Shelter Dog vs. Dog from a Breeder

Why don't you go to the animal shelter and get a dog, instead of buying one from a breeder?

Sigrid, a friend of mine asked me this the other day. She lives in South Africa and is the proud owner of a shelter dog called Shadow. I live in Norway and here we don't have shelters. There is an organization here called "dyrebeskyttelsen" (translates to something like "animal protection organization") and they re-home dogs, but they only have the ad for the dog on their website and the dogs are still in there old homes while waiting to get adopted. The reason why we don't have shelters is that we don't have stray dogs in Norway. And we don't have dogs roaming around, not that dogs are roaming around everywhere in South Africa or United States either, but in Norway there are NO stray dogs at all. Neither do we have many unwanted puppies born every year. There are of course some (irresponsible) "breeders" of mix and pure breed dogs that breed their dogs without thinking about finding them good homes. These dogs are usually sold cheap, some are in no doubt put down, and many of them sadly get re-homed many times during their life. The re-homing of dogs in Norway is a "private affair". The ad for the dog is put online by the owner, the owner (hopefully) gets some replies, the old owner and the new owner meet and the dog is handed over. There are no shelters involved.

Shadow as a puppy. Photo: Sigrid

So then you can ask me: Why don't I adopt one of those dogs in need of a home?
Well, that is more tricky.. My first thought is that I don't want to support the irresponsible breeders by taking in one of those dogs, and thus enabling these breeders to keep on what they are doing. But of course it isn't the dogs fault that the breeder is irresponsible. And also, unforeseen things can happen. A lot of dogs are re-homed for reasons like illness in the family or allergies. One of those dogs surely are OK to adopt, many even come from good breeders and homes. I guess I would only adopt a dog like that if it was the breeder that tried to find the dog a new home. That is a sure sign that the breeder is serious and really wants what is best for the dog. You seldom, if ever, see this happen for mix breed dogs. The breeders of those dogs usually didn't think it through before letting their dog have puppies, and they certainly have no intention to take responsibility for the puppies once they have left for their new homes.

Shadow in the pool. Photo: Sigrid

I think if I lived in a country like the United States or South Africa, where I know that no one benefits from me taking in a shelter dog (except the rescue organization and of course the dog), I would definitely adopt one. But here in Norway, where I know some people make a lucrative business of irresponsible breeding, I don't want a mix breed dog or a dog that is re-homed several times, since they likely come from such a breeder. It is a bit like buying a puppy from a "puppy mill" in the United States. No one questions that that is a bad idea, right?

Shadow on the couch.

And then we have another reason: I want an 8-9 weeks old puppy. Not a adult or adolescent dog. The reason for this is that the sooner you get the little critter the easier it is to shape it into the kind of dog you want. There is a thin window for socialization when the puppy is between 8-12 weeks old (or 16 weeks, depending on the source, the truth is probably that this varies for different dogs), and the things it experiences during this time is what it will view as "normal". If you get the dog after this age, it is much more likely to develop problematic behaviors and might have a harder time acclimatizing to your way of living, of course depending on what experiences it has made before you got it. But as I said in the blog post about socialization [link] it is never too late, it will just take more time. Thing is, I don't want to make it harder than it has to be for myself, not at this point in my life. And dogs that are re-homed in Norway are always older than 12 weeks, before that you basically buy them directly from the breeder, and I've already been through the problem of supporting irresponsible breeders.

Shadow as a puppy. Photo: Sigrid

So I'm just gonna keep on waiting for "my" puppy to be born at the Danish Swedish farmdog breeder in Sweden. I definitely feel good about supporting a breeder as serious as she is, that informed me about hereditary diseases in the breed (and yes, there are hereditary diseases in all dog breeds) and told me what to keep in mind when looking at dogs from different blood lines within the breed. For I have all intentions of becoming a serious breeder myself, that knows what the genetic history of my dogs are and that only breed from animals that are healthy. And almost more important than that, I will take responsibility for all pups born under my care and find them good homes.

Below is a link to a documentary about shelter dogs in the United States, we are lucky there are so many people with big hearts in the world.

Documentary about rescue dogs in the United States.

Diseases, genes, dog breeds and humans

Dogs are a gold mine when it comes to studying hereditary diseases. This is due to the relatively small gene pool within each breed, which makes it comparatively easy to pinpoint the gene(s) that increases the risk of developing the disease. The small gene pool is unfortunately also what makes diseases so common in pure bred dogs.

Documentary about what research in dogs can do for our understanding of hereditary diseases.

Documentary about what the small gene pool does to the dogs themselves.

Just recently, the gene for hereditary epilepsy was identified in Belgian shepherd dogs. Dogs that was homozygous (dogs that has the same gene on both chromosomes) for the particular gene had a 7-fold increase in risk of developing epilepsy. The gene is however also found to be homozygous in 1/5 of healthy Belgian shepherd dogs, so more research needs to be done. Epilepsy is very common in some breeds and in this particular breed, as many as 20% of the dogs have epilepsy. This can be compared to 1-5% of the human population. It is therefore quite clear that in order to save this breed, a reliable gene test needs to be developed.

One of the four Belgian Shepherd dogs, the Terveren. Photo from Wikipedia.

Source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120323205337.htm

Saturday with the (husky) girls

Today I've mostly been out walking dogs. I am responsible for the well being of three of Monica's four Siberian huskies this weekend, and since one of them has a slight weight problem (Tessa) I decided she would get at least two hours of exercise today. The other two are not fully grown yet, one is 9 months (Noor) and the other one is 4,5 months (Vida), hence they could not join me and Tessa for that long a walk. So before lunch me and Tessa went out for a walk. She was super happy about it and it was very cozy to spend some time together, just the two of us.

Are we gonna go for a walk?! Tessa almost vibrating with joy :)

Beautiful Tessa, even if there is a bit more Tessa than it should be..

Here we have walked for about 1 hour, Tessa is starting to get tired.

Home again, two hours later, Tessa is really tired...

After having rested for about 3 hours, all three dogs and I went out for a second shorter walk. This was not easy in the beginning.. Especially since little Vida isn't used to focusing on walking straight ahead. But after only a few minutes she walked next to Noor like a pro! It was actually Noor that started losing focus on the way home, not Vida. Tessa was still tired after our long walk before lunch, and didn't make any fuss. She just walked calmly by my side, as the two youngsters did all the work in front of her.

I tried tying Tessa's leash to the other one, but since the youngsters sometimes lost focus, this just ended with them all being tangled up.

Full focus on walking.

Noor

Vida, with a harness that is a tad to big, but she is soon as big as Noor.

 So all in all, Tessa and I have walked for just over 3 hours today, I think we both will sleep well tonight! Right now they are lying around me on the floor, happily chewing of pieces of dried fish that they got for desert after dinner. This has been a wonderful day, both for me and the huskies :)

When racial purity comes in the way of survival of dog type

I have written about this subject before, when asking what constitutes a breed in relation to the many versions of Danish Swedish farmdog-looking dog breeds. There are two dog breeds in Scandinavia which are very similar, with the same size, color pattern, function and temperament. Both are also close to extinction. The problem is they are two breeds, one from Norway and one from Sweden. Therefore, instead of using both stocks of dogs to make sure the genetic diversity is upheld , they are kept separate, with inbreeding as a big problem. The breeds I'm talking about is Hygenhund and Gotlandsstövare. Both are used for hunting hare (and fox?). Last year only 14 Hygenhund puppies were born and registered in Norway. The number for the Gotlandsstövare i only slightly better with 19 puppies born last year in Sweden. Isn't it idiotic not to mix these two to make sure that this type of dog is saved for the future? Even if it isn't many individuals we are talking about, it would still double the gene-pool! Should we stay strict and risk loosing these dogs forever, or give interbreeding a chance to at least make the future a little bit brighter for these Scandinavian hare-hounds?

Gotlandsstövare. Picture borrowed, url: http://www.dogsindepth.com/hound_dog_breeds/images/gotland_hound_h03.jpg

Hygenhund, picture borrowed, url: http://www.e-piesek.pl/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/hygenhund.jpg

Husky walk in Harstad

The church in Trondenes, Harstad, to the left.

Last Sunday, before going back to the dog show, me, Monica, Kristin and the two Siberian huskies, father and daughter Birk and Vega, went for a walk in a beautiful part of Harstad called Trondenes. Vega happens to be my favorite of the puppies born at Monica's in November, so I just had to take this opportunity to take pictures of her.

Father and daughter playing together.

Beautiful Vega running towards me.

There is no better feeling than running free!

Full speed ahead!

Vega, the perfect pinto!

The wonderful father, the nicest Siberian husky I know.

Kristin and Vega to the left, and Monica and Birk to the right, in front of the church at Trondenes.

Obedience competition

As usual in obedience competition, the best dogs were the Border collies.

At the dog show, there was also an obedience competition. I didn't have much time to watch, since I helped Kari to handle her dogs in the show ring, but here are some pictures from the competition.

This rottweiler did a very good job, from what I could tell.

These two seemed to have a lot of fun together, but this just wasn't their day.

Even though the border collies I saw was definitely the best dogs in the competition, the dog below, a 2,5 year old Chinese Crested Powder Puff male called Shakir, was probably the one I'll remember best. He didn't exactly hurry.. He walked happily but slowly and did most of the stuff he was supposed to. But when he came up to the part where he was supposed to run back to his owner and jump over a jumping obstacle on the way, he just walked up to the obstacle, and stood there, looking at his owner. After a while he suddenly realized what he was supposed to to, jumped, and walked to his owner. The judges actually gave them 6,5 points (out of 10) for that performance, and the audience applauded happily :)

The star of the show ;)

English Springer Spaniel

Missi, a female black and white Springer Spaniel. Her coat has not been trimmed.

The English Springer spaniel is a medium sized dog, weighing 16-25 kg (35-55 lb). It is normally white and brown or white and black. In the AKC's registration statistics the breed is on 28th place (2013), and in the UK it is the third most popular dog, according to the number of registered dogs per year.

Charlie, a brown and white Springer Spaniel. His fur has been trimmed short, much shorter than on show dogs.

The English Springer Spaniel is what is called a gun dog, which means that when the breed was developed, they were used for flushing and retrieving game during hunts. Like many other working type dogs, we have a split in the breed between show type and working type. Both sides argue that they have the original type. The show type are dogs that lies as close at possible to the breed standard, and are bred for their physical resemblance to "the perfect Springer", as described in said standard. The working type are bred for their ability to do the original work the breed was bred for. For springer spaniels that is to function well as a gun dog. These dogs might differ more from the standard than their show counterparts, but unlike them they are still able to perform the task that the breed originally carried out.
I guess it all depends which side to think is right, depending on how we choose to define a breed. I personally think it is more important that you get a functional working dog than a supermodel, but if your main goal for your dog is to win ribbons at dog shows, maybe a dog from show lines is better for you. Show dogs tend to be calmer, but they still have the same background as the working type so you might end up with a average looking dog with good work ethics even if you buy your dog from a show breeder.

Charlie

Health

The English Springer Spaniel is not the healthiest breed around, but it is not the worst one either. Common problems are ear infections, often in combination with allergies, either food allergies or allergies to things in the environment.
Being a medium sized dog, they are also prone to hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia. 12.8 % of checked dogs in the US have HD and 13.2% have ED.
Retinal Dysplasia (RD) and Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA), both of which can cause blindness, does occur in the breed. Which is why breeding animals should have their eyes checked before breeding. Other eye related problems are inward or outward curling eyelashes, which might require surgery.
A metabolic disease called Phosphofructokinase deficiency (PFK), which impairs the cells ability to use carbohydrate as an energy source, is found mainly in the lines of working dogs, but carriers of the gene for this disease have been found in show lines as well. There are genetic tests for this, and breeding animals should be checked for this.
Epilepsy also occurs in the breed.

Missi

Training

The Springer Spaniel is a dog that is eager to learn and is very trainable. It was ranked as 13th most intelligent in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs. While originally bred as gun dogs, they also excel in other tasks, among others as sniffer dogs for the police. Their gentle temperament makes them god family pets, but they love to work, so you should provide your Springer with a meaningful activity. Why not try obedience or agility? While this relatively heavily built dog will never be able to compete with the same success in agility as a border collie, the will do well on their own level. In obedience you can definitely get far with a Springer.

Missi sitting and waiting for a treat.

The Springer Spaniel is a wonderful dog, that is suitable both for the hunter and as a family dog. It must get its fair share of exercise per day to stay content, but apart from that it is a fairly easy dog to train and a very easy dog to love!

Harstad Dog Show 17-18 March 2012 - Day 2

The second day none of my friends were showing any of their dogs so the first half of the day was spent out walking with some of the huskies, there will be a separate blog post about that. I really wanted to see the Danish Swedish Farmdogs though, so we went back to the dog show after lunch to see them. We also got to see most of the final the second day and I got to take a lot more pictures. We had really good seats, close to the ring, so I was able to successfully use the flash on the camera. The pictures are still a bit yellow, but better. Below are some of the pictures from day 2.

Here is the Danish Swedish Farmdog that won in her breed. She is from Denmark but is owned by a breeder in Norway.

Here she is again, I must admit I sort of fell in love with her, she was so perfect. Apart from having a little to little white on the back and sides, she is as close to perfect as you can get (according to me that is..). She had a beautiful head and nice proportions.

Bedlington Terrier.

Border Terrier.

Pyrenean Mountain Dog, also known as Great Pyrenees.

Airedale Terrier.

English Cocker Spaniel.

Great Dane.

Dandie Dinmont Terrier.

The absolutely happiest first runner up I've ever seen. This boy got the second place in the junior handling competition.

Leonberger

Miniature Schnauzer.

Newfoundland dog.

Pug.

Rottweiler and Miniature Pinscher.

West Highland White Terrier being groomed before entering the ring in the final.