If you are not going to breed your dog have your male neurtered. Your dog will not become fat, Nothing makes them fat except too much food and/or lack of exercise.
The health benefits alone are worth it.
You can look to avoid:
Testicular Tumors, the second most common malignancy in males. Growths can occur as young as 2 years with the average 10-11 years. Testicular Torsion, potentially life-threatening. Infection, trauma, wounds and frostbite can also give and stress to the intact male.
Benign prostatic hypertrophy, occurs in more than 60% of intact males over 5 years of age. Treatment is usually unrewarding.
Neurtering can help calm an overactive dog, helps with the wanderlust, and indoor urination. Prevents prostate enlargement and infection. Checks aggression. Not to mention preventing the male from accidental future litters!
**facts from Successful Dog Breeding by Chris Walkowicz and Bonnie Wilcox, D.V.M**
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Understanding OFA/PennHip Scores
PennHIP Results
Above is an actual PennHip result. This is from our girl Pastorale. As you can see she had poor hips. (she was spayed) This result will tell you many things, for example: how your dog ranks in the test group (breed), your dogs actual reading, and if there is any degenerative joint disease yet. NONE of these should be confused with the other.
A) Shows the distraction index for the left hip. This is a measurement of the hip joint laxity. This measurement ranges from 0 to 1. Close to zero is tight, close to one is loose. Passy’s left hips is .71. Much closer to 1 than 0. So Passy has loose hips. The next box shows if there is at this time any Degenerative Joint Disease yet. She has none at this time.
B) Repeats for Right hip.
The blue circle shows DI and DJD numbers concerning your reading.
Passy had a HIGH risk of Degenerative Joint Disease since her distraction index was so high. (.71 and .75)
So, of course, you want this DI number to be LOW.
Notice this line above the green circle. This shows the... middle of the road mark, for this breed, at this time. In the PennHip result below this has average. As more dogs of a certain breed are tested, the average will change.
The green circle is what covers where your dog rates against all the other dogs. In Passy’s case, there were 40370 dogs (there were not enough Estrela to rank against so ALL dogs were used) 90% of the dogs had TIGHTER hips than Passy, and 10% had looser hips. So when people give you a percentage number in regards to Pennhip you understand that is NOT that dogs score. Passy is ranked in the 10th percentile….that sort of sounds good doesn’t’ it? But as you can see it is not.
Now this, above, is a much better score. This is Juno's results. She was tested against other Estrela since now there are enough in there to compare too. She also is in the 90th percentile. Meaning her hips are better than 90% of the dogs in the PennHip database.
OFA Results
The OFA Hip report above belongs to another of our girls, Fofa. She was graded a "GOOD". OFA is much easier to understand than PennHip. They give the following passing grades: Excellent, Good, and Fair. The following grades are failing: Borderline, Mild, Moderate and Severe.
In the case of a Failing grade, your report will look like the one below. This report belongs to a buhund. She belonged to a friend of mine. TrailsEnd has permission to use this report.
As you can see from this, Kjersti had Moderate Hip Dysplasia, and you even have the following conditions checked on the right.
An Elbow result will be exactly the same in both cases. The passing grade is Normal, the failing results are classified as: grade I, grade II or grade III. With grade three being the worse of the three.
Comparing Databases
OFA and PennHip are mostly used in the USA. Other countries are now taking advantage of PennHip since you can submit at 16 weeks of age. However many countries have their own hip grading system. It is hard to put PennHip on this chart, since they do not have a pass/fail system. The averages for breeds can change over time with PennHip, which makes grading overall difficult to compare with other databases.
This chart can give you an idea of the equivalent from one database to another.
Above is an actual PennHip result. This is from our girl Pastorale. As you can see she had poor hips. (she was spayed) This result will tell you many things, for example: how your dog ranks in the test group (breed), your dogs actual reading, and if there is any degenerative joint disease yet. NONE of these should be confused with the other.
A) Shows the distraction index for the left hip. This is a measurement of the hip joint laxity. This measurement ranges from 0 to 1. Close to zero is tight, close to one is loose. Passy’s left hips is .71. Much closer to 1 than 0. So Passy has loose hips. The next box shows if there is at this time any Degenerative Joint Disease yet. She has none at this time.
B) Repeats for Right hip.
The blue circle shows DI and DJD numbers concerning your reading.
Passy had a HIGH risk of Degenerative Joint Disease since her distraction index was so high. (.71 and .75)
So, of course, you want this DI number to be LOW.
Notice this line above the green circle. This shows the... middle of the road mark, for this breed, at this time. In the PennHip result below this has average. As more dogs of a certain breed are tested, the average will change.
The green circle is what covers where your dog rates against all the other dogs. In Passy’s case, there were 40370 dogs (there were not enough Estrela to rank against so ALL dogs were used) 90% of the dogs had TIGHTER hips than Passy, and 10% had looser hips. So when people give you a percentage number in regards to Pennhip you understand that is NOT that dogs score. Passy is ranked in the 10th percentile….that sort of sounds good doesn’t’ it? But as you can see it is not.
Now this, above, is a much better score. This is Juno's results. She was tested against other Estrela since now there are enough in there to compare too. She also is in the 90th percentile. Meaning her hips are better than 90% of the dogs in the PennHip database.
OFA Results
The OFA Hip report above belongs to another of our girls, Fofa. She was graded a "GOOD". OFA is much easier to understand than PennHip. They give the following passing grades: Excellent, Good, and Fair. The following grades are failing: Borderline, Mild, Moderate and Severe.
In the case of a Failing grade, your report will look like the one below. This report belongs to a buhund. She belonged to a friend of mine. TrailsEnd has permission to use this report.
As you can see from this, Kjersti had Moderate Hip Dysplasia, and you even have the following conditions checked on the right.
An Elbow result will be exactly the same in both cases. The passing grade is Normal, the failing results are classified as: grade I, grade II or grade III. With grade three being the worse of the three.
Comparing Databases
OFA and PennHip are mostly used in the USA. Other countries are now taking advantage of PennHip since you can submit at 16 weeks of age. However many countries have their own hip grading system. It is hard to put PennHip on this chart, since they do not have a pass/fail system. The averages for breeds can change over time with PennHip, which makes grading overall difficult to compare with other databases.
This chart can give you an idea of the equivalent from one database to another.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
New Puppy Blues part 2
...why you should look for.
.....so now lets see how the previous post applies to real life.
If you buy that cute puppy, just because it is so cute, you are 'paying that breeder for their service, care and whelping of that puppy. Does this breeder do the needed health testing? If not, you just rewarded them for possibly breeding further genetic problems that you now own.. Did you know beagles have Canine Disc Disease. If you buy from a breeder that does not monitor this, you could be putting your puppy through a lot of pain and perhaps a very short life. While breeders that do monitor for this disease, track, test and remove any carriers from their breeding stock. You and your puppy will have much less grief if you do not just buy because that puppy is cute, but because the Breeder did the disease monitoring and testing needed for that breed.
Lets say you buy that puppy because the conditions are horrible. (puppy mill) There is not much to say here, if you pay them, they will breed more. Just that simple. If they can sell the puppies, they will breed more puppies. DO NOT BUY from a puppy mill.
Know the breed you want, know the genetic issues and spend a small amount of time finding a breeder that has ethics, a breeder you are comfortable with.
If you buy that cute puppy, just because it is so cute, you are 'paying that breeder for their service, care and whelping of that puppy. Does this breeder do the needed health testing? If not, you just rewarded them for possibly breeding further genetic problems that you now own.. Did you know beagles have Canine Disc Disease. If you buy from a breeder that does not monitor this, you could be putting your puppy through a lot of pain and perhaps a very short life. While breeders that do monitor for this disease, track, test and remove any carriers from their breeding stock. You and your puppy will have much less grief if you do not just buy because that puppy is cute, but because the Breeder did the disease monitoring and testing needed for that breed.
Lets say you buy that puppy because the conditions are horrible. (puppy mill) There is not much to say here, if you pay them, they will breed more. Just that simple. If they can sell the puppies, they will breed more puppies. DO NOT BUY from a puppy mill.
Know the breed you want, know the genetic issues and spend a small amount of time finding a breeder that has ethics, a breeder you are comfortable with.
Shelters
I find it very frustrating that people can not see the under lying reason we have shelters and rescues.
Were do you think the majority of those dogs come from? I am not saying ALL but the majority of dogs in a shelter (etc) are a mixed breed from irresponsible owners, this is roughly 75% of dogs in shelters. You have the general public out there screaming about puppy mills (YES puppy mills are bad, that is not what this post is about) and breeders alike, yet doing nothing to make sure they, themselves, do not have a litter (go ahead,,,,check out your Sunday paper classifieds)
Lets look at a few more stats:
The numbers for shelter dogs are 6-8 MILLION a year.
Owners reclaim from shelters is 30%. These are people that actively look for their dog, or have some identification on their dog.
Did you know 80% of the dogs found after Hurricane Katrina did not have any identification, not a collar with id, not a tattoo nor a chip.
How many dogs in the shelter do you think would be Owner Reclaims if they had to have some type of permanent ID on their dog?
Were do you think the majority of those dogs come from? I am not saying ALL but the majority of dogs in a shelter (etc) are a mixed breed from irresponsible owners, this is roughly 75% of dogs in shelters. You have the general public out there screaming about puppy mills (YES puppy mills are bad, that is not what this post is about) and breeders alike, yet doing nothing to make sure they, themselves, do not have a litter (go ahead,,,,check out your Sunday paper classifieds)
Lets look at a few more stats:
The numbers for shelter dogs are 6-8 MILLION a year.
Owners reclaim from shelters is 30%. These are people that actively look for their dog, or have some identification on their dog.
Did you know 80% of the dogs found after Hurricane Katrina did not have any identification, not a collar with id, not a tattoo nor a chip.
How many dogs in the shelter do you think would be Owner Reclaims if they had to have some type of permanent ID on their dog?
New Puppy Blues
What do you look for.....
Lets pretend you are going to buy a washing machine for $499 at your local home improvment store. Would you just go to the store and pick one out and buy it? Would you do some google on brand reviews? Would you get consumer reports?
Now, when you do actually purchase your new washing machine,,do you get the 'extended' warranty?
So lets apply this to dogs. When you go out to find that next family member, do you just pick the first breeder and buy that cute puppy? Oh it is so cute!
Do you show up and see puppies all over in horrible conditions, so you buy that puppy to 'save' it? Poor thing needs a good home!
Do you spend a couple months contacting people, doing some breed specific research and talking to not only breeders but owners? Do you make sure the breeder does the health testing they claim to?
At the very least, what would you do?
After all you could possibly spend more on that new puppy purchase than your new washing machine. Not to mention your initial puppy price is just the beginning of a life time of expenses.
To be continued....
Now, when you do actually purchase your new washing machine,,do you get the 'extended' warranty?
So lets apply this to dogs. When you go out to find that next family member, do you just pick the first breeder and buy that cute puppy? Oh it is so cute!
Do you show up and see puppies all over in horrible conditions, so you buy that puppy to 'save' it? Poor thing needs a good home!
Do you spend a couple months contacting people, doing some breed specific research and talking to not only breeders but owners? Do you make sure the breeder does the health testing they claim to?
At the very least, what would you do?
After all you could possibly spend more on that new puppy purchase than your new washing machine. Not to mention your initial puppy price is just the beginning of a life time of expenses.
To be continued....
Slow down! & Hello Words!
I have too many accounts and emails. I have too many spaces online. So, I am going to be transfering stuff to this main email account/blog now.
As we go through life, moving from one moment to the next, we often find each person can see the truth very differently. Their 'version' may be much different than your version. This blog is my version, it may occasionally have co-writers, but mostly it will be mine. You can expect the dog world to fill most of the posts. The truth, as I see it.
As we go through life, moving from one moment to the next, we often find each person can see the truth very differently. Their 'version' may be much different than your version. This blog is my version, it may occasionally have co-writers, but mostly it will be mine. You can expect the dog world to fill most of the posts. The truth, as I see it.
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