sandgrubber

Maybe. Given the data set was huge and not selected for health tested cross breeds. I suspect most of the cross breeds in the study were not the carefully bred sort. Breed specific or breed concentrated genetic diseases can originate from loss of genetic diversity, and cross breeding tends to reduce the frequency of getting two recessive genes.

Scientific evidence shows cross breeding can have health benefits. https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2018-06-15/study-reveals-genetic-diseases-mixed-breed-purebred-dogs

English Springers are interesting in tending to have white background with dark (liver or black) ticking and patches. Ears most often dark. Tail and paws most often white. Bench breeding discourages ticking, but it's probably a majority trait in field Spanners. Trendy stuff includes roans and tricolour. Occasionally, eyes of different colours. Personally I find colour genetics interesting, but selection for colour infuriating. Back to Labs, the land race behind them (Lesser St John's dog, now extinct) was usually black with white common in paws and on the chest. The damn Victorians selected for solid colour, mostly black. Like "improving the breed" means making its coat appear more like your servants' attire.

Not uncommon. Bolo pads have a long distinguished heritage in Labs. Bolo was a top Lab when the breed was first established and his progeny often had white on pads. I don't know if judges in the 2020s know this...have lost track of the show scene. Certainly nothing to worry about.

Btw, link to the poem https://www.rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm

Interesting read about theauthor of The Rainbow Bridge: Rainbow Bridge: Setting the Record Straight Most anyone who has loved and lost a dog has most certainly heard of the poem, Rainbow Bridge, a tribute to pets that have passed. The poem has touched the lives of millions of pet lovers around the world. Most often, it has been shared, posted or inscribed with "Author Unknown" attached to it. Paul Koudounaris, an art historian and founder of The Order of the Good Death, was on a mission to find the poem's true auther. Through his research, Koudounaris found records of 15 separate claims filed under the title "Rainbow Bridge" with the United States Copyright Office, dating as far back as 1995. He compiled a list of 25 names he found that had any connection to the poem. Then, he found the name Edna Clyne from Scotland, in an online chat group. A little Googling led him to the name Edna Clyne-Rekhy, whose authorship of a book about her late husband and their dog made him jot her name onto the list — the only woman and the only non-American. "What initially would have seemed like the most unlikely candidate in the end turned out to be the most intriguing candidate and, of course, the actual author," said Koudounaris. When Koudounaris contacted 82-year-old Ms. Clyne-Rekhy, she had no idea that the poem she had written more than 60 years ago to honor her childhood dog had brought comfort to so many people. Major, a Labrador Retriever, was Edna's first dog. "Major was a very special dog," said Edna. “Sometimes I would just sit and talk to him, and I felt that he could understand every word I said.” Her mother used to ask how Edna had trained Major to be so gentle and obedient, and she still laughs about the question, explaining that she had never trained him at all, it was natural between them. Major died in 1959, when Edna was 19 years old. The day after he passed, Edna found a notebook and pulled a piece of paper from it. As she began writing, she felt as if Major was guiding her pen. "Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge," the poem begins. When she was finished, she wrote "Rainbow Bridge" at the top of the piece of paper, then showed it to her mother, who responded, "My darling girl, you are very special." Afterwards, she put the piece of paper away and didn't show it to anyone else for a long time. Years later, she showed the poem to her husband, Jack Rekhy, who suggested she publish it. But, Edna didn't want to, telling him it was something private between herself and Major. Eventually, Edna typed up a few copies and handed them out to close friends - but she did not add her name on those copies. As more and more people shared the poem, it became cut off from its source. By the early 1990s it had crossed the Atlantic. In February 1994, a woman from Grand Rapids, Michigan, sent a copy of Rainbow Bridge that they had received from their local humane society to the advice column Dear Abby. It was published with a comment from Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby), "I'm sure that many readers will be as moved as I when they read it. I confess, I shed a tear or two. Regrettably, you did not include the name of the author. If anyone in my reading audience can verify authorship, please let me know." The letter provoked an overwhelming reponse with mailbags full of letters from pet owners who had been touched by the poem. When Koudounaris reached Edna, she was surprised he found her, and the reason why. She told him everything, inluding that the original poem sat in a box in her attic marked, "If you can't find it, it's in here." Edna confessed to Koudounaris that when she took the poem out of the box to take photos of it for him that she began to cry. The memory of Major in the poem still carries that much emotional power for Edna. "More than anything though, she is simply flattered that something she wrote so long ago has resonated with such a vast number of people—the fact that it has comforted so many is the greatest possible homage to her love for Major," Koudounaris said. "She knew nothing about the inscribed tablets in pet cemeteries. She had also never heard the abbreviation ATB. I had to explain that it meant 'At The Bridge', and that there are entire mourning groups based around those three letters, which signify the pets waiting to meet their owners at a place she invented for Major." "As a concept, what nineteen-year-old Edna envisioned is a kind of limbo where deceased pets are returned to their most hale form and cavort in newfound youth in an Elysian setting," wrote Koudounaris. "But it is not paradise itself. Rather, it is a kind of way station where the spirit of an animal waits for the arrival of its earthly human companion, so that they may cross the Bridge together, to achieve true and eternal paradise in each other’s company, and to thereafter never again be parted." Koudounaris asked one question of Edna that took her aback during their discussions. What advice could she share for someone suffering from the loss of a pet? "Her response was then immediate – get another pet," wrote Koudounaris. "She said that the relationship with a new pet will never be the same as the relationship with the old one, but it can be equally special and loving in different ways."

That's probably it. They didn't say she had no antibiotics. They did seem impressed with how quickly she came to. She wasn't wobbly when I picked her up.

Yoli got spayed yesterday. I was surprised for 2 reasons. First, they didn't send her home with Clavulox. (I asked. They said it was a clean surgery and not needed). Second, she was ready for pickup 4 1/2 hours after I dropped her off. I'm generally happy to see less use of antibiotics, but still a tad worried about infection. Are others seeing less antibiotics and faster surgery at their vets?

If You want a sense of the probabilities, this is a good article, though it's best for the specific breeds studied. Spay incontinence seems to run around 10%, and is worse for early spay. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.00388/full

Not sure this should be news, at least until autopsy reports are available. The trainers may be in the right. If so, it's wrong that their reputation gets blackened.

If you mean she's on season, possible, but not recommended. Many vets won't do it

Agree with the above. 10 weeks, no problem.

Depends on both! All breeds have variation, but on average, breed differences are real, and the odds are better or worse, depending on breed. Owner savvy and training also pay a big role.

Not well balanced. Cat poo is at least as bad. Salmonella is everywhere...dog poo is the least of worries there.

Cat isn't the only issue. Depending on what state you've in, a pit cross may be banned or restricted, which can potentially become a migraine-scale headache. There are some wonderful pits and pit crosses, but there are also some shockers. Personally, I'd look elsewhere. There are a lot of dogs and pups looking for homes post Covid-19.

When it happens it's bad. Bull terriers of all types are more prone to dog aggression than other dogs. On the other hand, YES, a companion is great for a deaf dog. Maybe you can find an older SBT or AmStaff or the like needing rehoming or rescue, on terms where you can return the dog if the two don't get along.

A scan of the literature says the genetics required to digest starch varies significantly both between and anong breeds. My 2 ESS scorning even starchy veggies and gobbling even the harsher meats seems to put them among the outliers for their breed https://www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/blog/a-key-genetic-innovation-in-dogs-diet

I used to have Labradors. No question: they're omnivores. Most fruit and veg, sometimes even the skins (melons) and almost all carbs, particularly if they had any fat coating them were happily consumed along with meat, fish, dairy and eggs. Most, however. Wouldn't touch raw liver. I now have two Springers. They won't touch most fruit and veg, unless generously buttered or cooked in meat broth. They scorn bread. One of them won't even eat the classy dog rolls sold by my butcher. But they will happily gorge on any meat, including raw liver. It would be interesting to know if Labradors have more copies of the genes for amylase than Springers do.

Back when BARF diets were a new trend and it was all DIY, there were recommendations for, say, 10% organ meat. Haven't seen much about organ meat since then, but have seen occasional warnings about toxin accumulation in the liver. Back then my dogs wouldn't eat liver. My present dogs are happy with beef liver, and it's reasonably cheap. I'm in NZ, so the beefies are pretty much all grass fed and livers probably don't accumulate much toxic stuff. Is it good to do give them, say, 200 g a week? (oversized ESSs, 20 - 30 kg)

Huntaways are great dogs, nice temperament, but many bark too much for family pets. Plenty of pups available in NZ...usually cheap.

I just listened to an interesting podcast about the increase in allergies in human populations, wondering if the factors discussed are also in play for K9 allergies. [Science Weekly] Why are food allergies on the rise and is a cure on the horizon? #scienceWeekly https://podcastaddict.com/science-weekly/episode/158558909 via @PodcastAddict The woman being interviewed is an allergy specialist @ Harvard School of Public Health, so not a looney. She said (among many other things) that early exposure to a wide variety of proteins helps avoid the development of allergies. Is this also true for dogs? Should we be feeding pups variety, rather than sticking with one main staple?

Arrogant rich people tend to think they'll beat the odds.

"SVES did provide a statement toA Current Affairdefending the bill, saying the client was aware and consented to the cost for the “unique and critical case” prior to treatment and after choosing between “alternative treatment options” “The client also obtained a second opinion with an independent 3rd party about the proposed treatment and costs prior to consenting to the cost of the surgery,” the clinic’s statement read."

It works be interesting to know how well the dog recovered, and how long it lived after the operation. I'd guess it would be a slow and difficult recovery.

Most clients would have checked up soon after admission. We don't know the full story here. "SVES did provide a statement toA Current Affairdefending the bill, saying the client was aware and consented to the cost for the “unique and critical case” prior to treatment and after choosing between “alternative treatment options” “The client also obtained a second opinion with an independent 3rd party about the proposed treatment and costs prior to consenting to the cost of the surgery,” the clinic’s statement read."