2017 June July

On the issue of bad genes, babies,
and bathwater: I would not recommend
breeding a dog with IC. On the other
hand I would not withdraw a dog from
breeding because it produced a puppy
with IC. The condition has little or no
quality of life impact, and – except for
the big ones – doesn’t cause even minor
discomfort. If we start eliminating all firststep
relatives of dogs that have every kind
of defect and disease, no matter how minor,
everybody would need to stop breeding
dogs tomorrow.
That said, anyone who buys a normaleyed
littermate for breeding needs to know
what happened, as does the owner of the
sire. Owners of dogs designated not-forbreeding
don’t need to know unless they
are buying the puppy with IC, in which
case you need to inform them and reassure
them that their dog will be fine, the IC won’t
change, it will never cause their dog pain,
and the dog won’t later have any other
problems because of it. However, if the IC
is big they might need to take some care
I just got my dog’s hip x-rays done. The
hips look really good and my vet is sure
they’ll pass but she pointed out he has a
transitional vertebra. Is this inherited?
A friend sent me a link to research in
German Shepherds and it seems like it’s
a big deal. Is it OK to breed him?
Transitional vertebrae probably are
inherited. However, they generally aren’t an
issue for the dog. The most likely exception
would be in physically active dogs where
arthritis (degenerative joint disease) may
develop in the area of the transitional
vertebra. Treat this as you would a fault.
Consider it along with all this dog’s other
faults and virtues. If the good significantly
outweighs the not-so-good, then breed him.
However, as with any fault, you would
not want to breed him to bitches that have
transitional vertebrae themselves.
The German Shepherd Dog has a
very different body shape than the Aussie,
including a long back. It is also a breed
prone to a long list of skeletal problems. I
don’t think you can apply findings specific
to GSDs to other breeds without evidence
supporting significant negative outcomes
for dogs of other breeds with transitional
vertebrae.
Q&A
Someone who’s been around a long time
told me that epilepsy came into working
lines with those illegal Border Collie
crosses back when. How true is that?
If epilepsy in working Aussies had
only been reported in those lines where the
alleged cross-breeding took pace it might
be the case since the disease does occur in
Working BC lines. However, it has been
found in lines of Aussies that were never
suspect for possible Border Collie crosses.
Do keep in mind that a number of the
very early dogs behind the conformation
lines can also be found behind a variety
of working lines. If you don’t believe me,
take a look at the Hartnagle’s web-chart
from All About Aussies. That excellent
resource shows the interrelations among the
various lines in early breed history. Genes
those early dogs had could be found in both
working and show lines so it is possible
that epilepsy in working lines and show
lines may have come at least in part from
the same sources.
Another point to ponder regarding the
Border Collie origin theory is that our breed
is very young. First registration occurred in
1957. Before that they were all ranch dogs
and most people breeding them were more
interested in having dogs that worked than
the niceties of pure lines. It is extremely
likely that part of our breed’s heritage
includes at least a little inheritance from
almost every breed and type of stockdog
extant in the American West in the first half
of the 20 th century, and probably a few other
types of dog as well.
There is no single source we could
ever hope to find for epilepsy in working or
show lines. This is a disease that is proving
to have very complex inheritance. It is
also the most common canine neurologic
disease so bits and pieces of the full genetic
makeup of this disease could have come
from a number of places.
ASCA
Election Calendar
First business day in February
Last day for prospective candidates to
request candidate material from the
Business Office. Candidate material
includes Declaration of Candidacy
document (includes signature stating
prospective candidate agrees to submit
answers to Candidate Inquiry for
publication to the membership) and
Candidate Inquiry.
Second Friday in February
Postmark deadline to file Declaration of
Candidacy document.
March 1
Deadline to electronically submit Candidate’s
completed Candidate Inquiry to
the Business Office for publication in
the May/June Aussie Times. Failure to
submit completed Inquiry will result in
prospective candidate’s disqualification
for that election year.
First business day in May
Foreign ballots will be mailed. For
purposes of determining voting eligibility,
the membership books will close two (2)
weeks prior to the foreign ballot mailing
date.
May 15 or
First business day thereafter
U.S. member ballots will be mailed.
Members not receiving ballots by June
1st should contact the ASCA Business
Office.
July 15
All completed ballots are due in the
hands of the receiver (not postmarked)
on or before July 15.
July 20
On or before this date, all director
Candidates to be notified of election
results. Official notice of voting results will
be announced at the General Membership
Meeting at the ASCA National Specialty.
Rev. 07/11
AUSSIE TIMES May-June 2017 93