J Bar S Dobermans Step up

We are very proud of two of or babies who are now certified medical alert dogs for their owners.  Both puppies are still under two yet they are already super stars.

The first is Tove a Tux sister - Her owner had a trauma a few years back which left her with moments when she has a period where everything just goes blank.  It has been a great concern when in public in case she walk out into a busy street etc.  She and Tove were out and about a few months back and when she came back to reality Tove was bumping her with her nose and would not stop.  As she struggled to focus on Tove it helped her come out of the episode.  At the time she just thought it was one of those special happenings.  But two weeks later it happened again and Tove did the same thing til she was back to normal. 

She spoke with her Doctor about it and the doctor said definitely the dog was alerting her to the problem and gave her a letter stating that she needed the dog for this service.   She then contacted Delta Therapy Dogs to see what training Tove would need to get certified and was told you could not train a dog for this kind of thing it was just something the dog either did or did not do but that a strong bond between owner and dog was what triggered it. 

Tove now wears a medical alert dog tag - stating she is serving her owner and she is certified to wear a service dog vest and go with her owner anywhere.

Our second boy is a Bella brother and his owner has diabetes.  One night he woke her up at 4 AM pawing her.  She tried to get him to lay back down but he would not.  She went to get up and immediately realized something was very wrong.  She checked her blood sugar and had Baron not alerted her she could have slipped into a diabetic coma.  She is in the process of getting him certified as a medical alert dog also.

So to all our SARS, Pilot dog and now medical alert dogs we salute you for your service and for being such outstanding ambassadors to the Doberman breed.

We are proud to have stayed true to the working heritage of the one and only dog - The Doberman Pinscher

DNA PDK4 - What did it tell us

This is still the big question regarding the new PDK4 DNA test for Dobermans.  What I really find hard to understand is that this gene was discovered for the boxer people almost 2 years ago and why were we not given any info as to what they had learned about how this gene ties in to the total cardio picture???

I would have thought this would be one of the first things Dr. Meurs would have shared with us.  What have they learned since its discovery??    I know it will still be years before we know all about the role this gene actually plays and how critical it is. 

I have tested my dogs for the gene and will continue to watch and see what new discoveries Dr. Meurs makes regarding it.  In the mean time we are still on a watch and wait to see what happens.  Hopefully they will discover another gene that will give us more definite findings soon.

Chalk One Up for AKC!!!

Several months ago I got a black male back due to a family divorce.  The man left and dumped the dog on his wife who was co-onwer.  She and I correpsonded several times and after about 6 months she decided she just could not afford to keep the dog so she returned him to me with her signature as co-owner on the AKC registration.

My contract says that I get the dog back with registration papers in order and signed, but the husband was no where to be found.  The wife stated she did not even know where he was.  I had her send me a note to this affect and I forwarded it along with  the  AKC registration form to AKC with a letter of explanation as to why I needed the dog transferred back to me. About a month goes by and I get a call requesting that I send a copy of the contract showing that the dog was to be transfer back to me if for any reason they could not keep the dog.  I sent them the contract feeling very confident that all would be well.   3 or 4 more weeks go by and I get a letter of denial stating that they can't transfer the dog back to me without his signature.  I was livid.

I called AKC and spoke to a new case worker as the other was not in that day.  I explained everything and how disappointed I was in AKC not supporting their breeders on this kind of issue.  She told me it was not final yet and that she would try one more avenue to contact the husband through his e mail so my hope was renewed.

Today I got a call -  WAHOO!!!  They are transfering the dog back to me and now his new family can show him in obedience which is what they were hoping to do. Thank you AKC for standing up and honoring my contract and transferring the dog back to me. 

Copyright © 2010 Suzan Shipp/Dobs4ever. All rights reserved. Revised: ALL PICTURES AND CONTENT ON THIS BLOG ARE THE SOLE PROPERTY OF Suzan Shipp/J Bar S Dobermans and may not be used, copied or reprinted without express permission from the owner. Copyrighted 2010

HOW TO SEPARATE A GOOD DOG BREEDER FROM THE PACK

HOW TO SEPARATE A GOOD BREEDER FROM THE PACK:

An age old question with many different answers depending on who you are speaking to at the moment.  Most of you who know me know I think simple is better so I have developed 10 easy steps to help the unexperienced sift through all the misinformation out there today on the web.

DPCA breeder referral section is a good place to start to get names - and the great thing is you can start searching for breeders who are in your area first.  http://dpca.org/breed/breed_referral.htm

1.  First and foremost I want to see 3 things - 
      A.  A member in good standing with the breed club - DPCA and/or UDC Becasue it says that on some level they support the breed and that they care enough to join up with other Doberman breeders to share and learn. 
     B.   Has titled their own dogs, not just talk about the past - pedigree is important. but if the breeder is not titling their own dogs they are not  knowledgable enough to help you if you run into problems.  A good couch potato at home does not necessarily mean the dog has a good temperament for breeding.
    C.  Health testing. -  Not just talk about it, but can actually show results if asked.

2.  All dogs are AKC registered - It does not guarantee good breeding, but it is a far better place to start than all the new fly by night registeries that have cropped up. Send a picture and they will give you a registration that is not worth the paper it is printed on. You can't follow the bloodlines to research about health issues, tempermant issues or show records. 

3.  Can explain the standard for their breed to you and breeds to that standard - not super sized or "King" Dobermans and certainly not Warlock - on the DPCA web site you can read all about the Warlock Myth.
http://dpca.org/breed/breed_standard.htm

4.  Doberman are a cropped and docked breed in America and it is the breeders responsiblity to crop and dock their puppies to save the new owner having to struggle with finding a qualified vet and dealing with aftercare for the first couple weeks.

5.  Does not let puppies go prior to 9 weeks in some cases they might keep them longer

6.  Is available when you call or e mail to answer questions

7.  Doberman come in 4 AKC approved colors - Black, Blue, Red and Fawn -  No reputatble person would breed the albino gene into their lines.  You can read all about the albino gene and its inherent problems here:   http://dpca.org/albino/albino_about.htm

If it is against the standard it is not correct - don't get fooled with wild sales gimmicks to suck you in.
Bitches should not be bred prior to two and OFA is done.  Should only be bred once a year as per the DPCA COE with one execption being allowed with vet approval.   

8.  Places all pet puppies on limited reg with a spay/neuter agreement.

9.  Everything must be by contract -  and the breeder takes back her dogs if for any reason the owner can't keep the dog.   Is open and honest about answering questions and does not hedge or hesitate.

10. Remains supportive after the sale -  You should have a breeder that you like to talk to, is knowledgable and always willing to help you even years from now.

Don't be fooled by the chat forums who regularly trash and devour breeders depending on what day of the week it is.  I have noticed the most vocal folks are either rescue people who hate all breeders or the neophyte who has never titled or bred a dog in their life. 

You are responsible for doing your own homework -  I hope that these guidelines help you as you make your search.

Copyright © 2010 Suzan Shipp/Dobs4ever. All rights reserved. Revised: ALL PICTURES AND CONTENT ON THIS BLOG ARE THE SOLE PROPERTY OF Suzan Shipp/J Bar S Dobermans and may not be used, copied or reprinted without express permission from the owner. Copyrighted 2010

Interesting fact on Doberman PDK4

Doberman's and the Doberman health test for PDK4.

 I just wanted to let everyone know that I just an e mail from a friend yesterday who lives  out east- She has a black male that is a CH, IPO3 and Sch 3 multi titled dog - just a wonderful working dog.

She was all upset as she just got the results back on his DNA test and he is PDK4 positive Homozogyus which means he got both copies of the gene. She is devastated and said he would not be bred. OMG he is 11 - How wonderful

This is what is going to make breeding decisions cloudy to some breeders who want to just focus on cardio and scream wolf- Prior to this we used to look at longevity as a good indicator of breeding for longevity. So now where do we go?  As I see it we are in the same boat. 

The more I learn about this test the more I have to wonder how much help it will be, BUT rest assured my plan has not changed. I will eliminate it just like Vwd because I don't want it to ever be a problem, but it is not the death sentence evidently that everyone thought it was. I am fortunate as most of my up and coming dogs were all neg for PDK4.  So I have a great start to eliminate it totally in a short period of time.

For those who wanted to jump the gun and throw out half their dogs based on one test I feel sorry for them after learning about the above dog. I know you can't base an entire premises on one dog but it does clearly show that it is not an absolute death sentence and there is a lot more we don't know about DCM.  Dr. Meurs herself asked for digression and not go so far the opposite direction that we did more harm than good.

For those that don't cry wolf all the time we did not freak out when someone had a dog whose sire or dam died young  of suspected DCM because we know some lived long lives and some just focused on the ones that die young and wanted to throw out the entire line as cardio ridden.

I see hope for our breed as we learn more and more and I do not see a health ridden breed. Our breed IMHO is as healthy as any other breed out there. The fact is just like in life some die young, some die old and some die somewhere inbetween.  If we only focus on health and keep promoting that our breed is unhealthy we will create the very thing we hope to avoid.
 
Dobs4ever
Copyright © 2010 Suzan Shipp/Dobs4ever. All rights reserved. Revised: ALL PICTURES AND CONTENT ON THIS BLOG ARE THE SOLE PROPERTY OF Suzan Shipp/J Bar S Dobermans and may not be used, copied or reprinted without express permission from the owner. Copyright © 2010

Going to the Dogs

Well I was so sick last week after reading first about the 4 day old baby left on the bed while the mother went to take a shower and was killed by the family dog.  Then this week I read where a baby had 8 fingers eaten off by the family ferret while supposedly the father was asleep in the room - HA more like doped out in a stuper - How on earth could you not hear a baby screaming as it is being eaten alive???

It truly is why I like Dobermans - Always faithful, alert, loyal, dedicated, protective.  Smarter than many humans. 

At this point I am beginning to think mandatory spay/neuter might be in order for humans -  If they can't love, protect, feed, educate, house a baby and educate them maybe they don't need them.  I know I don't want to pay taxes to feed them.

Update from Dr. Meurs on the DCM DNA testing

In reading the below info it is clear that 15% of all proven cases do not have the mutation. That is a small percentage I know and it does clearly show that there are other contributing factors as feared.

It is in our favor however to eliminate this one know factor and hopefully it will lead to more people testing and more studies and info gathered to find others we can eliminate.

Suzan


Here is an opportunity to advance the research even if you are unfortunate enough to have a Doberman
diagnosed with this awful disease.
> Happy New Year!!

> At this point we have tested 1280 samples. Approximately 15% of all proven DCM cases DO NOT have the mutation. We are eager to continue to work on these 15% of the cases, but we need to collect a few more samples from affected dogs that are negative for the mutation in order for our research to progress.
>
> Therefore, we would like to propose the following:
>
> For the month of January- if you submit a BLOOD sample (Swabs do not give us enough DNA for research samples) and evidence of an echocardiogram in which the dog was diagnosed with DCM and the genetic test is negative, we will not charge for the test. We will provide you with the results and bank the sample for further study , but we will not charge you.
>
> All you need to do is submit the blood sample and the echocardiograph report using the usual form. Amy will not charge you until the genetic results come back- if they are negative, there will be no charge, if they are positive you will know that your dog has the mutation and it will be charged. Either way you will get the results in the usual PDF results certificate.
>
> THANK YOU!
> Kate MeursUpdate

Suzan also writes a blog for Canine Chat under the screen name Dobs4ever - You can read her articles here - http://Canine-Chat.com

Copyright © 2010 Suzan Shipp/Dobs4ever.  All rights reserved. Revised: ALL PICTURES AND CONTENT ON THIS BLOG ARE THE SOLE PROPERTY OF Suzan Shipp/J Bar S Dobermans and may not be used,  copied or reprinted without express permission from the owner