Identifying Split Cycles and Silent Seasons

Dr. Marty Greer joins host Laura Reeves to discuss split cycles and silent seasons in our bitches. Both are frustrating for breeders but they are not the same situation.

“Silent heats and split seasons are not the same,” Greer said. “There are some bitches that fail to ovulate. They (likely) have a cystic ovary and that will cause them to have an initial indication that they look like they're in heat, but then they don't persist and they don't ovulate.

“And then there are silent heats, which are kind of the opposite where the bitches come into heat, their ovaries do all the things they're supposed to do. Their hormones do all the things they're supposed to do, but they just don't tell you that they're in heat. They either keep themselves really, really clean or they just don't have much discharge. And there's really not a correlation between small amount of discharge and not having a normal ovulatory cycle.

“So (a silent season) doesn't mean you have an infertile bitch. It doesn't mean that she can't get pregnant. It just means you have to be a little bit more strategic about how you manage her. And then we really have to talk about the nutrition. We have to talk about housing. You have to have at least 14 hours a day of full spectrum light. So if your dogs are in crates with crap stacked on top of it or they're in a room that doesn't have adequate lighting, they're not going to have normal cycles. If you're not feeding them the right kind of diets, they're not going to have normal cycles. If you've got them on weird supplements, they're not going to cycle normally.

“Lots of things can cause a bitch to just pop out of season. And then four to six weeks later, she'll actually be back in season. The bloody discharge will go away and then it comes back. A dog that doesn't ovulate, the bloody discharge persists normally. If it's a split heat, normally the bloody discharge goes away, and then it comes back four to six weeks later, and then you go merrily on your way and breed her.”

Harnessing Youth to Build New Clubs

[caption id="attachment_14619" align="alignleft" width="297"] Ellie Ovrom with her Drent and her All American dog.[/caption]

Host Laura Reeves is joined by Ellie Ovrom, Drentsche Patrijshond enthusiast, who has helped found two brand new clubs with just five years involved in the sport.

“As I got more interested in purebred dogs and in performance sports,” Ovrom said, “I got involved with existing clubs and organizations around me, or in the case of the breed club, the national club, and as I was getting involved, I started to realize that some of the way that things were being done was not necessarily in alignment with my values and interests. 

“And not only that, but I was making connections with other folks in those organizations who felt very similarly. And rather than lean into conflict, which is I think unfortunately what ends up happening a lot in dog clubs, we realized that there's space for all of us and we just want to enjoy the dogs.”

A project manager by trade, Ovrom  noted that “a lot of the key skills of a project manager align really well with working in dog clubs or any volunteer organizations, frankly. It's a lot of managing process and managing people. So particularly in founding two new nonprofit organizations, we had to figure out OK, what is needed, in what order and how do we do this most efficiently and most effectively and try our best to get it right the first time. We don't always, but we try to get it right the first time, every time.

“Nobody's getting paid for this. We're all doing it because we love it. And but people are busy. They have lives, they have families, they have their real jobs. How do you capitalize on people's skill sets and their passion without burning them out and building community at the same time? 

“I think we've had things that have worked and things that have not worked, but recognizing that the intent of everybody is good is, I think the basic approach that I try to take is everyone's doing their best or wants to do their best. How can you help people achieve that is what I try to do.”

Adam Levy’s Secrets to Success of Top-Level Dual Dogs

[caption id="attachment_14601" align="alignleft" width="322"] Adam Levy and Devon Kipp Levy work magic emphasizing the dual dog.[/caption]

Host Laura Reeves is joined by Adam Levy, breeder of Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, to talk dual dogs, retriever tests and what it takes to be successful at the top.

Levy started in Chessies 16 years ago. In that time he has bred five BIS winners, including two with MH titles and field trial points. Working with his business partner Andrew Barbouche, Levy operates Next Generation Gundog Training in Minnesota.

“Just because a dog is pretty or well put together or just because a dog has got a master hunter title, doesn't mean the dog should be bred, doesn't mean that it should really keep producing forward,” Levy said.

“I don't mind a soft dog,” Levy noted. “I don't think that is a bad thing. As long as you have some grit behind you, I don't care if you have to kind of slow everything down and get them through the yard, as long as they have some good grit to them and they have that desire for themselves.

“I won't take a quitter. A dog that wants to quit is just a big no-no for me and a dog that just doesn't look good doing the job that you've asked them to do. You know, we have to remember that the standard was meant to be able to have a dog that can last long.

“I wanna be hunting with my 10-year-old dog. I don't want to be fighting through injuries because I've hunted this dog. I was just in Canada and we shot 1000 birds over a couple days. I want to be able to hunt that dog every day without it being sore or breaking down. So being able to be structurally sound and being able to have the brain to do the job that you asked them to do, those are must haves for me.

[caption id="attachment_14602" align="alignright" width="348"] Levy focuses on dogs with the structure and the brains to work all day.[/caption]

“And being able to have the willingness to “cut” a dog from a program because they're not that. And I think that's the hardest thing for breeders nowadays or people that can't have large numbers of dogs, they don't want to cut the one or two dogs that they have living in their house. And so I think that's where we kind of get stuck in mediocrity sometimes.

Levy married Devon Kipp Levy in 2021. This powerhouse couple combines the field and show elements of their dual dogs in an enviable manner.

“Devon is somebody that has such a great eye and is so talented hands on with a dog. I really get to see what a dog really looks like to their full potential with her. And I think it's definitely taken the breeding program to heights at a faster rate that I could have ever imagined. And it doesn't even have to do with the ribbons or winning. It's just being able to really see a dog move properly and watching a dog, you know, what they really look like. And being able to talk about those things.

“Emotion needs to come out of breeding. And we should love our dogs and our dogs should be our pets and sleeping in our bed and love our dogs like they’re our own family. But when it comes to breeding, you need to take the emotion out of it.

“You have to make the right decisions for your breeding program and for the breed. That's the hardest thing. (People think) “it's the best dog I ever had so I want to breed him.” Just because he's the best dog that you've ever had doesn't mean that it's going to help advance the breed.”

Veterinarian and Author Joins Fight to Support Responsible Breeders

[caption id="attachment_14594" align="alignleft" width="248"] Dr. Nancy Kay, veterinarian and author, encourages clients to source their new dog from responsible breeders.[/caption]

Host Laura Reeves is joined by veterinarian and author Dr. Nancy Kay to discuss her fight to support responsible breeders.

Kay said that when she’s talking to clients about how to find a responsible breeder, she advises them, “If you're speaking with a breeder over the phone or online, first and foremost, the breeder insists that you come visit. They want you there. It's not necessarily about looking at their dogs, but that breeder wants to size you up.

“They're not willing to sell one of their puppies to just anyone. They'll have more questions for you than you actually have for them. So once you're there, the breeder will speak very highly about her breed. She’s passionate about the breed that she adores, and she wants to enhance the breed through future breeding. So, she'll tell you all about the breed. She'll talk to you about all the health issues that the breed is at risk for. They'll show you all the health clearances on parents, as well as probably the aunts and the uncles and the grandparents. She'll ask you to sign a contract and most responsible breeders, part of the contract is if you ever need to rehome this puppy, I'm the first you call.

“When you sign on with a responsible breeder, you're kind of becoming part of her family. She's going to want to keep tabs on your pup. If your pup develops a health issue, she's going to want to be the first one to know about it, second in line to your veterinarian, because if there's a problem, she wants to know about it. I mean, it is such an important relationship, the breeder and the puppy buyer and the veterinarian, the puppy buyer’s veterinarian.”

Check out Kay's book Speaking for Spot.

Breast Cancer Awareness for You AND Your Dog

Host Laura Reeves is joined by Dr. Marty Greer for an important reminder about the risks of breast cancer in our dogs and how to prevent and treat it.

How does hearing the words “she’s got breast cancer” affect you? Bring tears to your eyes? Start a knot forming in the pit of your stomach? Make you want a second opinion? Create anger at being cheated?

We all know and have been affected by someone with this dreaded diagnosis. Maybe it is you, maybe someone you love: a wife, sister, daughter, girlfriend, mother, another family member or co-worker. We know it is a life-changing experience - pain, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, fear of a shortened life expectancy.

For many women, they are fortunate that advances in early detection and medical therapy has made breast cancer a story of survival instead of a death sentence. But this is not the path for all those diagnosed.

Some are diagnosed too late or with a very aggressive form of the disease. Some cannot afford the medical care that allow for an improved prognosis. Some deny themselves the care they need.

But for those who are blessed with great diagnostics and treatment that allow for stories of happy endings, they owe their successes to the incredible research that led to this improved prognosis and outcome.

Part of the success story is thanks to the similarity of breast cancer in women with mammary tumors our dogs also are affected by. The dog has served as a research model for the disease in humans. Many advancements in human medicine are directly linked to the information discovered by research on the disease in dogs. Sadly, our dogs have not benefitted as much as humans have.

In human medicine, there are two keys to survival: early detection and successful treatment. Self-breast examinations and mammograms have been credited with changing survival by early detection. Many organizations have put their resources into educating us about the importance of these two important detection tools. New diagnostic tools are on the horizon for humans. Of course, mammograms are not available for our dogs. They rely on us to detect their lumps and to seek appropriate therapy for treatment.

But, treatment is a very different story. Despite the similarities between this human and canine disorder, there are no widely accepted successful chemotherapy and radiation therapy programs available for dogs. Surgical excision is the only treatment option widely available at this time for dogs.

In contrast to humans, mammary tumors in dogs are nearly 100% preventable if owners would take one simple step – to spay their female dogs prior to age 2 or younger. We all know that spaying (ovariohysterectomy or ovariectomy) prevents heat cycles and pregnancy. What we have not always done as well as we should have as veterinarians is to educate our clients that spaying under the age of 2 prevents most mammary tumors. Spaying before the first heat cycle protects nearly all dogs.

In the veterinary profession, we have also not educated our clients of the risks of spaying our female dogs. While it is true that spaying prevents pregnancy, mammary tumors, and pyometras, there is research that supports increased risk of other disorders thought to be related to removing the hormonal influence of the ovaries. There is an increased risk of urinary incontinence and associated urinary tract infections, osteosarcoma, lymphosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, mast cell tumors, and hypothyroidism. Each of these disorders has an associated health risk ranging from mild to severe affecting quality and length of life, as well as financial cost to the owner. Even when dogs with mammary tumors were included in the study, they still achieved greater longevity than their spayed female counterparts.

 

These studies show that the decision to spay and when to spay an individual dog cannot be made without balancing the risks and benefits of the procedure.

As a group, veterinarians and animal control organizations have encouraged spaying, sometimes at a very early age, with the only goal being population control. We have overlooked the importance of individual dog health, meaning the health benefits of leaving our female dogs intact (i.e. not spayed). Instead, we have allowed public policy for the greater good of dog population control to dictate our decisions that we should spay and when we should spay our individual dogs.

Each individually owned dog should be considered an individual – there is not a one-size-fits-all way to approach this decision. More research needs to be done to aid in determining the optimal time for a spay.

For the dogs who are not spayed at this early age due to their inclusion in a breeding program or for other health benefits, early detection is still key in creating a favorable outcome for the patient and her family. Early detection in the dog is simple – it only requires a monthly examination by the owner and biannual examinations on palpation by her veterinarian. For dogs groomed frequently, professional groomers may be enlisted in this hands-on approach as well. This simple “Pink Paw” program will allow for early detection for nearly all mammary tumors. When detected early, surgical removal will usually lead to a cure.

Of course, for our dogs as for us, a healthy lifestyle with an appropriate diet, exercise, good weight management, preventive veterinary care, and the fortune of good genetics will allow for maximum longevity.

The same disorder we see in women and call “breast cancer” is called “mammary tumor” in the dog. This terminology does not motivate owners to respond to this as a serious health threat to their dog. Although an accurate description, mammary tumor is too bland a term to use when a call to action is the best response.

We need to think of this malady in dogs as we do in women – a disorder that requires prompt surgical treatment. Since surgery is our only real option for treatment of “breast cancer” in the dog at this time, owners and veterinarians alike should opt for wide surgical excision of any suspect masses as soon as possible to improve long-term survival of the affected patient. (The only exception to this is in the rare case when inflammatory mammary carcinoma is suspected; in this case, surgical excision is not an appropriate treatment.)  Pre-op needle samples of suspected mammary tumors does not lead to accurate prediction of the severity of the possible tumor.

Taking a “let’s watch it and see what it does” approach to a lump is likely to allow a treatable disorder to rage out of control and become a life-threatening disorder. Each heat cycle she has will likely lead to an increase in the size of the breast tumor. Spaying at this time is likely to help prevent the continued risks of mammary cancer in dogs who are predisposed to recurrence.

There is a known strong correlation between the size of the dog and the size of the tumor and the malignancy rate – overall, 50% of breast cancer in the dog is malignant. Small dogs and small tumors are less likely to be serious than large dogs and large tumors. Early surgical intervention has the best outcomes at this time.

As in women, early detection and treatment leads to a much better prognosis and long-term survival rate.

This October, if you visit any of our 4 practice locations, we are working hard to educate our dog and cat owners about breast cancer. Our team will educate you on how to do an effective breast exam on your dog or cat. Please remember to do this monthly, just like you do your own breast exam. Should you find a lump anytime between October and next April, you may return and have a technician assess the lump at no charge. If there is any suspicion of mammary cancer, one of our doctors will also do an assessment and help schedule your pet for surgery if there is reason for concern.

As we know more about the prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer, we as well as our dogs can look forward to a long and healthy life free of this devastating disorder.

Dr. Marty Greer and Veterinary Village in Lomira has initiated a research fund with the University of Wisconsin Veterinary School. This fund has been created: Excellence in Companion Animal Mammary Cancer Research Fund and is ready for your donations.

The direct link to the fund via UW’s giving page for online gifts: https://supportuw.org/go/xGMyf

The expectation is to fund research to If you prefer sending a check for your personal contribution, you can issue it payable to:

UW Foundation

Fund 112840163 (write on the check memo line)

Mail to:

UW Foundation

c/o U.S. Bank Lockbox

Box 78807

Milwaukee, WI 53278-8807

Feel free to share this link with anyone who might be interested in supporting this work.

Additionally, there is a beautiful silver necklace featuring the Pink Paw logo with matching tags for dogs you can purchase in support of the foundation.

Please contact us at Veterinary Village for additional information:

Email: [email protected]; Phone: 920-269-4000

Mail: Veterinary Village, N11591 Columbia Dr., Lomira, WI 53048

Queen of Cords: Alice Lawrence on 55 Years of Corded Breeds

[caption id="attachment_14557" align="alignleft" width="373"] Alice Lawrence with BISS GRCHB Fuzzy Farm All Things Considered (aka Spaetzle, on the left) and YOLO (on the right) Moonshadow You Only Live Once At The Fuzzy Farm.[/caption]

Host Laura Reeves is joined by Alice Lawrence, breeder-owner-handler of Komondorok, Puli and Havanese, to discuss her beloved corded breeds.

Lawrence, along with her husband Steve, first owned an Old English Sheepdog. “We were brushing our arms off,” she said.

“In 1972, we acquired our first Komondor and there's no looking back. And no, we never had another Old English Sheepdog. We love the breed. But we would never go back to brushing a dog like an Old English Sheepdog when you can have a dog of equivalent size or somewhat larger and be able to cord it.

While cording a coat can seem daunting, Lawrence said, “Well, compared to brushing, it is (much easier), but you have to understand what a cord is, why a coat cords, and how to maintain the cord. It's a different discipline. We think it's much easier than brushing, and it's a lifetime of being able to have your dog in a proper coat rather than brushing the dog, showing it and shaving it down because you can't keep up with brushing it.”

A “curated mat”

“We think of cords as being a protection, a protection from predators. And the coat is very important to the environment and to the work that they do. Komondor are protectors of the flock. They do guard against such things as wolves. A fully-corded Komondor, not necessarily the length of the coat, but the density of the coat, will prevent the wolf from biting the dog.

“The other thing is that Komondor and Puli in their native Hungary deal with very, very difficult weather conditions, and the coat protects them both from the cold as well as from the heat. It's an insulator. So it's really a very natural coat for the dogs to have for their entire life.

“To cord any breed you really need a coat that is a double texture, an undercoat and an outer coat, and the undercoat is a softer coat, it's more cottony. The outer coat is wavier and it takes the wave of the outer coat to wind its way around the softer undercoat to create the cord.

“That's what's creating this, call it a mat. It's a mat and it's an elongated mat. The thickness of the mat, sometimes it's natural as to whether or not a dog has a thick cord or a thinner cord, but for the most part it's how you divide these mats that occur that will determine the thickness of the cord.”

 

Changing Hearts and Minds, One Livestream at a Time

Host Laura Reeves is joined by friend of the pod Bobby Brian (BB) Lewis to talk about how he was able to change the minds of random members of the public using his YouTube channel.

Lewis started his YouTube channel primarily to share with his puppy families and show how the puppies are raised. He said he was shocked by the amount of negative feedback and outright hate toward dog breeders that he received.

“The easiest thing would have been to remove them from the channel. I mean, I don't know if that would be the best thing to do, but that would have been an easy fix to this. But I was trying to explain to them this is what we do. We do all the health testing on our parents. They must be at least two years old and have all their health certs before we breed them. And normally we like to even have a title on all of them before we do this.

“One of the comments I had gotten was you're adding to all these puppies being put into shelters. And I said, "No, if you buy a puppy for me and you have to surrender it or if you change ownership, I have a contract and that puppy comes to me.

“There's no way one of my pups will wind up in a shelter, and (the commenter) just, he didn't know what to say that night. That guy was stunned.

“My eyes opened up all of a sudden and I was shocked that people were trying to call me out. To some degree you're thinking you're doing, which I know I'm doing the right thing, but when people start calling you names and those type of things, and then you're like, whoa, wait a minute, something's wrong, we need to stand up a little bit.”

The New and Aspiring Judge’s Journey with Channing Sheets

“How you treat people is everything.”

Host Laura Reeves is joined by German Shepherd Dog breeder and recently minted AKC judge Channing Sheets for a conversation about breeding dogs, the sport, judging and the honor of his first Westminster Kennel Club judging assignment.

[caption id="attachment_14493" align="alignleft" width="550"] Channing Sheets with one of his GSD.[/caption]

Sheets recounts his journey in dogs, starting with his dad’s bird dogs and hounds, through Keeshond and finally landing with his passion, the GSD.

A member of the GSDCA Judges Education Committee, Sheets said the breed “has to be able to tend stock. You gotta do it all day long. You have to have good heart and lung function and then the secondary job is bite work. So you need to have a good bite, you need to have all your teeth and you need to have good occlusion. Now a button first premolar is a fault just because it's not a gripping tooth. Anything else I'm pretty much death on for that reason.”

Like so many fanciers who are much more than just their dogs, Sheets works in high level occupational safety for the state of California. “I got recruited away to go to Cal OSHA and I was writing ebola guidelines and pandemic influenza guidelines. I do a lot of outbreak investigations, but I also specialize in workplace violence. So I deal with high profile active shooter cases.”

“How you treat new people makes or breaks whether you get assignments, whether they want to show to you, or whether those individuals will continue to participate.

“I really focus on puppy because I don't want them to have a bad experience,” Sheets said “and I don't want a new person to have a bad experience. Those are the two that we want to keep coming back. And if you do that, and they bring their friend, you'll grow exponentially, but you have to make positive experiences. Yeah. No one wants to go somewhere where they're going to have a negative experience."

[caption id="attachment_14468" align="alignleft" width="273"] Veronica Miller and a Portugese Podengo Medio.[/caption]

Hot Topic: New Rules for FSS Breeds

Host Laura Reeves is joined by Veronica Miller, Portugese Podengo Medio enthusiast, to discuss newly announced rules about FSS breeds.

The August Board minutes launched a number of hot topics and discussions, including around limited registrations, but one of the hottest is taking place in the FSS community. The enthusiasts in this group are working with breeds progressing toward full AKC recognition. Many of these breeds are ancient and popular in other countries.

“Since I came in initially,” Miller said, “we had to have 300 dogs registered. We met that. Then it was you had to have a minimum of 20 litters. We had hit that, but then they moved it to 20 liters within five years after moving to miscellaneous. We're about one litter away from meeting that and now it's 20 litters within three years.

“And most of these changes have taken place since 2018. So, in a short number of years there have been a whole lot of changes. There has been no outreach to any of our breed clubs. We hear from AKC that they are a club of clubs, but changes are made for FSS and miscellaneous breeds without our input. And without any discussion or reasoning.

“We want to make sure that we do have a healthy gene pool and good genetics within our breed. We also want to make sure that we have appropriate homes and forcing a set number of litters could potentially lead to people making poor decisions for the dogs.

“And the other thing with this particular board decision that really, I think, pushed a lot of buttons is when things come before the board, it is brought before the board discussed and then they leave it until the next board meeting when it's been voted on, which allows for a feedback. And that did not happen.

“A lot of this group is the under 40 crowd, which is not the usual. We have found breeds that we love and want to dedicate our lives to, and just because it's not the usual breed that's out there, it doesn't make them worth any less. We have the breeds that we have because they are special to us. And these folks are incredibly dedicated to these dogs.

“We are really dedicated and want to do more with our dogs, which is the whole point here, but we’re being held back in so many ways. And unfortunately, that's going to turn these folks away from AKC and they may go to other venues or they may just stay at home with their dogs. And then we're losing a huge segment of people that could really grow our sport.”

Diagnosing the Limping Puppy: Pano, HOD, OCD and more…

Host Laura Reeves is joined by Dr. Marty Greer for a deep dive on all the causes of a limping puppy. They cover when to have the puppy seen by a vet and what differentials are in play for the diagnosis.

Panosteitis. Hypertrophic osteodystrophy. Osteochondritis Dissecans. These are long, scary names of disorders that can adversely impact our puppies while they are growing. From the relatively benign Pano to the frequently surgical solution for OCD, every time we see a limping puppy, our stomachs clench.

Greer walks listeners through all of the various options and discusses the heritability of these disorders.

“Make sure that you stay in good communication with both your veterinarian and the breeder,” Greer said, “because as an alliance, we can really make a big difference in how these puppies are diagnosed and treated.

“Pano, I think growing pains is a pretty accurate description, and it's typically a young puppy usually at their most rapid growth phase, somewhere between 5 and 8 or 9 months of age. And they're usually but not always males. I know I've had it in females. The very worst case I. First Soft Piano was a female and it was not a heavily boned dog, but typically we think of them as heavy boned, like large bone dogs that have a lot of structure and typically boys because they typically have those thicker bones and more rapid growth than the things that boys do that girls don't.

“HOD typically strikes when the puppy is younger. It’s going to show at the growth plates on an x -ray, they're going to show up as this widening, this weird kind of fuzzy look there. It is very painful, dogs have a fever and it's often associated with a vaccination.

“OCD is generally noticed at 6-15 months. Cartilage in the joints peels off and difficult to diagnose in xray. Usually the shoulder, but not necessarily.

“Fragmented Coronoid Process (FCP) and Ununited anconeal process (UAP) and Premature ulnar closure are growth disorders in the elbow related to elbow dysplasia.

“Anytime you can say it's more common in this breed than another breed that means it's genetic.”