What’s New – Archive

17 June 2013

Breed Health Day – SUNDAY 22nd SEPTEMBER 2013

List of Speakers

BEN WALTON, “BVSc CertSAS MRCVS”
(Ben will be giving a presentation on HD). Since qualifying in 2002 Ben has spent 2 years in mixed practice and 6 years in small animal practice. In 2009 Ben started a mobile surgical referral service, which continues to operate.
In 2010 he returned to the University to run a large research project on the treatment of (osteo) arthritis in dogs.
Since October 2011 Ben has been a lecturer in orthopedic surgery which involves mostly seeing clinical cases, plus teaching students and residents.
In September Ben is leaving the University to work in a private referral hospital near Chester. Ben has given numerous lectures on joint disease in dogs, as far a field as Italy, USA and Moscow.

RACHEL LOCKHART “BVM&S Cert VOphthal MRCVS”
(Rachel will be presenting on eye’s) Rachel qualified from Edinburgh in 2001. After a short spell in mixed practice Rachel soon focused her efforts on companion animals alone and over the next eight years worked within first opinion practices in Hampshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire.
Rachel had a particular interest in Ophthalmology since University and gained the post-graduate RCVS Certificate in Veterinary Ophthalmology in 2009.
Rachel has worked as a dedicated Veterinary Ophthalmologist within referral practice ever since.
Rachel currently works between Rutland House Referrals in St. Helens and West Midland Referrals in Lichfield.

HANNAH COPELAND (DCM) Hannah will be providing an update on the DCM project.

Tickets are now on sale £15 (must be pre-paid) and includes buffet lunch, info pack and cert of attendance, tickets can be obtained/reserved through Maria McGuinnes Health Coordinator, via email, post, phone or at shows. Fuller details and a downloadable flyer will be available shortly

 

DATE DETAILS LINK
30 October 2013 Breed Clubs had recently been asked by the Kennel Club to suggest which shows should lose CCs for their breed, but it seems that there was so much resistance to the cuts that the 2015 allocation will be used for the following year, with additional CCs allocated to eight breeds but no reductions.
The Kennel Club’s General Committee discussed the matter at its recent meeting and agreed that reducing the number ‘could be considered detrimental to the current show scene’.
To read an extract on the meeting by Dog World please click on the attached link Link to Extract
28 October 2013 Report on the Breed Council Meeting held on Thursday 03 October 2013. Details
30 September 2013 At a recent meeting of the Breed Council it was agreed “That the Breed Council recommends to breeders that they microchip and DNA profile their puppies before they leave for their new homes. The DNA will then be available to identify problems in the future”.
21 September 2013 The Breed Council Health Day will be held
Sunday 22nd September 2013 at
The Small Animal Teaching Hospital
The University of Liverpool
Leahurst
Chester High Road
Neston
Cheshire
CH64 7TE
Arrival time 10:00 for refreshments and the seminar to start 10:30 prompt. Direction can be downloaded from the University website here. Any problems on the day please contact Maria on 07932 532220
17 June 2013 The Kennel Club has recently written to all of the Breed Clubs with a proposal to reduce the number of CCs on offer to the Breed as from 2016. Copies of the letters from the KC and the response of the Breed Council can be found by following the attached link. Details
17 June 2013 Hannah’s update April 2013

We have fitted 45 Holter monitors to dogs we have seen through screening, as well as a few dogs where we have not seen them previously. About 50% of the Holters are abnormal, but remember that often these dogs are related so the number of affected is probably high because we think that ventricular arrhythmias are inherited and therefore occur more commonly in affected families.
Also of interest is the early Troponin results (the marker of heart muscle damage) – early results suggest this might be a good test to identify dogs with ventricular arrhythmias.

22 April 2013 The Breed Council held a meeting on Thursday 18th April at the Holiday Inn, Stafford. Apologies were received from The Great Dane Club & the Scottish Great Dane Club. The position of Chairman was up for election and Peter King stated that due to increasing business commitments he wished to withdraw his nomination thus allowing the delegates present to accept myself as the new Chairman. For those who do not know me I am Tim Lewis and along with my wife Sally have owned, bred and exhibited for some 23 years and been very actively involved with The South Western Great Dane Club for over 15 years where I am vice chairman. I am lucky to be of an age when I can reduce my workload and devote more time to the things that are important to me, Great Danes, the SWGDC and the B.C are very high priorities to me. Peter has worked hard for the past 9 years to get the B. C. where it is today and I thank him for all that hard work and leaving me with a very strong team to  work with.

It was agreed that Peter should chair the meeting, as it was to be his last in charge, which he did in his usual manner. The KCLC report was deferred until the AGM, which was to follow, to save Tony Schaanning-Ling giving the same report twice within a couple of hours. The Health Co-ordinator gave her report with an update on the DCM project, this year’s Health Day, and details of both can also be found on the website or obtained directly from Maria McGuinness who is also in charge of the tickets. Numbers are limited so please contact Maria a.s.a.p.

The decision by the K.C to reduce the number of Special Awards classes from 6 to 3 (mixed sex classes) was discussed and it was agreed that the B.C. should write to the K.C. requesting that they reconsider.

The A.G.M. followed at 3.00 pm. with Peter again taking the chair, there were an extra 7 club members present the same as last year and it would have been nice if there could be a few more. There were a number of topical discussions and reports given by the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Health Co-ordinator and KCLC Officer. The ratification of the new constitution, agreed at the September 2012 meeting, was postponed until the 2014 A.G.M; I was pleased with this as it will give the clubs that missed the last couple of meetings a chance to make comments. The B.C. website is improving all the time thanks to the hard work & commitment of Phil Bates so please use it as it belongs to you the owners & members.

12 May 2013 For your information, please find attached a seminar flyer for “Genes and Thermals”, a set of lectures for all breeds, to be held on the 12th May. The event has been organised by the Wheaton Health Initiative and if you wish to book a place, or make further enquiries, please click here.
18 April 2013 The Great Dane Breed Council will hold its AGM at the Holiday Inn Express just off Junc 13 of the M6 at 3:00pm. MAP
12 March 2013 DCM RESEARCH

Volunteers are still needed for our research in the dilated cardiomyopathy in Great Danes. We have seen over 150 Danes for screening at the University of Liverpool – but we need more!
We have reduced the age limit for screening to 4-years – so if you have a Dane 4 years or older we need you! We are offering a free examination by a cardiologist free health screening blood samples and a free heart scan if you can bring your dog to the University of Liverpool.We are also now sending out Holter monitors to be fitted to any dog aged 1 year or older. This is an ECG monitor (not the same as a heart scan) which needs to be fitted by your vet, but you don’t need to make the journey to Liverpool. This will provide us with much needed information about arrhythmias (palpitations) in Danes and may become a screening test for DCM that can be used in young dogs in the future.

Contact Joan Toohey or Hannah Stephenson for more information on 0151 795 6100 or email Hannah on

Details
07 February 2013 Health Day – 22 September 2013

The Breed Council’s next Health Day will be held at The University of Liverpool Small Animal Teaching Hospital, Leahurst, Neston Cheshire on Sunday 22nd September 2013. Full details on Agenda, Speakers, ticket prices etc. will be published shortly

Details
16 December 2012 The Great Dane Breed Council is very pleased to be able to announce that the University of Liverpool has accepted its submission to extend the DCM project for a further 2 years. The original closing date was 31st December 2012 and they have now agreed to a new finish date of 1st January 2015
16 December 2012 An update on the DCM Research Project has been received from Hannah Stevenson Details
14 October 2012 The Kennel Club and the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association are pleased to present a Breeders’ Symposium at the Royal Veterinary College, on Saturday 24th November 2012. This symposium is specifically designed for all dog lovers and dog breeders.
08 October 2012 The Great Dane Breed Council would like to thank Maxine Abbott for very kindly allowing us to use one of her photographs for our header
27 September 2012 New Website Published
13 September 2012 The Kennel Club held a Breed Health Co-ordinators Symposium and along with Ian Seath, the Chairman of the Dachshund Breed Council, produced two of the first in an on-going series of toolkits. These documents, the Breed Health Toolkit and the Health Strategy Guide, are designed to be resources which can help you develop and promote the health of your breed. The Breed Health Survey Toolkit is a step by step guide to developing health surveys, while the Health Strategy Guide is a practical approach to developing, assessing and monitoring a health plan specific to your breed. Links to the presentations can be found from the menu under KC Publications.
14 June 2012 Press Release on Hip Scoring
31 May 2012 BC Statement on the Kennel Club’s update to the Hip Scoring requirements for the “Assured Breeder Scheme”.
29 May 2012 Kennel Club update to the Hip Scoring requirements for the “Assured Breeder Scheme”.
Our breed has had an adjustment made to its requirement and/or recommendations which is as follows:-
Change from a REQUIREMENT to a RECOMMENDATION on HIP SCORING which comes into effect on July 1st 2012
01 May 2012 Details of the Holter Harness for heart monitors & a request from Hannah for more recruits
Thanks to Ken & Joan Toohey for these two articles
28 April 2012 Shows & Judges for 2012 complete.
Shows & Judges for 2013 started
12 April 2012 The Great Dane Breed Council will hold its AGM at the Holiday Inn Express just off Junc 13 of the M6 at 3:00pm. MAP
06 April 2012 New Website Published