Breed: Beauceron

Beauceron

An old and distinct French breed of herding dog,  relatively unknown outside of France, the breed is very old within the country. And while there are many sheep herding dogs in France, the Beauceron is the preferred choice due to its tireless work ethic.The earliest record found so far of what is thought to be the Beauceron dates back to a Renaissance manuscript of 1578. In 1809, the abbey Rozier reported plain dogs guarding flocks and herds. In 1863, Pierre Megnin differentiated, with precision, two types of these sheep dogs: one with a long coat, which became known as the Berger de Brie (Briard), the other with a short coat, which is known as the Berger de Beauce (Beauceron).

Beaucerons bear a passing resemblance to German Shepherds--part of their value as watchdogs depends on exactly this fairly large, threatening appearance. Considering the strong resemblance, it's surprising that the Beauceron is one of the major purebred dogs of the world--the breed developed exclusively in France, with no known cross-breeding occuring between the Beauceron and dogs of foreign nations. It's this strange quality of purity that gives the breed its special place in the French heart-not to mention the Beauceron's other qualities of loyalty, nobility, friendliness, and undeniable energy for herding and working.

Double Dewclaw

The Beauceron is invariably black-and-tan, 

with some black-and-gray dogs in existence that aren't considered an official part of the breed. Their hind legs are highly distinctive, with a double dewclaw on each foot--leaving them with six toes, some of which resemble "thumbs". Far from being a defect, this is one of the hallmarks of the Beauceron, and dogs with anything less than the standard six rear toes are not considered to be true Beaucerons.

Brave, highly intelligent, obedient, working dog. Eager and willing to please, they excel at obedience training, very quick to understand and respond to their masters commands. The Beauceron is capable of police work, loyal, patient, faithful, fearless and keenly watchful, able to to detect danger. They are a worthy, natural guard dog. They love to work and exercise in wide-open spaces. Another one of their many talents is working as a herding dog. They may attempt to herd humans and anything else in their sight and need to be taught this is not acceptable. There are places you can take dogs where they can demonstrate herding ability with flocks of sheep. Some lines are prone to bloat and like any breed over 40 pounds beaucerons are prone to hip dysplasia.

Raw Diet Risk Management

Content taken from the  book "Work Wonders" by Tom Lonsdale veterinary surgeon, page 52......for online book link given at the bottom .

If raw meaty bones act as a food and medicine for dogs; then you want to know the safety aspects and side affects. Like all successful pioneers you know that risks do not deter you, only help you gain a fuller understanding. Problems, potential or actual, come in two broad categories, Biolological and Man-made.

Biological Problems;

                                  When appropriate raw food meets the complex anatomy and physiology of dogs things usually go well. Lets take a look at some possible side effects and strategies for avoiding or dealing with them.

Vomiting;

                Dogs vomit more readily than humans. The loud heaving and smell may not be your likings but usually you need not be concerned when your pet vomits raw food, and then eats it again. Some dogs eat too quickly and then vomit. Solution is to offer food in one big piece requiring plenty of ripping and tearing.

Some dogs r either allergic or sensitive to a particular meat. If your dog consistently vomits beef, make changes for instance try feeding rabbit, turkey. Some dogs vomit bile. In general this poses no risk for your dog but if your dog appear unwell call your vet.

Diarrhea;

               Defined as ' abnormally frequent intestinal evacuation with more or less fluid stools'. Sometimes diarrhea follows the introduction of and is associated with raw food. May be a dog enzyme systems need time to adjust or may be it's to do with the population of  bowel bacteria that need time to change. Usually, diarrhea following introduction to raw food is short lived and resolve itself. You just need to keep check dog does not look or act unwell and clean up the mess.Some dogs, allergic to cooked meats in processed food, eat the same meat raw without ill effect.

Choking;

              Choking occurs when food or other material obstructs the airways. This is an emergency requiring prompt removal of the obstruction. Meaty bones cut too small can lodge across the airways, but so too can kibble, chew toys and plastic bones. Dogs don't need meat in bite size that can be swallowed whole; they need raw meaty bones in large pieces.

 Raw bones can and do stuck in the food tube between mouth and stomach. But reason is usually bones which are too small. Chicken necks, wings, Ox tail or other vertebrae cut too small and with sharp edges get stuck. Prevention  is always better than treatment. Ensure bones are of suitable size and covered in lots of meat.

Salmonella & Campylobacter;
                                                 these are common bacteria found in a variety of locations. The municipal pound, boarding kennels, and the droppings of wild birds may be sources of infection. Many kibble-fed dogs carry the bacteria. When humans become infected the source may b traced to salad vegetables or the roast chicken served for dinner. Its best to consider all chicken, including chicken for human consumption, as a potential source of harmful bacteria.
Theoretically very young, old and those with reduced immune systems are at great risk. When pets are first introduced to raw food, especially chicken, they may develop diarrhea. Salmonella often talked about is seldom a factor. Sometimes, though, the diarrhea is due to the contamination of the chicken with campylobacter. Campylobacter induced diarrhea can be treated by your vet. Once recovered, dogs are unlikely to suffer from the prob again.

Worms;
             If dogs eat their natural raw diet of meat, fish and bones they are likely to contract parasitic tapeworms. However in the domestic situation there is no cause of alarm. Raw meaty bones cleared for human consumption contain few if any worm cysts. Similarly low numbers of adult worms do not create health   problems for carnivores. The few worms that do develop can be controlled by regular use of modern worming medicines.

Man-made Problems
Raw meaty bones & table scraps;
                                                       its possible to have too much of a good thing, especially when a pair of imploring eyes beg for more. Some people feed an excess amount of minced meat and some feed excess amount of starchy food and vegetables. It is possible to feed too much liver and create vitamin A excess problems. Table scraps both cooked and raw, can provide welcome calories, trace elements and micronutrients for dogs, but there are a few things to watch out for.

Items to avoid:

• excessive meat off the bone---not balanced
• excessive vegetables---not balanced
• small pieces of bone, can be swallowed whole and get stuck
• cooked bones---can get stuck
• excessive starchy food e.g potatoes and bread---associated with blot
• onions and garlic---toxic for pets
• grapes and raisin---toxic for pets
• fruit pits
• milk---associated with diarrhea
• chocolate---toxic for dogs
• mineral and vitamin additives---create imbalance

Cooked Products;
                             

No matter that grains are not a 'natural' part of a dog's diet; no matter that cooking and pulverizing alters the nutrients and destroys the texture of natural food. Fad diet books for dogs lists so called natural ingredients grains, vegetables and minced meat which you are then told to cook on the kitchen stove. Niche marketers use the same confused and misleading concepts to sell 'premium' cooked products. Human-grade ingredients selected and mixed according to a special recipe they say, 'Cooked and sealed in the bag for your convenience'.

http://www.doguedebordeaux.in/rawdiet.pdf              

Kibbled Diets Vs Raw Diets

This may seem fairly logical at first glance. After all, there are some rather high-quality foods on the market. Whole Dog Journal regularly publishes a list of the top 20 commercial foods that includes some top brands from smaller companies. All the health problems associated with commercial food are related to lower quality, 'supermarket' brand kibbles, right? Besides, the pet food industry has been taking steps forward in terms of pet nutrition, haven't they? There is a good variety of healthy, 'premium' kibbles on the market, and feeding one of these to our pets does reap certain benefits when compared to their cheaper-fed counterparts (feed less food, smaller stool size, better coats, better energy, etc.). Granted, if you feed a premium kibble then you are feeding your pet a better quality food, but could your pet be fed even better food for cheaper? Is a premium kibble an appropriate food for your pets?

There are several high-quality kibbles on the market today, but there are still several significant issues that set raw diets apart from these premium kibbles. Let us look at several of the issues posed by premium kibbles.

1.) It is still a processed food. This means it has still been rendered, overly cooked, overly processed, and still has artificial vitamins and supplements added to it. Despite the claims of what went into this food at the start, this means the ingredients are still of a poorer quality when compared to fresh, whole, raw foods, and that problems associated with artificial vitamins and minerals still exist: erratic growth patterns, growth occurring too fast, the body not utilizing the nutrients as well, etc. While the better quality foods certainly do start with better materials, after processing these 'food' materials are still of a lesser quality compared to the fresh, raw, real thing.

2.) It still is an unnatural food for our pets. Our dogs and cats are not designed to eat processed food pellets regardless of how good of quality these processed food pellets are. A premium kibble would be like us eating a 'premium' cereal day in and day out; the premium cereal has to be better for us than one of those cheaper cereals, right (think of Raisin Bran versus Captain Crunch)?

3.) Premium kibbles still have a bunch of ingredients our pets do not need and/or cannot utilize. Many premium kibbles contain a relatively small amount of meat (usually from 'human quality' sources, but then it is rendered into an unrecognizable 'foodstuff') even if meat is listed as the first ingredient, because the rest of the ingredients combined far outweigh the presence of the meat our carnivores need (remember, meat, unless it says 'meat meal', is listed according to its wet weight. When all that water has been cooked out of it, meat places considerably further down on the ingredients list). Just read some of the labels. Some sort of meat will be listed, but it is then followed by all sorts of grains that are usually touted as more highly digestible than corn or wheat (rice, oats, barley, millet, etc.), vegetables (yams, potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, etc.), fruits (apples, pears, etc.) and supplements (kelp powder, spirulina, lactobacillus bacteria, etc.), not to mention all the artificial vitamins and minerals that need to be added. Of course, the presence of the vegetables, fruits, and supplements theoretically means that less artificial vitamins and minerals can be added because the nutrients can be obtained from natural sources, but how many of these natural sources are actually available to the dog or cat? How much of these natural nutrients are destroyed and rendered ineffective by the cooking process? Even with foods like EVO that contain a high proportion of meat and no grain (it uses potatoes, which are starchy and metabolize as such), the processed meat still is inferior to the fresh, real thing. Think of a processed, cooked orange versus a fresh, whole orange. Which one is better?

4.) The issue of periodontal disease still prevails. The pet still does not get the beneficial, necessary teeth cleaning at each meal, so the problem of a bacteria-laden mouth that stinks and provides a gateway for bacteria, toxins, and collagenases to enter the body still exists. This is, after all, one of the best and biggest reasons to feed a raw diet with meaty bones.

5.) The animal still lacks the wonderful and necessary physical, mental, and emotional workout provided by raw meaty bones. Although it is being fed a premium kibble, your pet can undoubtedly still finish its meal in record time, rather than having to work at its food for a half an hour or more. Again, this translates to the body not being fully prepared to receive food and digest it, so the food will just sit in the animal's stomach until the parasympathetic nervous system kicks everything into gear.

6.) Premium kibbles are often more expensive that natural, fresh, raw food. If you are dishing out that much money for a 'premium' processed pet food, why not feed fresh, whole, raw food sources for less?

7.) You still have no control over what goes into your pet's body. Can you be certain that what is on the ingredients list is what actually enters your pet's body? Can you be certain of the quality of the ingredients? What happened to these ingredients during the cooking process?

8.) The primary question still remains: how is a processed pet food better for our animals than fresh, whole, raw foods?

It is for these reasons (and I am sure there are other reasons as well) that many raw feeders consider premium kibbles a waste of money. This includes those so-called 'therapeutic diets' available only through veterinarians. The pet food industry and veterinary community simply developed another artificial food to cover up and 'fix' the problems created by other commercial, artificial pet foods. Why not treat the problems at their source (could it have anything to do with money, perhaps? Remember, veterinarians can pocket up to 40% of the profits from selling kibbles like Hill's Science Diet [Parker-Pope, T. 1997. For You, My Pet. The Wall Street Journal. 3 November 1997. In Lonsdale, T. 2001. Raw Meaty Bones. p266].)? In this respect, the pet food companies and the veterinary community have drastically missed the mark, and it is our pets that must suffer for it. What sense does it make to simply switch an ailing pet onto another commercial, artificial pet food when similar foods caused the problems it was having in the first place?

With the growing number of food allergies pet have, the pet food industry has been becoming more and more creative, trying to find new protein and grain sources to make new 'hypoallergenic' kibbles. Have they even once considered WHY the pets were having allergy problems to the ingredients in their foods to begin with (Probably. But will they tell us that they know why? Probably not. Where's the profit in that?)? Ironically enough, pets switched to a raw diet can often eat the same meats that caused their allergies originally, because the meats are raw and not cooked (Clark, W.R. 1995. Hypersensitivity and Allergy, in At War Within: The double edged sword of immunity, Oxford University Press, New York. pg 88.). The cooking process changes the protein structures, and it is these changed, cooked proteins to which the body has an allergic reaction.

If you feed a premium kibble (or any kibble), please think through why you feed it to your pets. Could they benefit more from a raw diet? And ask the ultimate question: how is a processed diet better for my pets than a diet of fresh, whole, raw foods?

http://rawfed.com/myths/premium.html

Dog Breed: Shiloh Shepherds

The Shiloh Shepherd is a rare breed of dog that is still under development. Developed in the 1970s, they are meant to resemble an older variety of German shepherd. Shilohs are not recognized by any major kennel club, but may be shown in rare breed organizations.

Shilohs are larger and have a straighter back than most modern Alsatians and are bred for intelligence, size, and stable temperaments. Their coats can be a variety of colors and color mixes. They compete in obedience and agility. They work as therapy dogs, search and rescue dogs, livestock guardians and service assistance.

"Do you remember a specific 'German Shepherd'   you used to know as a child (or if you are under 40) one that your family or friends told you about? He was the dog with that super, almost human intelligence; that big family protector that was so very gentle with little children, yet would give his life for his master without question.




The dog that would walk you to the school bus, and then show up again exactly on time to wait for your return; the hero that everyone talked about; the one that seemed half human. His personality consisted of Lassie, Strongheart, and Rin Tin Tin all rolled into one".


http://www.shilohshepherds.org

Husky Race

Husky Race Organised in Kaunas, Lithuania

dated (11,Dec,2010)

Pitbull Kennels

some pitbull kennels around the world.

Bob Lowery Yard

Kershner Yard(1)

Kershner Yard(2) 

Kershner Yard(3)

Don Mayfield Yard

Indian Sonny Yard

Tom Garner Yard(old pix)

Tom Garner Yard (old pix) 

Tom Garner Yard (new)

Mountain Man Yard(1)

Mountain Man Yard(2)

http://www.antohinkennels.com/gallery.php?id=667

Dog Food : Green Tripe

Tripe is the stomach of animals(cattles, buffalo, sheep, goats, deer etc ). These animals are known as four footed, hooved, cud chewing mamals with a stomach that consists of four chambers(rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum). The food animals eat is swallowed unchewed and then passes into rumen and reticulum where it is then regurgitated, chewed and mixed with with saliva. It is again then swallowed and passed through the reticulum and omasum into the obasum, whhere it is further divided by the gastric juices, amino acid and other digestive enzymes.These gastric juices and enzymes not only aid the animal in digestion but also aid the dog in digesting and efficiently utilizing his food. The amino acids are necessary for muscular development and the other gastric juices are known as best cleaner for their teeth. Green tripe  dosn't necessarily refers to its color, it refers to the fact that it has not been touched, not cleaned  not bleached. Its actual color is brown, but sometime there is greenish tint due to the grass or hay the animal ate before slaughtering.

Nutritional Values:
Green tripe is highly recommended by the advocates of Raw Food diet for dogs. In an analysis of a sample of green tripe by woodson-tenant lab in atlanta, Georgia, it was discovered that the calcium phosphorous ratio is 1:1, the overall pH is on the acidic side  which is better for digestion, protein is 15.1, fat 11.7 and it contained the essential fatty acids, Linoleic and Linolenic, in their recommended proportions. Also discovered, was the presence of Lactic Acid Bacteria. Lactic Acid Bacteria, also known as Lactobacillus Acidophilus, is the good intestinal bacteria. It is the main ingrediect in probiotics.

It is ideal to boil it in water before use. Because of its rubbery texture, serving it in large chunks also aids the dogs in strengthening its jaw muscles and has an added benefit as a form of canine dental floss.

                                                      
White Tripe:
                White tripe you find in the grocery stores has been cleaned and bleached, it has almost no nutritional values as a dog food.

Turkish Pointers

Dog breed known as the Catalburun in its homeland, meaning "fork-nose", the Turkish Pointer is a rare hunting breed, closely associated with the city of Mersin in the Tarsus province, but rarely found elsewhere. Its ancestry is not known, but some believe that the breed is descended from English pointers and hounds introduced to the country by Turkish nobility, while other fanciers claim that it is in fact the ancestor of those very breeds. A number of pointing breeds from Greece could have played a part in the Catalburun's establishment as well, since the Greeks inhabited the region for centuries prior to 1922. Due to the limited gene pool, almost all of the modern specimens are heavily inbred, but so far no known hereditary health issues have been reported. 

The Turkish Pointer is neither standardized nor recognized, but this dog breed is fairly uniform in type and a valued local partridge hunter. Usually employed as a single dog when hunting, the Catalburun is said to be unfriendly towards other dogs, although some Turkish hunters use small packs of these rugged workers on occasion. This is generally a calm breed, but it can be aloof with strangers and is quite alert and territorial, making a capable property watchdog. Gentle with children and devoted to its master, the Turkish Pointer is an amenable companion, but it requires a good amount of excercise and is happiest when working. 

The breed is smaller and heavier than some of its more refined European counterparts, but is remarkably agile and resilient. The Catalburun is prized for its stamina and intelligence, being a committed and intuitive worker. The body is well-boned and muscular, with strong legs, a fairly wide and deep chest and an elegantly broad head with a powerful muzzle. The nose can be either black, brown or pink in colour and is split in half at the center, very similar to the trademark features associated with some old Portuguese and Spanish working pointing dogs. The coat is short, smooth and flat, seen in a variety of colours, but most common in white-based colourings with darker patches, ranging from yellow, orange and wheaten to red, brown and black shades, as well as tricoloured. Average height is around 20 inches.