Article Questioning Modern Breeding Practices in Purebred Dogs

A client sent a link to an interesting article titled:

"A new direction for kennel club regulations and breed standards" Can Vet J. 2007 September; 48(9): 953–965. published in The Canadian Veterinary Journal by Koharik Arman

Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/2yhfvbhttp://tinyurl.com/2yhfvb

In it the author offers a four step plan for establishing a unique breed. He goes on to point out that continuing on that path leads to real peril for the bred. Here is part of his conclusion:

"The health of purebred dogs is such that the level of occurrence of genetically inherited defects is unacceptably high (31). Many changes within breed associations must be initiated to improve this welfare situation: this must be made a priority. Changes should include the following: 1) revision of Breed Standards so that equal emphasis is placed on function, utility, and type, 2) discouragement of selection for physical traits that are overtly detrimental to breed health, 3) obtaining of breed registries to introduce new genetics in all breeds, 4) institution of regulations on Founder population numbers of new breeds and upper COI limits allowable in registered dogs, and 5) the use of modern technology to monitor breeder compliance with new regulations. As stated by the late Dr. George Padgett, “if we want to make any impact in controlling genetic disease in dogs, we must agree that an ethical approach is based on fairness, openness, and honesty. While traditions are important to us and should remain important, they should be changed if they conflict with the exercise of our ethics as dog breeders” (32). "
Can Vet J. 2007 September; 48(9): 953–965. published in The Canadian Veterinary Journal by Koharik Arman


Interesting reading. I will post again on this article.

Pat

Training video, Teaching Hold

From time to time I will be posting video clips here before I release them elsewhere. I have one today. This clip is a nice overview of the the steps I use in teaching hold with the e-collar. The hold portion of force fetch is taught in separate sessions but at the same time as the force fetch. Then, about the time the dog is reaching out and to the ground in her force fetch sessions she should be holding and moving well and you can combine the two. I tried what are for me a couple of new techniques with this video. I used Ulead to capture and Camtasia to edit and add captions.

Teaching Hold with E-collar, Ponderosa Kennels and Maryland Dog Trainer Pat Nolan

I like this mix better than the first version of this video posted.

Motivating Retrievers

In "Fetch and Carry" published in 1894 author B. Waters said:

"Much that is demanded of the dog in servitude (obedience) is contrary to his nature and inclination. He will work with endless enthusiasm and effort when in pursuit of prey. On the contrary, while he dearly likes man's companionship, he detests menial servitude. Only by making work accessory to the pursuit of game, and so blending the two that he cannot discern where either begins or ends, can his best effort be engaged..."

In the field training of retrievers the good dogs do not really need us to motivate them to retrieve. The field work has enough built in rewards for any dog that is worth training. The dog gets to run, jump, swim, retrieve and carry bumpers and birds. We really don't need to work at providing any other rewards.

However, in the yard (obedience) and in the training for blind retrieves for hunting and trial retrievers the work to reward ratio is such that we need to actively provide extra rewards.

Likewise, there is nothing intrinsically rewarding for a dog in finding drugs or a lost person or in the straight sits and fronts required of competition obedience training.

What's a trainer to do?

My next post will look at the problem of motivating performance and maintaining a good training attitude in field, obedience and working dogs.

Pat

Why I Train

A friend asked a group of trainers on a Yahoo discussion group why we train dogs. I thought about it a bit and wrote a short answer. This answer is not nearly complete, I will add to it in the next few weeks.

Pat

Hi Donald,

Awhile back you asked for reasons why we train. I have thought much
about your question but refrained from answering for the same
reason I don't sing in public. In my mind my answer is beautiful and poetic, once committed to paper the words seem off key and not what I’d hoped.

However, because my choice to train field trial retrievers has in many ways set the course of my life, it’s too important a question to ignore. So here goes.

Why do I train retrievers?

For me the Retriever Field trial is the most challenging technically of all the dog sports. The competition is tough; there are many dogs entered in every trial that could win.

The dogs are unique and the tests so challenging that training must be tweaked for each dog. With varying terrain and test design every weekend, training is necessarily ongoing. Retriever training never becomes old or routine; it requires creativity in design and execution. The retriever is never “finished,” and after 25 years, I am still learning how to train them.

I have been privileged to work with dogs that continue to impress me with their athletic skills, their determination to follow through on a task, and their willingness to engage in partnership with me in a project that has arbitrary rules.

And I train retrievers because the experience has enlarged and enriched my life in so many ways. In the course of training and campaigning retrievers, I have:

… driven tree-canopied roads in Florida and marveled at controlled-burn pine forest, managed for quail …

… competed in custom-dug training ponds while keeping one eye open for gators …

… trained in the tiered ponds left by beavers as they worked their way down stream, building a new dam each time they worked off all the easy timber …

… seen the roads washed out when these ponds eventually fail in domino effect when the earliest ponds give way from abandonment …

… watched my children catch northern pike in the lake next to our summer training grounds in Northern Ontario, in answer to the loons calling us to fish every evening …

… trained in bug net suits to keep the biting flies and mosquitoes from driving us out of the country ...

… worked dogs in the eastern Sierras in ponds bordered by lush grasses, green from the irrigation water diverted to feed them, this surrounded by desert …

… seen a Merlin, America’s smallest falcon, tail chase a song bird through a meadow …

… witnessed an immature Bald eagle drive an Osprey off a pond in a battle for fishing rights …

… followed a moose calf for a half mile down a dirt logging road before it found just the right spot to reenter the woods …

… stood by my truck, the sun setting, soaking in the contentment that comes from physical labor and a day well spent, the evening songs of spring peepers punctuated by the thumping of tails and the crunch of kibble as the dogs finish their meal. ( added)

…crawled down a hedge row with my dog, surrounded by the cacophony of thousands of snow geese barking and yelping as they tumble in, landing all around us turning the cut corn field white.

… caught a glimpse of a mountain lion looping up a trail disappearing into the shadows one morning ...

… watched in awe as courting Red tail hawks flew death-defying aerial displays …

… trained on rolling Vermont dairy farms and in the sand hills of the Carolinas …

… tried to avoid, at one time or another, fire ants, water moccasins, black bears, alligators, rattlesnakes, sun burn, and frost bite, and …

… driven all night to get to a trial or to get home to my family.

Why do I train retrievers?

For all the above, and because the retriever sports have allowed me to earn a living and raise my family while working in the most beautiful of all offices, with dogs I admire, and people I enjoy.

Dog Tricks-- Fly's Rope trick, using Place, Fetch, Step or Hold

In this clip Fly is learning a new trick. Here she has to combine the use of her feet and her retrieve to pull a rope and then hold the rope. She has some trouble in this video, she is still learning the trick.

Dog Trick- Fly stacking rings

This is a dog training clip showing a retiever working a child's ring stacking toy. Fly is a five year old Labrador retriever, she was 2 years old when this was filmed. Training this trick requires obedience, fetch, directional signals. Shot in the spring of 2005 with Pat Nolan