Great Swiss Mountain Dog Club. Newsletter Spring 2016

Transcription

1 Great Swiss Mountain Dog Club Newsletter Spring 2016 We ve arrived! In case you haven t heard the big news of the last year has been the announcement by The Kennel Club Ltd that the GSMD Club's application to have the breed moved from the Import Register onto the Full Breed Register has been successful. As from 1 st April 2016 the GSMD will be a fully recognised breed in the UK. Well done to everyone here and abroad who have supported the breed over the past 10 years. There will be a celebration party immediately following the AGM on Saturday 19 th March with fun games and activities. This will include an Easter Bonnet competition for both dogs and/or humans. Egg race (boiled eggs), Sausage Race, Talent competition as well as carting, weather permitting and a demo of, and an opportunity to have a go at, Rally 'O'. There will be a raffle that always has a good selection of prizes. Please come along and join in the fun. The dogs love it! Annual General Meeting The Club AGM will be held on Saturday 19th March 2016 at Overseal Village Hall, Woodville Road, Derbshire, DE12 6LU. Notice of any motion to be tabled at the Annual General Meeting must be given in writing, duly Proposed and Seconded, to the Secretary. An , from the Proposer and then from the Seconder with their approval clearly stated is acceptable. Sue Parkin-Russell, Club Secretary: No business shall be transacted at an Annual General Meeting unless notice thereof appears on the Agenda, with the exception of routine matters, or those that in the opinion of the Chairman of the Meeting are urgent. Members Questionnaire Annual subscriptions These were due on 1 st January. If you haven t yet paid, please do so asap by sending a cheque to the Membership Secretary: Jan Buckingham, 6 Sunbury Way, Hanworth, Middx, TW13 6XJ or alternatively pay directly by BACs to the Club s bank account: A/C: Great Swiss Mountain Dog Club Sort Code: A/C No: Please give your surname as a reference and then Jan to inform that payment has been made. jmbuck1@aol.com Thank you. There was a very disappointing response to the questionnaire that was sent out to members last year in which we asked your views on information sharing and club activities a mere 8 replies!! Of those that were returned, the majority felt that it would be good to share name, location and details with other members. Unfortunately, as this was such a small proportion of the membership, we feel that it would not be appropriate to share addresses at this time. After the AGM, when everyone has renewed their membership and new member applications have been ratified, we will produce a list of members names and general location. Then anyone wanting to contact their local members can do so via the Membership Secretary.

2 The Kennel Club have asked us to pass this information on to members: Cost Effective Road to Compulsory Microchipping And Life Long Security for Kennel Club Registered Dogs Free microchip record changes for Kennel Club registered puppies You may have heard that compulsory microchipping for all dogs will come into force on 6 th April 2016 in England and Wales. So, from April 2016, the Kennel Club and Petlog will be introducing free microchip record changes for Kennel Club registered puppies. Once the owner changes the Kennel Club registered ownership, they will be given the opportunity to complete the requirement to transfer keepership on the Petlog database free of charge (usually 16) this will also include an upgrade to the Petlog Premium reunification services for the life of their new puppy. In order to receive free microchip record changes for your Kennel Club registered puppies, make sure to choose a microchip that is associated with Petlog. There are 12 microchip suppliers to choose from and you can search for your local implanter at Not all microchips are associated with Petlog and the Kennel Club, it s important to choose the right microchip supplier Who is Petlog? Petlog, managed by the Kennel Club, is the UK s largest reunification database for microchipped pets Government compliant microchip database with ISO 9001 and certification Member of the European Pet Network providing support across Europe Over 20 years experience of providing 24/7 lost and found services 365 days a year More than 9 million pet owners trust Petlog to look after their pets What does the law say? All dog owners in England and Wales have until 6 April 2016 to microchip their dog and register them with a government compliant microchip database. From 6 April 2016: All puppies in England and Wales must be microchipped by the time they are 8 weeks old The breeder must always be the first recorded keeper of the puppies It will be illegal for breeders to sell a puppy that is not microchipped and recorded on a government compliant microchip database, such as Petlog The breeder must provide microchipping documents to the puppy buyer to ensure the new owner can update their details in order to comply with the law. Breeders must ensure that the microchip paperwork matches the puppy being sold to the new owner It is worth noting that the microchipping regulations do not affect the requirement for collars and tags as part of the Control of Dogs Order More information on compulsory microchipping and the free microchip record changes for Kennel Club registered puppies can be found here

3 Carting Get-Together Good friends of the GSMD Club, Tom and Wendy Murray of the Bernese Working Cart Group have invited us to their Carting Get Together weekend event on 4 th & 5 th June 2016 at Roade, Northampton. Camping & caravan pitches are available. The event will include Carting competitions for Bernese and non Bernese, hoping that this will encourage our other Swiss friends to come along and join in the fun with rosettes & trophies for all. D They will also include Decorated Cart Classes for all with rosettes & Trophies. If anyone would like to sponsor rosettes or trophies please let them know to help fund the event. They intend to have a small celebration on the Saturday evening as it will be 10 years since the carting group changed hands and they will have a cake plus the normal buffet. For further details or to book contact: tom675@btinternet.com Springhaze Anniversary Party Sue & Steve Brailey have extended the following invitation to Club members. If you would like to attend please smbrailey@tiscali.co.uk

4 Health Testing of the Great Swiss Mountain Dog By Sue Brailey I have been asked to write an article as the GSMD club s Breed Health Co-ordinator. The GSMD club is endeavouring to monitor any health issues that may arise within our breed. With such a new breed it is imperative that owners and breeders notify myself, as BHC, of any health issues that come to light. Only by keeping up to date records will breeders know what they are producing. However it is vital that any information is shared amongst breeders to enable us all to evaluate the breed as a whole in the hope of maintaining the future health of the breed here in the UK. At present anyone wishing to breed their GSMD is advised to have health tests done beforehand. It is hoped all reputable breeders will put breeding restrictions in place on the registration certificates of all their puppies, thus not allowing any breeding to take place unless all the necessary health criteria s have been carried out first. With such a small gene pool any minor condition may be allowed to breed but only with breeding partners who do not share the same condition. Hence the importance of sharing information. The first of these health tests is usually an eye test so I will start here. Dogs should ideally be tested at around 16 months of age and then at least once every two to three years until the age of 7. Sometimes a clear eye test one year will produce an affected eye test in subsequent years. During an eye test the examiner will be looking for congenital eye conditions such as Distichiasis, Entropian and Cataracts. There are many eye conditions that can affect dogs and some breeds seem to be more affected than others. At present in the GSMD s there are no notifiable eye conditions, meaning if the vet finds the condition he has to report it to the kennel club. Further down the line if the club finds an eye condition continually cropping up the KC will be notified and this will then become a notifiable condition which will be published in the KC Journal. It will then be advisable not to breed from any dog or bitch with the specified condition. Below I have mentioned the ones more likely to affect our breed. There has been an incident of GPRA (Generalised Progressive Retinal Atrophy) in one litter born in the UK which is very rare in GSMD s, in fact I believe, it has never been heard of in the breed before. A dog with this condition eventually loses its eye sight. None of this litter will be bred from in an effort to contain this disease. A few UK Swissies have been found to have Distichiasis (extra eyelashes). If the dog is in discomfort i.e. sore, runny eyes, the affected eyelashes can be surgically removed. This is a fairly straightforward operation with a good success rate. A dog/bitch with a few extra eyelashes could still be bred from but it would be advisable to only mate with a free dog/bitch to reduce the chance of passing the condition on. So far I have not heard of any UK dog with Entropian. This is where the rim of the eyelashes turn into the eye which often causes ulcers and again can be rectified with surgery. There are many forms of Cataracts. Puppies can be born with Cataracts but most Cataracts develop from the age of 1 year upwards. So far in the UK I have heard of 2 cases of PPS cataracts (Posterior Polar Subcapsual). These are very small, normally non progressive, cataracts which are not normally considered to be serious. However one affected dog later developed Bilateral Developing Cataracts which are a lot more serious so any dog with these cataracts will need yearly monitoring for any developments. Some older dogs, age 6 years and over, will develop Senile Cataracts but due to the relatively short lifespan (approx 10 years) of the GSMD these do not normally cause a serious problem. Senile Cataracts are more serious in long lived breeds as eventually they will lose their eyesight. There is an operation available to remove the cataracts and although it is costly it is very effective. Occasionally the eye examination will reveal trauma which can be in many forms from a scratch on the lens to a detached retina. If anyone has any comments or feedback on any of the above or any other eye issues please contact me. Sue Brailey smbrailey@tiscali.co.uk

5 Breed Judging Seminar 2016? Would you like to become a show judge for our breed? Following the successful seminar held last year, we would be very happy to arrange another if there are sufficient people interested. Sue Parkin-Russell, Club Secretary: Character Assessment 2016? If your dog is over one year old and you would like him or her to have an assessment, please register your interest with the Club Secretary Sue Parkin-Russell. Another Character Assessment event will be arranged when sufficient dogs are registered. Sue Parkin-Russell, Club Secretary: Dates for your Diary 10 th 13 th March 2016 Crufts, NEC Birmingham. See the Swissies on the GSMD Discover Dogs stand. Our breed can be seen in the AV Import Show ring on Saturday 12 th March. 19 th March 2016 Annual General Meeting. 11am (Members Only) 19 th March 2016 Celebration Party 12.30pm (Everyone welcome) 9 th April 2016 Springhaze 10 year Anniversary Party. Members welcome. 4 th & 5 th June 2016 Carting Get together, Roade, Northampton Get snapping to have your Swissy s photo considered for the 2017 GSMD calendar. All photo's must be landscape, in focus and of good quality. Closing date for entries 31st August Please send entries, one at a time, to Sue Brailey... smbrailey@tiscali.co.uk Should you wish to contact us, the current Club Officers are: Chairman - Peter Swinburn - Tel: Secretary - Sue Parkin-Russell - Tel: Treasurer - Steve Brailey - Tel: Membership Secretary/ Newsletter Editor - Jan Buckingham Tel: