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Dates & News:

ZimDog News, can be accessed from: www.vanerp.net.

Zimbabwe Kennel Club:

The Zimbabwe Kennel Club office will now only be open on a Friday each week, 14.00-16.00 CAT.

NEWS FROM MUD ISLAND

I have found myself in the strange position of owning a very trainable dog with loads of prey drive and a natural retrieve (pretty unusual in a dachshund!) but sadly there are no obedience training classes to attend in my area.  Indy, my miniature wirehaired daxie, is a pleasure to live with and the perfect dog for my tiny garden (she doesn’t even dig!)  I have done a bit of training with her at home, but she is not very well socialised with other dogs or people.  She was nearly 5 months old when I got her from a breeder who was running on Indy and her sister, and had hardly been out of her kennel environment.  She is fine with other daxies, but tends to be intimidated by bigger dogs.  I have only taken her to 3 shows, one Open Show and 2 Championship Shows, and her sister has beaten her every time so the breeder definitely kept the best dog!  However, in my opinion, Indy has the best character so I am quite happy. 

The latest Championship show was a 4-day one held at Bath in Somerset.  Hounds were on the 4^th day, along with Utility. There were 1363 Hounds entered, including 70 mini wire daxies and 1398 in the Utility Group, so the place was pretty packed.  Indy was in Junior Bitch, which was one of the biggest classes with an entry of 13.  She did not make the judge’s cut of the first 4, but won her next class, which was Novice.  The weather was really bad and we were judged in huge marquees.  There were torrential rain and high winds (it was a Bank Holiday Monday!) and the tent nearly lifted off a few times.  One caravan in the nearby park was blown over, and numerous trade stands were wrecked. 

Despite the appalling weather and lack of training, I decided to try for the Bronze Award in the Good Citizens Dog Scheme, run by examiners from the Kennel Club.  This consists of 10 elements, as follows:  Cleanliness and identification – the dog must have a collar with identity tag and owner must carry a poop scoop bag or similar.  Collar and lead – correct choice of and fitting of collar and lead.  Walk on lead – basic heelwork including turns.  Control at door/gate – showing that the dog will step back to allow the handler through a doorway first, then come through on command and wait patiently while the door is closed.  Controlled walk amongst distractions – walking with other dogs and people, and stopping in a calm, relaxed manner while handler chats to someone for 1 minute.  Stay for 1 minute – either in sit or down but not changing position, handler in sight approx 5 paces away.  Grooming – standing quietly for grooming.  Examination of the dog – handler to show they can inspect mouth, ears, paws, stomach and tail etc.    Return to handler – basic recall from about 10 paces.  Responsibility and care – handler is questioned on various topics regarding a dog’s needs, diagnosis of illness and general responsibilities.

Much of it is pretty basic, and can be passed with a bit of common sense and good doggy manners.  We were doing fine until it came to the stay, which is our weakest exercise as Indy had never done a stay away from home or with other dogs.  It was very difficult to find anywhere to do the stay, as the tent was flapping in an alarming way and Indy was too frightened to lie down (I had only ever trained for down stays.)  We eventually managed to beg the use of a caravan, which was being used as the Kennel Club office.  Even this was being buffeted by the wind, and Indy was still too nervous to go down, so we tried a sit stay.  She did this for a minute, much to my surprise and delight, and went on to get her certificate and a rosette.  I was so proud of her!

The Scheme has 2 further levels, Silver and Gold, but I don’t think that there is any chance of going any further unless I can find somewhere to do some training.  Perhaps I will have to start up some classes of my own …!
Virginia Wigham

Zimbabwe Dog of the Year 2007 Results:

1st Place Labrador Retriever Ch Craignair Just As Quick of Huntingdon, owned by Janie Rosenfels and bred by Mrs J Pott of South Africa. (26 points)
2nd Place Scottish Terrier Crocvalley Kelvin of Rustcot, owned by Edith Rust and bred by Mrs E and Mr H Muller of South Africa. (24 points)
3rd Place Great Dane Anvin Zervage at Rebashkie, owned by Catherine Jennings and bred by Mr W Wakfer of South Africa. (21 points)
4th Place German Shepherd Dog Salonica Eclipse at Tegwyn, owned by Athena Bowling-Scott and bred by Anne Hancock. (15 points)

Pedigree Puppy of the Year 2007 Results:

1st Place Mrs Edith Rust's Scottish Terrier Crocvalley Kelvin of Rustcot.
2nd Place Miss Geraldine McLaughlan's Dobermann Hysand Quaesta von Colnetal.
3rd Place Mrs Gill Houghton's Yorkshire Terrier Langarott Sensation.
4th Place Mrs Pat McKinlay's Affenpinscher Xela Ingerdorm Petita.

Books:

Horse Whisperer By Evans.
A touching tale, which was snapped up to be made into a film. Evans is an expert cinematographer and makes this book a good read.

Monty Roberts: The man who listens to Horses
This all about the taming of the wild mustangs. He has done wonders for the horse world by exposing people to the natural horsemanship approach.

Cesar Millan; The Dog whisperer
an, renowned dog behavior expert, as he goes directly into the homes of dog owners — without any prior information about the dog’s case — and documents the remarkable transformations that take place under Cesar’s calm, assertive guidance.

[I read all three books and felt that Monty’s way of approaching these mustangs a great way to train them. But the best book so far was reading Cesar’s way, saw many of his video’s which are on the Notational Geographic channel and really worth watching him and his amazing manner how to deal with the owners mostly. Editor]

From one of my readers:

we have a disease here which we are all having to have our dogs tested for it is called JRD juvenile renal dysplasia basically the pup from the infected parent(s) will not make it past six months of age their kidneys shut down and they die we have found several well known bloodlines which are carriers this is how the D.N.A is explained to us:

The DNA test results are reported as follows:
a) Carrier (one copy of the JRD mutation)
b) Homozygous mutant allele = Homozygote (two copies of the JRD mutation)
c) Clear.

With a & b results above – the animal is also "potentially affected" by JRD. If CARRIERS of this mutation are bred to a clear, approximately 50% of the offspring will be carriers. Individuals with two copies of the gene (homozygous mutant allele = homozygote carriers), breeding a homozygote carrier to a clear will produce ALL carriers.

JRD Lines to watch out for so far Ursus von batu – yasko von farbenspiel – larus von batu – Phillipe aus der neun haffstrasse – corjon marco Also uran vom wildsteiger land – rosehurst chris – We are currently querying the femerick line and the monchburg line.

[Editor: thank you for telling us about this, and I take no responsibility for this article]

To be Focussed or not to be:

1	2
3	4
5	There are various ways to train your dog to be focussed. The old way: Compulsion and reward will not make your dog want to work in the right position; the same applies to training with a toy. The best way is to do this all with a constant food supply in your hand. This can position your dog in the right way as well as being totally focussed on you. Picture 1 is totally focussed on handler. Picture 2 and 3 is the difference of partially focussed and a very well focussed position of the dog. The same applies for picture 4 and 5. The dog is exuberant and so willing to work for this handler that it was a pleasure to watch.
Gundog Club of Zimbabwe They held their Championship Obedience show today 13 July 2008 at the Kennel club of Harare. The entries were a total of 11dogs: 4 in Beginners, 4 in Novice, 2 in A test and 1 in C test. I was not able to attend to find out results, but they will appear, no doubt in the Zimbabwe Kennel club Magazine at a later stage. Their prize table looked good with a sponsorship from Pedigree.

Hi jan cashel,

Did you know that "Bloat" is a deadly condition? Some breeds or some dog body confirmations have a higher risk. The medical term for bloat is "Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus", also known as GDV or gastric torsion. It is a condition caused by abnormal dilatation and twisting of the stomach. "Bloat" is initiated by abnormal accumulation of air, fluid or foam in the stomach (gastric dilatation). I mentioned that I have been spending some time in veterinary emergency rooms and this is a common condition seen there. The other night I was at the clinic and a dog came in with bloat. "Barney" was a 9-year-old mixed breed dog (mostly Irish setter from what I could tell). He was a sweet dog and you could immediately tell he was suffering. He was spacing, restless, very painful and he kept trying to vomit. When the stomach is twisted - they "try" to vomit but can't.

Bloat is the number-one cause of death for several large and giant breeds. It is a life-threatening disorder and if left untreated, results in death.

Is your dog at risk? Dr. Larry Glickman, an epidemiologist at the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, conducted a study on canine bloat, where he followed over 1,900 dogs to help identify risk factors. Risk factors include: The dogs with the greatest risk of developing bloat have deep narrow chests. The risk of bloat is slightly higher in males than females. Lean dogs were also found to be at higher risk for developing bloat than overweight dogs. Older dogs are at a higher risk. Dogs with relatives that have developed bloat are at higher risk. Fast eaters are at higher risk for developing bloat. Many believe this is due to increased swallowing of air when eating fast.

Elevated food bowls have been shown to increase the risk of bloat. Dogs with nervous, fearful, or aggressive personalities have a higher incidence of bloat. Stress, such as that occurs during kenneling, is an important precipitating factor. Dogs fed dry food only or fed one large daily meal where at a higher risk for bloat. Dogs fed foods in which an oil or fat ingredient, such as sunflower oil or animal fat, were listed among the first four ingredients. Most cases of bloat occur after 6 pm. Learn if your dog is at risk and how to prevent it. If your dog shows any signs of bloat - it is an emergency and you should see your veterinarian immediately. If you want to know more about risk factors and what you can do to prevent bloat - to go www.Petplace.com and search for "bloat".

Until next time, Dr. Jon  

Three old guys are out walking.  First one says, "Windy, isn't it?"  Second one says, "No, it's Thursday!" Third one says, "So am I. Let's go get a beer."