It certainly seems that the BBC documentary last night on the Kennel Club and the state of our pedigree dogs kicked off a bit of a debate across the UK. This is just my little opinion on it - to see an honest, independent discussion of the programme, see Pedigree Dogs Exposed: The Aftermath.
There were a couple of extra comments on my earlier article about whether to buy KC or DLRC puppies this morning and everybody seems quite passionate about it, so here’s my personal viewpoint on the matter.
I believe that the Kennel Club does encourage a certain amount of ‘in-breeding’ by specifying certain physical attributes on its ‘breed standards’. These breed standards supposedly state what is considered a good point in a breed. For some breeds, they aren’t so bad, but in dogs such as pugs, as I’ve mentioned in my Pug dog breed profile, one desired trait is the tail curling over the back. A double curl is particularly good. As the BBC pointed out last night through x-rays of pugs, constant inbreeding has achieved this in some dogs but also means the spine is curved, causing health problems. In addition, breeding to achieve such as flat face causes them breathing difficulties. None of this is good and I don’t think anyone could argue otherwise. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug 20, 2008 | | News
According to Sainsburys, insurance for chihuahas has increased by 417 per cent in the last two years because of celebs who treat their dogs like fashion accessories, and it seems to be catching on.
Paris Hilton and Britney Spears are the main culprits. Sainsburys warns against buying a dog for these reasons. Pets shouldn’t fashion accessories, what happens when you get bored with your dog and he goes out of fashion?!?
Personally I think its disgusting. There’s a lady near me who now has more than twenty breeding chihuahas, so what will she do with them when the dogs go out of fashion?
Aug 19, 2008 | | News
Walthamstow’s greyhound track has closed for the final time, having been sold to make way for affordable housing.
It is rumoured that Ellesmere Port Greyhound Stadium is going the same way.
In the 1940’s England had around 80 dog tracks, and 33 were in London. This year, it has only 30 and 3 in London: Walthamstow and Wimbledon. Now London has only one and England may be about to lose another.
Personally, I think a trip to the dog tracks is a great day or evening out. There’s very little advertising for it and many people I know have never been. That’s a shame, it’s part of our British heritage. Will there be none left before long?
Aug 18, 2008 | | News
This weekend sees the X-Factor style Dog Talent Show taking place in Hartlepool. If you think your dog has an X-Factor talent, then it’s not too late to enter!
The show was the brainchild of dog trainer, David Shaw, and will see dogs compete for the waggiest tail, dog-owner lookalikes and other such fun categories. David ran a similar show in Scotland, which proved very popular.
He said:
“I did this many years ago in Scotland, just for people and their dogs to have a fun day. It is very family and fun-orientated. It is open to absolutely every type of dog – mongrels, pedigrees and cross-breeds. It will be an X-Factor-style event or like Hartlepool’s Got Talent.”
In traditional X-Factor style, there will be three judges. For more details and to see other fun categories, check out Britain’s Got Talented Dogs
Aug 13, 2008 | | News
According to a recent study, dogs can catch people’s yawns too. It was previously thought that only humans and their close primitive relatives could find them contagious but apparently not.
The research team are based at Birkbeck College in London. They say that autistic people are less likely to copy other people’s yawns and it is believed that our natural reaction to copy someone’s yawn is from a natural inclination to wanting to empathise.
29 dogs were involved in the tests and each underwent two tests, each lasting 5 mins. In the first test, a person (a stranger) sat in front of the dog and called his name. When they made eye contact, the person yawned. In the second test, the person was asked to do the same but this time only open and close their mouth, not to actually yawn. This was to ensure the dog wasn’t simply responding to an open mouth.
21 of the 29 dogs yawned in response to the yawn but not one yawned in response to the open mouth test. This indicates that dogs can empathise with humans although the team couldn’t rule out stress-induced yawning, although they intend to continue testing in order to hopefully rule this out in future.
The research team also said that this capacity may have been increased during domestication as humans have selected dogs to be obedient and docile so through their breeding in domestication this sort of trait would be increased.
So next time you yawn, just watch and see what your dog does!
