Terrier Spotlite Encouraging and Promoting Quality Terriers Newsletter of the Tampa Bay Terrier Club www.tampabayterrierclub.com Inside this Issue April 2010 Volume 11 Issue 3 2 Membership News 2 Around the Ring 3 Where do Purebred Dogs Come From? 4 FAKC Meeting Notes 5 Upcoming Events 6 Advertising Inserts Dues Notice Awards Dinner Flyer Terrier Spotlite is published monthly by the Tampa Bay Terrier Club. Opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily the opinion of, or constitute an endorsement by, the Tampa Bay Terrier Club. www.tampabayterrierclub.com President's Message March 20th was a beautiful day for a match, one of the first sunny warm days we had had this spring. Tracey Wells did an outstanding job of chairing the B-Match the Club held and those of us who were there had a great time. Linda and Anthony's Stoney, Blue Bay's Romancing the Stone, won the Group One prize. So what's the problem? There were only six entries! The premium list deliberately did not exclude major pointed dogs or taped ears so as to allow more people to participate. It's hard to believe we have only a handful of people interested in practice with their dogs. I understood why we had few volunteers for the State Fair this year. The weather was generally miserable and it's not much fun to spend four and a half hours in a cold damp tent. But there really wasn't any reason to avoid the match. Please give the board members some input on what you want the Club to provide in the way of activities for you and your dogs. We are required by AKC to sponsor some activities, but without participation, it's pretty Continued on Page 4 HOSPITALITY April - Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet May - Anthony & Linda Lopez From the Corresponding Secretary Ellen Axelrod Meeting Notice The next general meeting will be held Wednesday, April 21st, during the Awards Banquet at LaTom's on Nebraska Avenue in Tampa. The next board meeting will be held at 7:30 pm on Monday, May 10th at the Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant on South Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. From the Editor The deadline for submitting information for next month s newsletter is April 25th.
Tampa Bay Terrier Club Officers and Board President Conni Adams 813/759-9377 TerriLane.Terriers@gmail.com Vice President Reatha Omodio 813/991-9083 Omodio@verizon.net Recording Secretary Tracey Wells 727/687-4650 WagginCritter@aol.com Treasurer Jim Omodio 813/991-9083 Omodio@verizon.net Corre sponding Secretary Ellen Axelrod 727/586-4618 606 Knollwood Drive Largo, FL 33770 Westie1@tampabay.rr.com Board of Directors Year 2010 Lynne Whitney 813/620-1915 LynneWhitney@aol.com Joe Whitney 813/620-1915 LynneWhitney@aol.com Year 2009 Anthony Lopez 813/238-2352 B.BlueBayKBT@verizon.net Linda Lopez 813/238-2352 B.BlueBayKBT@verizon.net Terrier Spotlite Editor Conni Adams 813/759-9377 TerriLane.Terriers@gmail.com TerriLaneTerriers@verizon.net GENERAL MEETING MINUTES Minutes of the March general meeting will be read and approved at the April meeting. MEMBERSHIP NEWS The following applications were read and voted into the Club during the March meeting. Please add the new members onto your membership list. Regular Membership - Rob Cobussen & Gina Helmbrecht 5302 Windrush Drive Tampa, FL 33625 813-598-4684 rcobussen@tampabay.rr.com Border Terriers Associate Membership - Nancy Griffin 7715 Verna Bethany Road Myakka City, FL 34251 941-928-1045 wheaten@tampabay.rr.com Soft Coated FLORIDA Wheaten STATE Terriers FAIR If you have not paid your dues, please get them to Treasurer Jim Omodio as soon as possible. You will no longer be a member in good standing as of the Awards Banquet, and would have to be reinstated by the Board after July 1st. Check with Jim if you aren't sure if you have paid or not. Also if you have an ad in the newsletter or would like to place one, payment is due on that too. AROUND THE RING Soft Coated Wheatens Owner Lynn Cone Hendersonville Kennel Club February 21, 2010 Raelyn Midnight Surprize "Paige" WB, BOS - 3 pts Raelyn The Jazz Hot "Dylan" WD, BW, BOB - 3 pts NEW CHAMPION! WANTED: SUPPORTED ENTRIES Please check with your local breed club to see if they would sponsor a supported entry at our November shows. Help us have a successful show this November.... AND JUDGES Also, please contact Reatha Omodio with ideas for judges we can use. Good judges are important to our success as well. Reatha can be reached at 813-991-9083 or omodio@verizon.net.
WHERE DO PUREBRED DOGS COME FROM? By David Post, DVM People in the world of dog shows often think of themselves as core to the purebred dog world. They tend to believe that they and people like them are responsible for the production of the majority of purebred dogs. The facts are a quite a bit different. In my daily practice as a veterinarian, I see multiple puppies every day. I generally see all the paperwork the breeders provided to the new owners, including medical records, pedigrees and registration information. Owners typically are not aware of the portion of the paperwork that is pertinent to vets, so they bring it all. The shocking fact for me, when I started practice, was finding out that the vast majority of purebred dogs came from puppy mills, "professional breeders", and backyard breeders. The highly selective, conscientious breeder who is show oriented and belongs to a national breed club is exceedingly rare. Over the years, I have practiced in a lot of different locations and compared notes with lots of veterinarians, and this observation is fairly universal. It actually gets more strange. Most of the pups that I see are healthy! They typically have some breeder-provided vaccinations and have been treated prophylactically for some parasites. They are bright and alert, and generally sound within the constraints of their breeds. They typically are well cared for by their new owners and are treated as part of the family most of the time. Most are not eligible for AKC registration. Instead, they are registered with a variety of alternate registries that have been created as a result of the AKC's crackdown on puppy mills. The registration organizations typically require no verification of pedigree or even purebred status, but the dogs are "registered" and the general public makes no distinction between these meaningless registries and the AKC. Typically, the owners have made spontaneous purchases with little selection. Even if they know they are not supposed to buy from puppy mills and pet stores, they purchase anyway. The general public also expects to purchase in exchange for money, with no screening of suitability of the owner or the breed. You want it, you get it. And of course, in our disposable world, if things don't work out, you get rid of the dog. And the breeders? A huge portion of the puppies in our area are purchased at flea markets. A massive regional flea market has a "puppy alley" where scores of breeds are available every weekend. Breeders of multiple breeds are pervasive in the area and they meet the standard descriptions of puppy mills. One example is a farmer who discovered that puppies were easier to raise than hogs and were more profitable. He built quarter-acre lots with a dog house/whelping box for each breeding pair, and he usually has 10 to 20 breeds, always small breeds because they are cheaper to keep. Pups are vaccinated and de-wormed before sale, vet checked, and marketed to pet stores. Another example is a man who calls himself a professional breeder and has about 50 Miniature Schnauzers. He considers himself on the cutting edge of purebred dog breeding, raising not just regular Miniature Schnauzers, but also "white" schnauzers and "toy" Miniature Schnauzers. He has a bachelor's degree in biology and a background in showing Rottweilers. He gave up showing because it was too political. He says he makes a hundred thousand dollars a year selling his pups primarily through local newspapers. In both these cases, the breeding dogs and the pups are generally healthy. Are these two examples different from your standard expectation of "puppy mills"? I am sure that both of these breeders produce far more dogs for sale in a year than most reading this article will produce in their entire lifetime of breeding. The story gets stranger still. Because the profit-oriented breeders tend to select away from things that cause expenses, like veterinary visits, some problems are less common with these dogs than with show breeders' dogs! Reproductive problems, like C-sections and the need for AI, are uncommon since they are selected against. This means that in some breeds the extreme show characteristics associated with winning are not present if these
characteristics lead to (costly) husbandry problems. No disproportionately large heads, no respiratory distress in the newborns, no bad moms that can't raise their own young, no unreasonably long, hard-to-care-for coats, and even bad bites and gay tails are quite rare. As extraordinary (and unpopular a concept) as it might seem, there are areas where non-show breeders are outperforming hard core breed advocates. Quite a concept and something that should give us all pause for thought, particularly when we are making our breeding selections. My estimation is that 90 to 95% of AKC-registered dogs (all breeds) are produced by backyard breeder and various "professional Breeders" like puppy mills. An even larger number of purebred (and designer breed) dogs are not AKC - registered and are produced by the same sorts of breeders. Popular breeds, like Labradors, have 36,000 litters registered per year with the AKC, and commercial breeders focus on these popular breeds. However, even in a relatively unusual breed, like Airedales, I suspect a majority of the population is not produced by "quality" breeders. There are roughly 700 Airedale litters a year registered with the AKC. How many are produced by ATCA members? I doubt the answer is half. Backyard breeders, "Oorang/Mountain dog" breeders, and puppy mills produce the rest. Typically, these are sold through newspapers to unscreened homes and a disproportionate number end up in our National Rescue organizations. This article attempts to illustrate the difference between what typical ATCA quality breeders think the world of purebred dogs is like and the reality. The questions become, "What do we do to protect Airedales?" and "How do we protect the purebred dog hobby?" We all know we must focus on producing healthy and sound dogs of moderate conformations. We must become conscious of detrimental effects our occasionally unwise breeding selections cause. Hopefully we will become increasingly aware of shrinking gene pools and the undesirable popular side effects. We must also remain legislatively alert and look to help solve the overpopulation problems that drive the legislation. If purebred dog aficionados like members of the ATCA don't find solutions, expect animal right organizations, animal welfare organizations, and animal rescue organizations to fill the void with well-financed legislative action and more documentaries demonizing the purebred dog industry. David Post is a practicing veterinarian in Tyler, Texas. He as a master's degree in genetics and has published numerous peer reviewed scientific articles. He has owned Airedales since 1974. David and his wife, Laura, raise Airedales under the Texter Kennel name, breeding numerous champions and specialty winning dogs. They live on a small farm near Tyler. (Editor's note: David and Laura Post are my Walker's breeders.) Reprinted with permission. First published in The American Airedale, the newsletter of the Airedale Terrier Club of America. President's Message Continued from Page 1 pointless to continue to organize these events. Some of our activities are required by the AKC to continue as a club in good standing, but certainly we can cut back on what we are doing. After saying all that, I do know that real life gets in the way of our dog life sometimes. For example, the timing of this newsletter is far from what I aim for, but between out trip to Michigan and it being tax season, I had no time until this weekend to finish up the newsletter. I'm really sorry! I do hope to see you all at the Awards Banquet. Anthony says a good crowd of people has made reservations. Don't forget to bring something for the Silent Auction. There's always a great variety of items up for purchase and it helps defray the cost of the awards. Even if you don't have an award coming, come celebrate those who do, and the great Club we have! Conni
Special Events TBTC Annual Dinner and Awards Banquet - Wednesday, April 21 at Latam's, 1913 Nebraska Ave. Tampa. Contact Anthony Lopez at 813-238- 2352 or B.BlueBayKBT@verizon.net. Annual Hurricane Party - August 7 or 14 or 21 - Let a board member know your preference! Hillsborough County Florida Dog Fanciers - obedience and conformation classe s - 7 pm Tuesdays at Mary Help of Christian Center, 6400 Chelsea St, Tampa. Call 813-685-6684 or email kibetsyork@aol.com for details. PRINTING COURTESY OF: HAMIC JONES HAMIC & STURWOLD, PA 1905 S FLORIDA AVENUE LAKELAND, FL 33803 863-682-5151 Accounting and Consulting
Next Meeting Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 during the Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet Terrier Spotlite Conni Adams - Editor 2723 Kala Lane Plant City, FL 33563 First Class Mail