some bench lines that weren't bred for much other than looks, and the result is not great when it comes to health. 2. What's a breeder who doesn't breed dogs in the back yard? A kennel breeder? Some of them are pretty big on for profit, particularly in trendy breeds like Frenchies. (Not to say there aren't good Frenchie breeders. Just that very high prices attract people out for $$). And some cross breeders really are aiming for something.

also to rebuff the argument that dingoes are just wild dogs so there's no point to preserving them. Genetic research isn't that expensive these days and can have side benefits, for example by building up the knowledge base for understanding hereditary conditions/diseases.

I suspect the trend toward franchised practices, and the pressure of having a practice manager, contributes to the stress.

In all my years with dogs, I've never before had a neutered boy and an entire bitch. When a bitch came on season I've usually kept careful watch for a month. Yoli (entire) and Goofy (her son, desexed) started doing hanky panky at about day 7 and have stopped at day 17-18. She now tells him off if he looks at her the wrong way. Question: Is that an indication that she now safe to walk off lead?

If Guinness has it right

https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/2019/10/15/tattoo-study/ maybe it's not as widespread as I thought Yes, it's done on male cats as well ...see photos

I have flop eared breeds so this isn't a problem. But I don't get the point of ear tattoos. In the US, vets routinely put a streak of green dye into the incision wound. It works like a tat,lasts forever, and never seems to cause problems.

How tragic...and infuriating. I thought VIC had pretty harsh laws about "restricted breeds". Why weren't the police called in immediately?

https://cgejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40575-022-00120-x#ref-CR1 Attempt to get evidence based understanding on the rise of designer breeds. Good lit review on the issue of 'hybrid vigor'.

BBC News - Pampered pooches ride Japan's Shinkansen in style https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-61543052 special coach for owners with pets on bullet train. Cute pictures.

Worth noting that this was from a vet practice in Arizona. Perhaps a region where big mean dogs are seen as weapons

No question, undisciplined biters are a menace. But it's not spare the rod and spoil the dog. Well behaved, lovable dogs are often taught in ways that are so soft you'd hardly call them discipline, and are treated almost as children. I doubt there's big overlap between vet-biters and dogs whose owners call them 'furbaby' and allow them on the bed and sofa. Formal training often isn't required to get a dog to be well mannered and reasonably polite. Just consistent gentle encouragement/discouragement by the owner. Often not much more than tone of voice and an occasional push or pull. Body language, tone of voice, treats for good behaviour, and patience cause puppies take awhile to catch on to some things.

https://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/lab/corl/canine-genetic-testing/?fbclid=IwAR2kSkhycxEcTEAT6XSlGMMzd-bwHmDpIU3aA8wHTWacul8j-_exZLzknRI University of Wisconsin is announcing agenetic test predictive of cruciate ligament rupture in Labradors. It's the first test I've heard of for a polygenetic condition. No idea how good it is. In their dataset they found 62% heritability of CL rupture. If so, the test could be very useful.

Sounds like your pup gets jollies from ripping and teating. If so, mere chewing probably won't satisfy. Problems from cardboard are rare...I've never heard of one. So let him have cardboard. Sticks with bark aren't bad if large enough that he can't get them stuck, although they are harder to clean up after. In my experience, the more dangerous stuff is filling from stuffies, corn cobs, and things that splinter.

And don't forget the people who die trying to rescue a pet from flood, fire or other disaster. Many people have very deep emotional bonds to their pet. The many jokes about loving the pet more than the partner aren't entirely jokes. It's a feature of our time.

The concept of doghood has also changed. Beating a dog isn't acceptable to most. There are behaviorists and it is generally accepted that dogs have emotions (which are probably different from human emotions). Few dogs in rich countries have the opportunity to wander, choose mates, or form packs. More dogs are child surrogates. More are professionally groomed. I don't go out for the more elaborate dog spoiling practices, foods, toys, etc because I live a low maintenance lifestyle and prefer low maintenance dogs. lt all seems like fuss and bother to me. But if someone wants to call their cherished pet a furbaby and pay $25/kilo for dogfood, far be it for me to judge, so long as they arent cruel and don't starve it or feed it into obesity.

They did full genome sequencing! If I'm not mistaken that makes it one of the largest dog genome studies ever done. Ostralander's big study sequenced less than 1000. And they selected the dogs they sequenced to get representation of different categories. None of the other full genome / breed studies have ever attempted to link behaviour to genetics. The study of crossbreeds is a way to get at heritability. In a way it's good that their results aren't what pedigree dog people would expect. It will encourage further work to try and disprove their conclusions. I must admit, I've met a few Labs that weren't gentle, biddible and relaxed dogs, and some pitties that had no fighting drive. The Science Friday podcast interviewed one of the PIs this week. She mentioned that study of actual working dogs would be interesting, as they do get selected strongly for behaviour. [Science Friday] Dog Breeds And Dog Behavior, Polar Science Update, Decarbonizing Transportation. April 29, 2022, Part 2 #scienceFriday https://podcastaddict.com/episode/139025982 via @PodcastAddict

Watch it and decide later. 4 mo is too young to decide on breeding, for many reasons.

The ANKC (and others) also seem to be pushing for extinction through limited registration, denigrating"BYBs" and closed registries. I'm all for keeping pedigrees and for rational health testing (ie required tests depend on frequency of problem, seriousness of problem and reliability of the test). I'd also like to see genetic testing used to prevent inbreeding. What I mostly sense is trying to limit breeding to titled dogs and dogs that pass rather arbitrary health testing claiming to be "ethical ".

Yes, it's consistent with anecdotal. Where I appreciate this is that anecdotes often forget the dogs that die young. Lifetables show this factor. For me one surprise was that Yorkies come out so well. They seem like a good option for people who are downsizing and don't want the feistiness of a JRT or the various problems with many toy breeds. Another surprise was that the "small dogs live longer" rule doesn't hold very well. BCs, Labbies, and the ESS have better life expectancies than most toy breeds (also better than mixed breed, though it's alwayshard to know what mix that means).

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10341-6#Fig2 This used very large sample to get longevity and construct life tables for different breeds. Also gives info by sex, and by neutered or entire. Gundogs and terriers neck and neck in lifetables. Females outlive males. Neutered outlive entire. Brachy breeds don't do well.

I'm sure the argument will continue. The most energetic debaters don't give a hoot about science (on many other topics as well).

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2317115-dingo-genome-suggests-australian-icon-not-descended-from-domestic-dogs/?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=8ecc01904a-briefing-dy-20220426&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-8ecc01904a-45542558 Latest genetic research shows large difference between dogs and dingoes

A recent paper relating lifespans to mutation rates, and cancer incidence, has been making scientific headlines. This wonderful graphic says it all. Bottom line...they still don't know why mutation burdens are different. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04618-z?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=549b352785-briefing-dy-20220420&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-549b352785-45542558