Anjing Shetland Sheepdog

Anjing yang biasa dipanggil "Sheltie" merupakan versi mini dari anjing Collie. Sheltie sangat terkenal dan disukai oleh banyak orang karena bentuknya yang cantik dengan daya kerja yang istimewa. 

Latar belakang

Sheltie termasuk salah satu anjing yang paling digemari di dunia. Anjing ini berasal dari kepulauan Shetland dan mulai diperkenalkan di Inggris pada akhir abad ke-19.

Banyak yang beranggapan kalau Sheltie merupakan hasil dari pengolahan genetik anjing Collie sehingga didapat anjing Collie yang berukuran mini. Tetapi , ada juga yang beranggapan kalau Sheltie bukan berasal dari pengolahan genetic anjing Collie, hanya saja rupanya sama.

Karakteristik

Tubuh Shetland Sheepdog sama seperti anjing Rough Collie. Badannya langsing dan ditutupi oleh bulu yang panjang dan lebat. Tengkorak kepala panjang dan berbentuk huruf V. Ukuran mata sedang berbentuk buah Almond, warna mata gelap . Untuk Sheltie yang berwarna blue merle warna matanya biasanya biru atau perak dapat diterima.

Tulang hidung panjang dan lurus, warna hidung hitam. Kuping ¾ berdiri tegak dan ujung kuping menekuk kearah depan. Ukuran ekor panjang dan dilapisi oleh bulu yang tebal dan panjang.

Bulu Shetland Sheepdog terdiri dari 2 lapis; lapis atas agak kasar dan panjang, lapis bawah pendek dan halus. Shetland Sheepdog memiliki beberapa warna; hitam, blue merle, tricolor atau sable dengan marking putih, tan, putih dan tan.

Ukuran tinggi anjing jantan dan betina berkisar antara 13-16 in dengan berat badan sekitar 20lbs (9 Kg).

Walaupun berukuran kecil, Sheltie merupakan anjing gembala yang sangat istimewa. Daya kerjanya sangat baik dan merupakan anjing pekerja yang antusias . Anjing ini dijadikan anjing gembala di Negara-negara Eropa karena anjing ini tidak dapat melukai domba dengan gigitannya , hanya untuk memberi pelajaran saja kepada domba agar menuruti arahan dari anjing ini.

Anjing ini terkesan agak bawel jika melihat orang asing dan sesekali menggonggong jika mendengar suara yang mencurigakan . Sheltie sangat protective pada majikannya atau property sang majikan dan pada anak kecil.

Anjing ini sangat cocok untuk dijadikan anjing keluarga. Sheltie sangat lembut terhadap binatang yang lebih kecil daripadanya. Anda tidak perlu takut jika anak anda yang masih bbalita bermain dengan Sheltie karena Sheltie tidak akan melawan atau marah sekalipun anak anda memukulnya. Coba anda berpura-pura memarahi atau memukul anak anda, sang Sheltie akan siap membela anak anda walaupun anda adalah majikannya.

Perawatan dan latihan

Sheltie sebaiknya disisir selama kurang lebih 15 menit dua kali dalam seminggu untuk mengangkat bulu mati dan menjaga agar bulu tidak kusut. Anjing ini cukup dimandikan 1 bulan sekali karena anjing ini tidak memiliki bau badan. Setiap kali mandi, berikan conditioner untuk menjaga agar bulunya tetap halus.

Sheltie memerlukan ruangan yang cukup luas untuk tempat ia bermain, jika perkarangan anda tidak luas sebaiknya sering ajak ia bermain di luar rumah. Sheltie sebaiknya tidak dipelihara didalam kandang karena ia adalah anjing pekerja, kandang dapat membuat anjing ini stress. Anda tidak perlu khawatir untuk melepas Sheltie didalam rumah anda karena ia tergolong anjing yang penurut, kalem dan mencintai kebersihan.

Kesalahan/Diskualifikasi

Gigi overshoot atau undershoot

Warna mata tidak gelap selain Sheltie berwarna blue merle.

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Anjing Gembala Jerman

Anjing gembala jerman merupakan anjing pekerja Jerman merupakan anjing paling banyak dikenal dan digemari orang seluruh pelosok dunia, sedangkan di Indonesia dikenal dengan istilah anjing Herder. 

LATAR BELAKANG

Sejarah dan asal mula anjing gembala german/german shepherd pertama kali disebarkan oleh Capt. Max Von Stephanitz yang sekaligus dijuluki sebagai tokoh dan "bapak " anjing ras Gembala German. Ia adalah seorang yang telah lama mengagumi kwalitas berbagai anjing gembala, terutama pada segi intelegensia, kekuatan dan kemampuan kerjanya. Pada Tahun 1899, bersama seorang temannya ia mengunjungi suatu pameran anjing. Ditempat itu ia terpikat dengan seekor anjing yang memberikan kesan sangat mendalam, baik mengenai keberaniannya, kemantapan sifatnya dan intelegensinya. dari hasil kunjungannya maka dibelinya dan diboyongnya anjing itu, setelah itu didirikannya suatu perkumpulan diberi nama Verein Fur Duitsche Shaferhunde atau disingkat "SV".

Menjelang abad ke duapuluh, perkumpulan SV telah berkembang menjadi perkumpulan kinologi terbesar di dunia, sementara Capt. Max Von Stephanitz menyusun rencana jangka panjang untuk perkumpulan yang dirintisnya itu. Dari hasil analisa, diperoleh kesimpulan bahwa kegunaan anjing-anjing gembala german dalam arti sesunguhnya , lambat laun diarahkan sesuai keadaan yang akan datang. anjing-anjing dibiakkan ternyata sangat berguna untuk membantu melaksanakan tugas-tugas negara, disamping kegunaannya lain. Pada perang dunia I di tahun 1914, anjing-anjing gembala german melakukan tugasnya pembela negara, sebagai penolong maupun anjing penjaga, setelah perang dunia ke II karena tentara German banyak mengunakan anjing-anjing ini sebagai anjing militer yang ikut terjun ke medan perang sebagai kurir, mata-mata, pelacak dan lain sebagainya secara sangat mengagumkan.

Kelebihannya

Kecerdikannya, keindahannya dan kepatuhannya, merupakan anjing yang mempunyai bakat serba bisa diantaranya pengembala, penjaga rumah, penuntun orang buta, dan sebagai anjing pelacak pihak kepolisian atau militer.

Penampilan Umum

Anjing ini berukuran sedang, agak panjang,kuat, kering dan berotot, dengan tulang-tulang kuat sehingga kelihatan kompak. Sedangkan ukuran anjing ini merupakan standard dalam pameran 60-65 cm dan anjing betina 55-60 cm diukur dari puncak widerrist (jarak antara titik temu leher dan pundak), panjang badan harus 10-17 % lebih panjang tinggi badan.

Karakteristik

Bentuk tubuh anjing gembala german sangat mengesankan, dengan perbandingan ukuran anggota badan sangat sepadan. Ia memiliki bulu-bulu indah dan mirip atau memberi kesan seperti srigala, sehingga tampaknya gagah dan alamiah

Dilihat dari segi karakter harus mempunyai kepercayaan diri yang kuat, seimbang dan sangat tenang, sikapnya netral dan kelakuannya baik, kecuali mendapat tekanan yang melampaui batas, selain itu anjing harus gagah berani mempunyai naluri bertempur yang kuat dan saraf yang kuat. Semua ini penting merupakan salah satu persyaratan berhubungan sebagai anjing sahabat, anjing penjaga dan pengembala.

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Anjing Pembroke Welsh Corgi

Anjing Pembroke Welsh Corgi berasal dari South West Wales , dipercaya bahwa nenek moyang dari Pembroke Welsh Corgi telah diperkenalkan oleh Flemish Weavers, dibawa ke Britain/Inggris tahun 1100 oleh Henry I. Sekarang dipercaya berasal dari Spitz berbeda dengan Cardigan Welsh Corgi, yang mana berasal dari nenek moyang yang sama dengan Dachshund. Pembroke Welsh Corgi mempunyai nenek moyang kombinasi dari leluhur Keeshond, Pomeranian , Schipperke dan Swedish Vallhund. Bagaimanapun tidak ada kerancuan bahwa Pembroke adalah rekan manusia yang sangat dihargai sebagai penggiring ternak di domba-domba dan lembu di banyak negara-negara sampai saat ini. 

Pembroke sebagai keturunan yang murni telah berkembang sangat pesat kualitasnya di seluruh dunia. Barangkali klaim yang terbesar ketenarannya, Kerajaan Inggris menjadikan Pembroke sebagai salah satu anjing kesayangan kerajaan Di 1933 kemudian Duke of York menghadiahkan pada putrinya seekor anak anjing Pembroke yang bernama Rozavel Golden Eagle, anjing ini menjadi anjing kesayangan Princess Elizabeth ( sekarang menjabat sebagai Ratu Elizabeth II). Selama beberapa masa, anjing Pembroke Welsh Corgi dilarang untuk dipelihara oleh rakyat biasa karena dianggap sebagai hewan peliharaan bangsawan kerajaan Inggris.

Saking sayangnya Ratu Elizabeth II terhadap Pembroke Welsh Corgi, dibuat film untuk menyindir Ratu Elizabeth II. Di film itu, Ratu Elizabeth II ditodong pistol agar ia mau menyerahkan kekuasaannya tetapi Ratu bersikeras untuk tetap mempertahankan tahtanya. Sang penjahat tidak kehilangan akal, mengambil anjing Pembroke sang ratu yang sedang tiduran disisinya lalu ditodongkan pistol kearah Pembroke tersebut. Tanpa ditanya lagi sang Ratu langsung menandatangani surat penyerahan tahta.

Temperamen

Terkenal dengan gonggongannya, yang mana lebih buruk dibanding gigitannya, Pembroke adalah seekor anjing yang kecil yang mempunyai gagasan besar. Pembroke harus ramah dengan tujuan untuk menjadi ambisius, tetapi tidak dewasa sebelum waktunya dan tidak pernah agresif atau malu. Pembroke cukup cerdas untuk mengijinkan kamu untuk berpikir bahwa kamu adalah bossnya. Anjing ini sangat mudah untuk dilatih karena sifatnya yang ingin selalu membuat senang majikannya. Kecerdasan/Inteligen ini dikombinasikan dengan selera humornya yang tinggi membuat anjing ini sangat disukai oleh semua orang.

Pemeliharaan dan perawatan

Pembroke Welsh Corgi dapat dipelihara di tempat yang kurang luas, anjing ini biasa hidup diperkotaan atau pedesaan . Yang penting, anjing ini tidak boleh terus dikandangkan sepanjang hari karena aning ini adalah anjing pekerja yang yang harus selalu beraktifitas. Pembroke Welsh Corgi mudah sekali untuk menjadi gemuk karena nafsu makannya yang sangat tinggi. Anda harus selalu mengontrol jumlah makanannya . Jika sudah kegemukan, anjing ini akan mendapat masalah serius dengan tulang belakangnya yang panjang.

Pembroke Welsh Corgi tidak memerlukan perawatan bulu yang berarti, cukup disikat/disisir 2 kali dalam seminggu untuk mengangkat bulu matinya. Mandikan bila diperlukan. Pembroke Welsh Corgi harus diberi exercise 2 kali dalam sehari.

Pembroke Welsh Corgi merupakan anjing dengan tingkat social yang tinggi sehingga membuat dia selalu mau dekat dengan manusia. Anjing ini suka sekali bermain dengan kita atau dengan anjing lainnya. Sebaiknya dipelihara lebih dari 1 ekor.

Official Breed Standard

Penampilan umum

Tubuh rendah, kuat, siaga dan aktif memberi kesan kuat dan stamina tinggi. Tubuh tebal, ekspresi pintar dan seperti pekerja keras. Gerakan harus bebas dan aktif. Siku kaki harus rapat dengan tubuh, gerakan kaki ke depan dengan tidak terlalu terlihat banyak mengangkat.

Kepala

Kepala harus seperti hewan Rubah (Foxy) dengan ekspresi siaga (alert) dan pintar. Tengkorak kepala harus lebar dan datar (flat) diantara telinga, stopan harus terlihat cukup. Panjang tengkorak dengan lebarnya berbanding 3:5. Hidung harus berwarna gelap.

Mata

Letak mata diposisi yang benar, membulat, ukuran sedang, warna mata tergantung dari warna bulu. Jika warna bulu terang , warna mata agak terang dan sebaliknya.

Telinga

Berdiri, ukuran sedang, agak sedikit melancip, seperti telinga anjing Herder.

Mulut

Gigi level atau menggunting .

Leher

Leher harus panjang

Kaki depan

Kaki depan harus pendek , diusahakan yang selurus mungkin. Agak bengkok masih dapat diterima asalkan tidak terlalu ekstrim. Siku kaki depan harus rapat dengan tubuh.

Kaki Belakang Kaki belakang juga harus pendek dengan siku yang baik.

Tubuh

Ukuran tubuh sedang , tidak terlalu panjang seperti tekel. Garis punggung harus rata. Tulang iga lebar, dada tebal dan dalam .

Ekor

Ekor biasanya di potong sampai habis. Jika tidak dipotong juga diperbolehkan tetapi akan mengganggu . Ekor ukuran sedang dengan bulu yang tebal.

Bulu

Ukuran sedang, tebal dan mempunyai bulu dalam (under coat). Bulu tidak boleh kasar dan keriting.

Warna

Red, Sable, Fawn, Black and Tan, atau dengan White markings di kaki,dada dan leher. Disukai yang mempunyai kalung seperti anjing Collie.

Ukuran

Jantan 9 - 10.8 kg (20 - 24 lb). Betina: 8.1 - 9.9 kg (18 - 22 lb). tinggi 25.4 - 30.3 cm (10 - 12 in) diukur dari punggung.

Kesalahan

Pembroke dengan warna seperti anjing Hound, bulu panjang di telinga dan kaki. Gigi over shot (gigi atas lebih maju dari gigi bawah) , under shot (gigi bawah lebih maju dari gigi atas). Anjing yang hanya mempunyai satu testis atau tidak ada sama sekali.

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Anjing Belgian Malinois

Anjing Belgian Malinois atau biasa hanya disebut dengan Malinois adalah anjing yang sangat setia. Dia suka menjadi bayangan dari tuannya, apakah itu pada waktu tuannya lari pagi, ataupun sedang duduk membaca dia selalu berada disamping tuannya. Tidak jarang dia juga suka mengikuti tuannya sampai kedalam rumah atau kamar kecil.

Mereka sangat sensitif, jadi sangat cepat mengetahui mood dari tuannya, apakah lagi senang, sedih atau marah.

Malinois memiliki kepintaran yang sangat tajam. Mereka tidak suka dihukum dalam pelatihan, tapi dengan cara positif menghasilkan sifat yang luar biasa. 

.

Standarisasi

Penampilan Umum

Penampilan Malinois secara umum memiliki tubuh yang sangat seimbang, berbentuk persegi dan elegan. Biasanya jantan lebih indah dan anggun dibanding betina yang lebih terlihat sangat feminim . Belgian Malinois ( baca : MAL-in-wah ) adalah satu dari 4 jenis belgian shepherd. Belgian shepherd terdiri dari Groenendael ( hitam berbulu panjang ), Tervueren ( fawn berbulu panjang ), Laeknois ( fawn berbulu keriting ) dan Malinois ( fawn berbulu pendek ).

Latar belakang genetik mereka hampir sama.

Belgian Malinois adalah anjing keluarga yang sensitif. Mereka sangat suka melakukan apa saja untuk tuannya. Mereka bukan ras yang suka dikandangin atau dijauhkan dari tuannya. Mereka juga merupakan anjing yang sangat berenergi. Ini penting untuk diketahui supaya bila anda tidak siap dan tidak suka tingkat aktivitas tingginya, anda akan sangat menderita. Malinois jika tidak diberikan sesuatu untuk dikerjakan mereka akan melakukan sesuatu dengan sendirinya dan biasanya yang anda tidak senangi

Banyak orang bilang bahwa mereka sebelumnya memiliki anjing yang sangat aktif, tapi setelah memiliki Malinois mereka merasakan perbedaan yang jauh. Malinois sangat berenergi dan energinya ditujukan kepada tuannya. Jadi bila anda melemparkan bola sebanyak 100 ke dia, maka dia akan mengembalikannya 101 kali

Malinois biasanya digunakan sebagai anjing ketangkasan ( agility ), anjing kepatuhan ( obedience ), anjing pelacak ( tracking ), anjing schutzhund ( sport schutzhund ), ringsport, anjing polisi ( police dog ) dan juga search & rescue

Training yang benar dan sosialisasi diharuskan untuk seekor Malinois karena keinginan bekerjanya dan sifat melindunginya dapat menyebabkan dia bermasalah bila tidak di arahkan.

Malinois di eropa dan amerika sangat banyak digunakan untuk ring sport seperti mondio ring, french ring dan belgium ring. Juga pada kalangan tertentu dimana melatih anjing adalah lifestyle menggunakan Malinois sebagai bahan latihan. Mereka adalah kalangan elite KNPV Club ( Koninklijke Nederlandse Politiehond Vereniging ).

Kepala

Kepala harus rapi dan bebas dari kerutan . Terlihat kuat tetapi tidak kasar. Belgian Malinois harus mempunyai ekspresi wajah yang waspada, pintar dan siaga. Mata berwarna coklat , warna gelap lebih baik. Berbentuk buah almond dan berukuran sedang. Telinga berdiri tegak dan menghadap kedepan. Tengkorak bagian atas rata, paralel dengan garis atas moncong dan tidak lebar. Stopan terlihat jelas tetapi tidak tajam/dalam. Ujung moncong meruncing , moncong harus hitam. Bentuk gigi menggunting atau rata . Gigi harus lengkap dan terkesan kuat. Warna bibir dan gusi harus gelap.

Badan

Tinggi badan untuk jantan antra 60-66 cm dan betina dengan tinggi 56-60cm. Warna bulu adalah fawn / mahogany dan hitam, adakalanya dada bewarna putih. Bulu pendek. Leher memiliki panjang yang cukup. Badan ramping tetapi tetapi memperlihatkan kekuatan dengan jelas. Kaki depan lurus dan memiliki tapak kaki membulat seperti tapak kaki kucing. Kuku disamping kaki (dewclaw) harus dibuang. Warna kuku harus hitam. Kaki belakang memiliki siku yang cukup , tidak boleh terlalu tajam seperti Miniature Pincher. Kaki belakang harus memiliki otot yang kuat. Tulang punggung kuat dan lurus. Ekor tidak boleh terangkat melebihi garis punggung. Ekor memiliki bulu yang cukup tebal seperti Anjing Gembala Jerman.

Bulu

Bulu pendek , lurus dan cukup kasar untuk menahan tubuh dari serangan cuaca panas dan dingin. Memiliki bulu dalam (under coat) tetapi tidak terlalu tebal seperti Golden Retriever. Pada kepala, telinga, dan kaki bagian bawah bulu harus pendek. Pada bagia leher , bulu agak panjang . Bulu pada ekor agak panjang dan tebal. Bulu harus rapat menutupi tubuh , tidak boleh terlihat berdiri atau menjuntai kebawah.

Diskualifikasi

- Gigi tidak menggunting atau rata (undershot/overshot). Gigi tidak tersusun dengan rapi.

- Warna mata, hidung, atau bibir terang .

- Tinggi badan untuk jantan dibawah 23 inchi atau melebihi 27 inchi. Untuk betina kurang dari 21 inchi atau lebih dari 25 inchi.

- Telinga tidak berdiri tegak.

Klik icon Photo Galleri untuk melihat aksi-aksi Malinois.

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Anjing Rough Collie

Anjing Collie berasal dari dataran tinggi Scotland, Anjing ini dikembangkan pada mulanya sebagai anjing gembala dan penjaga. yang menurut sejarahnya berabad-abad yang lalu dipergunakan sebagai anjing gembala dan penjaga. 

Menurut sejarahnya nenek moyang Collie berasal dari anjing gembala kuno. Tapi Rough Collie atau Lassie Collie yang kita kenal sekarang jadi popular di masa pemerintahan Ratu Victoria di tahun 1800-an. Selama kunjungannya ke Istana Balmoral di Skotlandia RatuVictoria terkesan pada banyaknya Collie yang bekerja. Ia membawa pulang beberapa ekor ke kandang istananya di Inggris. Saat di kandang istana, disarankan Collie dikawinkan dengan Borzoi yang diterima Putri Alexandra anak Victoria dari Tsar Nicolas II dari Rusia. Saat Ratu Victoria ke Skotlandia dan membeli Istana Balmoral, Collie menjadi lambing status.

Diyakini banyak orang Collie modern terkait pada anjing bernama Trefoil. Yang lebih terkenal dari Trefoil adalah cucunya, Old Cocky. Anjing Inggris ini lahir tahun 1867 dan menjadi penetap standar Collie sekarang. Jenis ini menyeberangi Atlantik ke Amerika di awal tahun 1900-an dibawa oleh JP Morgan dan menjadi populer di Amerika.

Secara garis besar Collie dibedakan menjadi dua model. Model Amerika yang cenderung lebih gagah dan model Inggris lebih tradisional. Collie Inggris 2 inci lebih pendek di bahu dari pada Collie Amerika. Wajah berbeda bila diperhatikan. Tipe berbeda yang tetap menjadi kehebatan masing-masing jenis. Selalu menjadi perdebatan anatara 2 negara mana Collie yang lebih sempurna.

Collie digambarkan di banyak kisah sebagai pahlawan. Ada puluhan buku anak dengan Collie sebagai pelaku utamanya. Begitu banyak kisah berdasar fakta bahwa Collie sangat setia. Ia dikenal sebagai anjing setia. Nama Collie berasal dari domba wajah hitam disebut coalie ( arang ). Mereka dipakai membantu menggiring domba dan melindungi kawanan dan tuannya.

Jantan setinggi 24-26 inci hingga bahu dan beratnya 60-75 pon. Betina setinggi 22-24 inci dan beratnya 50-65 pon. Standar pameran menekankan ekspresi wajah unsure terpenting dalam menentukan kondisi fisik. Ekspresi wajahnya tidak boleh cemberut, malu-malu atau lemah. Bila menatap matanya harus tampah semangat, kecerdasan dan keingintahuannya yang membuatnya cocok bagi siapa saja.

Nama Rough Collie di dapat merujuk pada bulunya. Collie bukanlah Collie tanpa bulu lebat indahnya. Collie juga ada yang berjenis mulus/ bulu pendek dengan standard yang sama.

Karakter Umum

Collie adalah anjing dengan karakter luwes, aktif dan patuh, dada yang lebar menunjukkan kekuatan, bahu yang kokoh menunjukkan kecepatan, dan wajah menunjukkan kecerdasan yang tinggi. Penampilan umum Collie menjukkan suatu gambaran yang mengesankan, masing-masing bagian/ postur tubuh berada dalam proporsi seimbang.

Kepala

Kepala merupakan bagian yang sangat penting, harus proporsional dengan ukuran badan secara keseluruhan, tidak boleh terlalu besar. Kepala meruncing dan mendatar dari telinga sampai ke unjung hidung dengan stop yang jelas pada sudut mata, hidung berwarna hitam, stuktur gigi yang saling menggunting.

Kesalahan : Overshot dan undershot pada rahang.

Mata

Bentuk mata seperti buah almond dengan ukuran sedang. Warna mata gelap dan tidak diperbolehkan adanya lingkaran kuning. Mata harus jernih, menunjukkan penampilan yang cerdas dan ekspresi keingin tahuan yang besar. terutama sekali ketika telinga berdiri dan anjing sedang berjaga-jaga.

Telinga

Telinga sebanding dengan ukuran kepala. Telinga yang besar pada umumnya tidak bisa berdiri, dan bahkan jika berdiri akan terlihat terlalu besar untuk ukuran kepala. ¼ bagian dari telinga harus menekuk ke depan.

Leher

Leher harus lurus dan berotot, dengan bulu berumbai-rumbai yang menggambarkan kegagahan.

Badan

Badan keras dan berotot, dengan panjang yang proporsional dengan tingginya. Tulang rusuk lengkap di belakang bahu dengan dada yang bidang. Punggung didukung oleh paha dan pinggul yang kuat dengan pinggang yang ramping.

Kaki

Kaki depan berotot dan lurus, kaki belakang sedikit lebih besar dan berotot.

Ekor

Ekor memiliki panjang yang sedang, meyambung dengan baik ke badan. Menjuntai ke bawah ketika anjing diam, dan diatas punggung ketika anjing bergairah.

Bulu

Bulu panjang menjuntai pada seluruh badan kecuali pada kepala dan kaki. Collie memiliki dua lapisan bulu, bulu bagian luar kasar dan lurus sedangkan bagian dalam halus yang menutup kulit bersamaan sehingga kulit sulit untuk dilihat ketika bulu disibak.

Warna

Ada empat warna yang diakui "Sable and White," "Tri-color," "Blue Merle" dan "White." Pada Sable and White warna yang lebih dominant adalah coklat dengan variasi dari coklat gelap sampai coklat terang keemasan dengan spot putih pada bagian dada, leher, kaki dan ujung ekor. Pada Tri-colour warna dominant hitam dengan variasi putih dan coklat pada bagaian leher, kepala dan kaki. Pada Blue Merle variasi warna abu-abu kebiruan dengan bintik hitam, putih dan coklat pada bagian leher, kepala dan kaki.

Ukuran

Jantan memiliki tinggi 24 inci sampai 26 inci dari bahu dengan berat badan 60 sampai 75 pon. Untuk betina memiliki tinggi 22 inci sampai 24 inci dengan berat badan 50 sampai 65 pon.

Ekspresi

Ekspresi wajah adalah salah satu point utama dalam menilai Collie., harus menunjutkan semangat dan kecerdasan.

Secara keseluruhan, anjing Collie baik Rough maupun smooth Collie adalah anjing keluarga yang sangat menyenangkan, sangat ramah terhadap anak kecil, protektif dan sangat setia.

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Some Dogs Are SEALs

SEALs are members of the Navy who have lots of special training, so that they can go on really dangerous and difficult and sometimes secret missions.  The word SEAL stands for sea, air, and land, which are all the places that these special troops are trained to fight.

Well, back in May, when that bad man, Osama bin Laden, got killed by Navy SEALs, it turned out that one SEAL was actually a dog.  And later on, we found out that the dog was a German Shepherd named Cairo. But that's all the information I could find about the dog, which is more than almost anyone knows about the human SEALs who were in the operation.  And the reason for this was to keep Osama bin Laden's buddies from getting revenge by trying to hunt down the guys who killed him.

But anyway, I did learn some interesting things about the latest developments in doggy armor, which any military dog involved in an operation such as killing Osama bin Laden would be wearing, so I am going to tell you what I learned.

The company that makes canine armor is called K9 Storm, and they make all sorts of bulletproof vests and amazing stuff to protect dogs who do different types of work.  Some of the vests have lights, and some have cameras, and some have microphones.  The fanciest vest is called Intruder, and it costs between $20,000 and $30,000.  It has a collapsible video arm so that the dog's handler can see what the dog is seeing.  Also there is a microphone that makes it so the handler can give commands softly, and the dog can hear them through concrete walls or ship hulls or in tunnels, up to 400 yards away.

Also the vests protect the dog from gunshots and shrapnel and knife wounds.  Dogs that work as prison guards can get vests that are woven tighter, to protect against weapons such as ice picks and sharpened screwdrivers.  Also the vests are waterproof, and they are lightweight.  The average weight is between 3 and 7 pounds, depending on how many gadgets the armor has.

Just a basic vest is only $2,000 or $3,000, and every vest is made to fit a particular dog exactly right.  The vests are used by police dogs and by search-and-rescue dogs and by any other working dogs that might get hurt while they are doing their jobs.

The military knows how important war dogs are, so they don't mind spending the money to keep the dogs safe.  Gen. David Petraeus said, "The capability [the dogs] bring to the fight cannot be replicated by man or machine.  By all measures of performance, their yield outperforms any asset we have in our industry.  Our Army would be remiss if we failed to invest more in this incredibly valuable resource."

One of the things that military dogs do best is sniff out IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), and the Taliban has figured out that the dogs are really good at this.  So snipers often try to kill the dogs.  But wearing armor helps save the dogs' lives so they can save soldiers' lives.  And that's a very good thing.

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I HAVE CUSHING'S DISEASE!

A dog with hair loss and a
potbelly due to Cushing's

On Monday, I had to spend another boring, icky day at the vet's office getting tested for Cushing's.  Today Dr. Griswald called Mom and said I "probably" have it.  But Mom and I think it's more than probable, because I have so many of the symptoms for it.  Well, except Dr. Griswald said there were some other things that I might have instead, but since those things are likely to be worse than Cushing's, Mom and I like to think that Cushing's is what I have.

So we have been doing some in-depth research on this illness, and I am going to try to tell you something about it.  But the information we read had lots of big, long, medical words in it, so it's a little hard to understand, at least for me.  And Mom only went as far as Biology 102 in college, so it's a little hard for her to understand, too.  But we think we have mostly figured out how this disease works, so here's our explanation.

Adrenal glands

There are these glands, and they are called the adrenal glands, and they sit right on top of your kidneys.  And what these glands do is they make this hormone stuff called cortisol.  And what cortisol does is it helps your body deal with inflammation and stress and allergies.

But sometimes a little tumor starts growing, and it might be on one of your adrenal glands, or else it might be in your pituitary gland, which is way up in your head.  And this tumor screws everything up so that your adrenal glands make way too much cortisol.  Then what happens is you might get a bunch of symptoms, and here's a list of them:

  1.  Hair loss
  2.  Thin skin
  3.  Potbelly
  4.  Loss of muscle mass
  5.  Not having any energy
  6.  Excessive panting
  7.  Enlarged liver

  8.  Drinking more water
  9.  Peeing more
10.  Being hungry all the time
11.  Getting diseases and infections because your immune system doesn't work right

Anyway, about 80% of Cushing's is caused by a benign tumor on the pituitary gland, and 15% is caused by a tumor on the adrenal gland, and 5% is because the dog was taking steroids or other drugs for too long, like happened to my brother Gabe.  And out of the 15% that is caused by adrenal tumors, about 50% of those tumors are cancerous.

Pituitary gland

The scientific name for Cushing's is hyperadrenocorticism, which is a hard word to remember and also to spell, so it's easier to just say Cushing's.  The reason it's called Cushing's is because in 1932, the first doctor to describe the clinical syndromes was an American surgeon named Harvey Cushing.

The next thing I have to do is I have to go on Monday to spend most of another boring day at the veterinary clinic.  I have to go on Monday because that is the day the radiologist comes, and she is going to do an ultrasound on me.  This is mostly to look at my adrenal glands and see if they have any tumors on them, because if they don't, then my Cushing's is what you call "pituitary dependent."  If my Cushing's is "adrenal dependent," the doctor can maybe fix it by doing surgery and taking out the tumor.  Or maybe they take out the whole adrenal gland.  I'm not sure how it works.  But one of Aunt Cheryl's dogs, Gracie, had this done to her, and now she is all cured of Cushing's.

But like I mentioned before, only 15% of Cushing's is due to a tumor on the adrenal gland.  If mine is caused by a tumor on my pituitary gland, I will just have to take medicine for the rest of my life, which we hope will make me feel better and make my hair grow back.  But there can be some side effects sometimes.  Which is better than not treating it at all, because if you don't treat it, here's what you can end up with:  hypothyroidism, pancreatitis, diabetes, seizures, hypertension, congestive heart failure, blood clots, and liver and kidney failure.  Yuck.

Mostly it's middle-aged and older dogs that get Cushing's, with an average age of 10.  I don't like being lumped in with all those "old" dogs, since I am only 8-1/2, but nobody asked my opinion.  Some people think that girl dogs get Cushing's more than boy dogs do, and also that spayed or neutered dogs get it more often, but these things have not been proven for sure.  Some breeds seem to get Cushing's more than others, including poodles, Yorkies, beagles, Boston terriers, boxers, dachshunds, German shepherds, golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, Scottish terriers, and most other kinds of terriers.

Another dog with hair loss
and a pot belly due to Cushing's

So that's my sort of simplified explanation of Cushing's, and I hope I didn't say stuff that was all wrong because of not having a medical degree or anything like that.  After I have my ultrasound on Monday, I will probably have more news for you.

Oh, and Dr. Griswald said I don't exactly have leptospirosis, but I might have been exposed to it, so I have to go back in 2 or 3 weeks and get tested for that again.  Sigh.  It's always something!

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WEREWOLF SYNDROME

I am not making this up!  There really is such a thing as werewolf syndrome, and the real name for it is hypertrichosis.  This is not like in the movies, where a person turns into a werewolf every time there's a full moon.  No, this is different.  It's where a person has a whole bunch of hair growing on them, like for instance all over their entire face, where you would not expect a human to have hair.

There are two ways you can get hypertrichosis, and one is that you are born with it, and the other is that you get it later in life, like because of some drugs you are taking or because you have cancer or maybe because of an eating disorder.  If you have this second kind of werewolf syndrome, it can usually be treated, but if you are born with it, you are pretty much stuck with it.

Luckily, it's very rare for people to be born with this condition.  The first case ever recorded was in 1648, and the man who had it was named Petrus Gonzales.  He lived in the Canary Islands.  In the Gonzales family, there were also two daughters, a son, and a grandchild who had hypertrichosis.  Since 1648, there have only been about 50 cases of people born with hypertrichosis, so it really doesn't happen very much.

In the past, a lot of people who had werewolf syndrome got jobs in circus freak shows because they looked so strange.  One of these people was Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Man.  His real name was Fedor Jeftichew, and he was born in Russia in 1868.  Mr. Jeftichew's father had hypertrichosis also, and they both toured with French circuses until the father died.  Then P.T. Barnum brought the son to the U.S. when he was 16.

Mr. Barnum made up a story about how Jo-Jo and his father had been living as wild animals in a cave, and a hunter captured them, but the father could never be tamed.  Mr. Barnum pointed out to everybody how much Jo-Jo looked like a dog, and he said that when Jo-Jo was upset, he would bark and growl.  Then Mr. Fedor would bark and growl to please his boss and scare the audience.  But really Mr. Fedor was a very civilized man who could speak three different languages.

Stephan Bibrowski was called Lionel the Lion-Faced Man.  He had hair all over his body that made him look like a lion.  When he was born in 1891 in Poland, his mother thought her son had all that hair because while she was pregnant, she had seen her husband get mauled by a lion.  She couldn't really stand having the boy around, so when he was four, she gave him to a German showman named Meyer.

Mr. Meyer started exhibiting Stephan all over Europe.  By then, the boy's hair was 8 inches long on his face and 4 inches long on the rest of his body.  The only places he didn't have hair were the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet.

In 1901, Lionel came to the U.S. and joined Barnum & Bailey's Circus.  He did gymnastic tricks and spoke to people in a gentle way to show them he was a very nice man, in spite of looking like a ferocious lion.  He wore stylish clothes, was well-educated, and could speak five languages.  He settled in New York City in 1920 and worked at Coney Island for several years.  Then in the late 1920s, he moved back to Germany.  He died of a heart attack in 1932 at the age of 41.

Julia Pastrana was another person with hypertrichosis who made a living in sideshows.  She was born in Mexico in 1834.  Besides having lots of hair, she also had a double row of teeth that made her mouth stick out, sort of like a gorilla's.  A man named Theodore Lent discovered Julia Pastrana and purchased her from a woman who might have been her mother.  He taught her to dance and play music, and she also leaned to read and write in three languages. Mr. Lent took her on a tour all over the world.  He called her the "Bearded and Hairy Lady."










Eventually, Mr. Lent married Ms. Pastrana.  While they were on tour in Moscow, she had a baby that also had hypertrichosis, but sadly, the baby only lived for two days.  And five days later, Ms. Pastrana died, too.  But Mr. Lent did not want to stop touring, so he got a professor at a Moscow university to make mummies out of his wife and son.  Then he mounted them in a glass cabinet so people could still come and see them.  After a while, he found another hairy woman.  He married her and changed her name to Zenora Pastrana.  Finally, Mr. Lent was sent to a mental institution, which was probably a good place for him.

Meanwhile, the mummies disappeared for a while, but then they showed up in Norway in 1921.  They were on display there until the 1970s.  Then somebody thought they should come to the U.S. for a tour, but lots of people said this was a very bad idea.  So after that, the mummies weren't shown to the public anymore.  In 1976 some vandals got into the storage area and damaged the baby's mummy, and after that it got eaten by mice.  Julia Pastrana's mummy was stolen in 1979, but then it got found again.  Now it is in a sealed coffin in the Department of Anatomy at Oslo University.  In 1994, the Norway Senate said they thought the body should be buried, but the Minister of Sciences decided to keep it so that research could be done if scientists wanted to, but you have to get a special permit if you want to study Ms. Pastrana's body.

Now I will tell you about a modern girl in Thailand who has werewolf syndrome.  Her name is Supatra Sasuphan, and she is 11 years old.  Her classmates used to make fun of her and call her "wolf girl" and "monkey face," which made her really sad.  But then a special thing happened.  Supatra got into the Guinness Book of World Records as "The World's Hairiest Girl," and now she is very popular and has lots of friends.

When Supatra was born, she not only had a lot of hair, but she also had very small nostrils that were only one millimeter wide.  So she had to stay in an incubator and have surgery twice, just so she could breathe.  Then she had to have another surgery when she was two, but now she can breathe perfectly well.  The doctors did laser treatment on her hair, but it didn't make the hair go away.  It just grew back even thicker.  When it gets too long, her mother trims it for her so that it doesn't get in her eyes.

Supatra likes to do the same kinds of things that other girls her age like to do.  What she loves most is swimming, dancing, playing with friends, and watching cartoons on TV.  She says, "I like to study maths so I can be good at it and teach it to younger children so they can do it too.  I want to become a doctor so I can help patients when they get injured.  I want to help people who get hurt and help cure people."

Anyway, that is the story of werewolf syndrome.  There are some other famous people in history who had it, but I didn't have time to write about all of them.  I'm just glad that people don't have to be treated so much like freaks nowadays if they have something different about them such as hypertrichosis.  And if any of those people want to give up some of their extra hair, I'd be glad to have it to use in some of the spots where my hair is getting so thin!

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Non-Vets Doing Surgery

Sal sent this to me today....

Question:  Is it legal for someone other than a Veterinarian to perform surgery
to spay a dog?
I ask because walking out of my vet’s office, I overheard the receptionist
talking and she said that the vet would not be coming in.  However, I was had
just dropped off my dog to be spayed.  I just want to make sure she isn’t in
harm’s way.

I can't speak for outside of the US or even in every state.  However, I've been licensed in 6 states in various parts of the country and in all of those states, as well as any I've ever heard of, it is absolutely, positively NOT legal, or a good idea.  The owner of that practice could be sued for malpractice and end up with jail time for allowing it.  Also, the person who did the surgery could go to jail for practicing medicine without a license.  Even though spays are routine surgeries, they are NOT simple, and required a skilled hand.  I know experienced vets who aren't comfortable with doing spays!  It took me years of doing spays every day to get my surgery time down from about an hour to my current 20 minutes or so.

Unfortunately I have known vets who will allow their staff to do things like this, even if it's illegal.  Here in Georgia only a vet can legally give a rabies vaccine, but I recently had a client who went to a vet recommended by a local pet store and the vet's receptionist gave the rabies (without an exam!) because the vet was busy. Some vets really don't care about laws or quality medicine and that makes a bad impact on the view of the profession as a whole.

Interestingly, castrations are normally specifically excluded from the practice of veterinary medicine.  This is done because most farmers castrate their own livestock since getting a vet out to do every steer, pig, goat, etc. would really drive up the cost of animal production and therefore food and other animal products.  So technically someone who wasn't a vet could castrate their own dog or cat (or someone else's) and it wouldn't be illegal.  I still wouldn't recommend it because then you get into ethical issues of proper pain control, anesthesia, etc., but it wouldn't be "practicing medicine without a license".

Sal, I would talk to the vet about this, as it is a legitimate concern.  But I would also make sure that there wasn't some other reason for the comment, such if there were a few vets working that day and only one of them wasn't coming in, or if the receptionist was talking about the vet not coming in until later and you missed part of the conversation.  Also, maybe the normal vet wasn't coming in but they had gotten a relief vet who was going to fill in for the day.  Since you only heard part of the conversation you may have missed parts explaining what was really going on.  Give the vet a chance to explain and you may find a very reasonable answer for what you overheard.  However, if the vet does admit that a non-vet did the spay, I would immediately place a call to the state veterinary board and report that practice.

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Reasons Regarding Regurgitation

Please excuse my alliteration in the title, but it just sounded fun.  Here's an email from Stefanie....

I have recently taken on a second foster dog. She is only about a year old and is a border collie cross. A high energy dog - which is fine - I'm learning how to channel her energy. I've noticed though that she will glurp out water as she is walking or running around. She also even glurped (my non-technical term for regurgitation) out dog food and water about 6 hours after her last meal. It's not a lot and while she has actually vomited a couple of times - it's been different objects she's chewed on around the house - it's more the regurgitation that has me puzzled.
Is regurgitation a few times a day enough to warrant a vet visit? She doesn't have any other symptoms other than what I've described - still has plenty of energy and is bright-eyed. I am fostering for a rescue so ultimately the decision to take her to the vet is at their discretion, but your advice on when to have her examined is greatly appreciated.
 
I would most certainly take her to the vet, and plan on having x-rays taken.  As you've indicated, regurgitation is different than vomiting.  The former is passive, with the stomach or esophageal contents spilling out because of a lack of tone in the sphincters or muscle walls.  Vomiting is active, involving contractions of the abdomen and stomach.  There are very different indications for each, so we can't treat them similarly.
 
The biggest concern I would have for chronic regurgitation would be megaesophagus.  This condition occurs when the esophagus is significantly dilated for some reason.  Anything swallowed can sit in this expanded area rather than passing into the stomach, and after a period of time can suddenly "glurp" back out.  In younger dogs this is most commonly caused as the result of a birth defect where a vascular arch near the heart stays around the esophagus, essentially causing a stricture and eventually dilation of the esophagus.  There are causes of megaesophagus that are more acquired than a vascular abnormality, but they are not as common.  A hiatal hernia or problem with the cardiac sphincter of the stomach (the one between the stomach or esophagus) could cause similar problems.  But I would consider megaesophagus until shown otherwise.
 
Megaesophagus is a big concern, as there is a high risk of food or water running backwards through the esophagus getting down the trachea and into the lungs, causing what we call aspiration pneumonia.  This kind of pneumonia can be life-threatening and the risk shouldn't be ignored, even if it hasn't happened yet.  Even if it's not megaesophagus, anything being regurgitated can be aspirated into the lungs and therefore should be checked out.
 
There is no cure for megaesophagus, so efforts are put to management.  I have known dogs successfully managed for many years, but it involves being very careful about feeding and drinking.  These dogs always need to have elevated bowls so they do not have their heads down while they are trying to swallow.  Essentially we are letting gravity work with us rather than against us.
 
So see a vet about this before something worse happens.  Good luck, Stefanie!
 
By the way, I love the word "glurp" and may use it myself, if you don't mind!

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Attacked! The Good And Bad

One of the hardest things we as veterinarians have to face is the enmity of our patients.  Most people probably don't realize the real danger veterinary staff are faced with on a daily basis.  Take today for example.  I saw around 20 pets, mostly dogs, and ff those pets I had five try to bite me.  Most of them made really serious attempts to the point that we had difficulty getting muzzles on them and one we had to give an intramuscular sedative to knock her out.  Though none were likely to truly maul me, several potentially could have ended me up at the emergency room for stitches.

This isn't a rare occurrence.  In fact, it's a rare day when I don't have a pet try to bite or scratch me.  It's one of the least favorite aspects of my job, especially on days like today.  I get really tired of having pets try and take a piece out of me, but it's not like I can put a sign out saying that I'll only see nice patients (tempting though it may be).  As long as I practice I'll be faced with situations like this.

What I much prefer is how I am "attacked" when I come home in the evening.  Once I walk in the door I'm greeted by our two dogs, Inara and Yvaine. They jump all around me and seek my attention.  Then they seem to suddenly notice that I have scents all over me and before I know it I have noses running up and down my legs.  Sometimes I have a hard time moving because their faces are pressed up against me and I have two 60 pound dogs curved around me.  I don't mind this kind of attack at all and wish my patients behaved more like this.

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DODO BIRDS

Dodos have been extinct for a long time, like since about 1690.  They are very famous for being extinct, so people say things like "dead as a dodo" or "go the way of the dodo."  There's a lot we don't know for sure about dodo birds, like whether they were fat, like in most of the pictures of them, or whether they were really thinner and more able to run fast.

We don't even know for sure where the name dodo came from.  The Dutch people who were the first ones to describe the birds, called them walghvogels, which means "wallow birds" or "loathsome birds."  They called them this because dodos weren't very yummy to eat.  Later on, the name dronte was used for the birds, and this word is still used for them in some languages today.  But the word dodo itself might have come from the Dutch word dodoor ("sluggard") or dodaars ("knot-arse").  The birds had a knot of feathers on their hind ends, and that is why they were called "knot-arse," which I think is a very funny word.  Mom says it sounds like somebody who is anal retentive, whatever that means.  But anyway, some dictionaries say that dodo comes from the old Portuguese word doudo, which means "fool" or "crazy."  And this might be right, because nowadays we call people dodos if we think they are kind of dumb or silly.

Dodo birds lived in just one place, which was the island of Mauritius.  And in case you don't know where this island is, I found a nice map to show you that it is in the Indian Ocean, east of the big island of Madagascar, which is off the east coast of Africa.  No one is totally sure how the dodos came to be there, but scientists have done a bunch of DNA testing, and what they found out was that dodos are very distant relatives of some pigeons from Asia.  So they think that some of these migrating pigeons got lost on their way to Africa, and they decided to just stay in Mauritius.  Which was a very good decision at the time, because there was plenty of fruit to eat and no predators.  And over time, the dodos got so they couldn't fly, because they didn't need to, and they made their nests on the ground.

The dodos were about 3.3 feet tall, and they weighed 44 pounds.  When the first explorers arrived in Mauritius in the 1500s, they thought the dodos were stupid because they weren't afraid of humans.  But the dodos might not have been stupid at all.  I think they were probably very clever and curious, and they   just didn't know they were supposed to afraid of humans.  In 1606, Cornelis Matelief de Jonge wrote descriptions of Mauritius and the animals and plants there.  Here's what he said about the dodo:

Blue parrots are very numerous there, as well as other birds; among which are a kind, conspicuous for their size, larger than our swans, with huge heads only half covered with skin as if clothed with a hood. These birds lack wings, in the place of which 3 or 4 blackish feathers protrude. The tail consists of a few soft incurved feathers, which are ash coloured. These we used to call ' Walghvogel,' for the reason that the longer and oftener they were cooked, the less soft and more insipid eating they became. Nevertheless their belly and breast were of a pleasant flavour and easily masticated.

When people started coming to Mauritius to live, they brought dogs, pigs, cats, rats, and macaques with them.  Macaques are a type of monkey that usually lives in Asia or Africa.  Anyway, all these new animals found the nests of the dodo birds, which were on the ground and easy to get to, and ate the eggs and baby birds.  Meanwhile, the humans hunted the dodos, but they might not have done a whole lot of that since dodos weren't very tasty.  But what the humans also did was they cut down the forests where the dodos liked to live.  And after a while, the dodo went extinct.

But then guess what else happened.  There is this tree in Mauritius, and it is called the Calvaria tree, and it lives for hundreds of years.  And many, many years after the dodos went extinct, people started noticing that the Calvaria seeds weren't sprouting, so when the old trees died, there were no new ones to take their place.  And finally people figured out that this was happening because there were no more dodos around to eat the Calvaria fruit and poop out the seeds.  Because it turned out that while the seeds were inside the dodos, their hulls got partly digested, and this made it so the seeds could sprout.  But then somebody figured out that turkeys could eat the Calvaria fruit and this would help the seeds sprout, just like what used to happen with the dodos.  So the Calvaria trees did not go extinct, even though they almost did.

So that is the sad story of the dodos that went extinct, and also the story of the Calvaria trees that didn't.  And it all goes to show that when you mess with one part of nature, you might be messing up something else that you never meant to mess up at all!

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Identify The Critter

Here's one from Andrea that I'm hoping my readers can help with...

I'm a norwegian vet tech student currently working part of my internship at an animal clinic in Denmark. There are a lot of heart and lung worms now in the summer, so we do a lot of worm tests daily. Today I was microscoping a sample from a pug and didn't find any larvaes. But there was something else. Without the microscope I could see a lot of teeny tiny white "rice". I know they're not tape worm segments! Which seems to bee the only answer people get when they find white things in their dogs feces. I can't find anything on the internet that looks like it. I've attached a coulple of picture I took with my phone. None of our vets know what it is. There is nothing similar in our clinical parasitology book. In the microscope they look kind of like a butterfly pupa. They have spikes on their "body" and I can see a lot of, what I believe is blood vessels. They didn't move, but one of them "spit" out some grainy stuff. I'm so curious to find out what it is! Can you help me? 

I only took pictures using one of the lenses, so I don't have one where you can see the spikes.

I can't identify these, but I do agree that under the microscope they aren't tapeworms.  They look like they could be maggots of some sort, and I'm curious as to whether this sample came directly from the dog or if it was collected from the yard.  If it was the latter, then it could be environmental contamination and not a parasite.  Honestly, I can't think of any intestinal parasites that look like this, but I'm not sure if there are some in Europe that I don't know.

So, all of my international veterinary readers....any clues?

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Are Homemade Diets Recommended?

John sent the following message to me...

My question is: Will you, as a veterinarian, ever recommend home cooked dog/cat food to dog/cat owners? If a client, like myself, insist, could you prescribe some recipes and supplements for individual dogs?

I'm a believer in homemade pet food. But most vets I spoke to recommend that I buy commercial pet food. I understand commercial foods are approved with a balanced nutritional formula. I have done some research (online and books) and I choose to cook for my 2-year-old mini dachshund and 3-months old Yorkie.

John, I'll first answer briefly:  yes and no!  It really depends on the pet and the client.

In general I have the same view as most of my colleagues that you have spoken with.  Commerically prepared pet foods are good nutrition (though some better than others), cover the pet's needs, are easy to prepare and give, and are easy to acquire.  The research on nutritional requirements has already been done for you and many decades of extensive testing has been done to figure out which are the best foods and ingredients for pets.  Veterinary nutritional specialists spend their entire careers analyzing and developing diets and the vast majority of them feed commercial pet foods to their own pets rather than making them at home.  When the experts (nutritionists, internists, cardiologists, endocrinologists, etc.) chose to buy a bag of food rather than prepare it themselves I have to believe that there is validity in their view. 

The problem with many homemade diets is that there are many trace nutrients and minerals that are important but aren't easily found in many foods we use.  We have to keep in mind that a pet's digestive tract is not the same as ours, especially the closer you get to true obligate carnivores (such as cats and ferrets).  So we can't base a dog or cat's nutrition on what would be good for us.  A proper homemade diet requires a lot of work in preparation, including using trace vitamin supplements.  Most people won't do the research or talk to experts before trying to make the food themselves.  In these cases the pets end up with nutritional deficiences.  And many of these deficiencies aren't obvious quickly, often taking long periods of time before you see a problem.  You also need to make sure that advice on homemade diets is coming from a veterinarian or ideally a veterinary nutritional specialist.  Human nutritionists don't understand the differences in physiology enough to make proper judgements for pets.

So does this mean that I never recommend homemade diets?  Nope.  I have given owners recipes in certain cases, especially if there is a medical need and the pet doesn't like a prepared food for that disorder.  But I am very careful who I give such recipes to, and I make them a copy of pages from a veterinary nutrition text book.

My question is...why would anyone want to make their pet's food?  You can get as good or better nutrition from a prepared food and do so much easier and with less mess.  You also don't run the risk of major deficiencies with good quality commercial foods. 

Nutrition has become a pet interest of mine (no pun intended) over the last few years, and I've really been doing self-education on the issue.  Knowing what I know, I have chosen to purchase commercial foods.

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Do Cat Whiskers Regrow?

Mary asks a common question....

My friend has a couple of VERY active children and a longsuffering cat.  I was visiting this friend a few days ago when she pointed out where her son decided to give the cat a bit of a trim on her back, and drastically cut back her whiskers.  My friend told me that she's really worried about the cat now because whiskers don't grow back.  I had never heard of this before.  Is this true?  If so, what can she do to protect her cat now that she's somewhat handicapped?

Great question, Mary, and a common one.  Whiskers not regrowing is an old wives' tale that keeps being spread around.  The whiskers on any mammal are really nothing more than specially modified hair.  They tend to be thicker and stiffer than normal hairs, and at their base they are surrounded by nerve clusters.  Movement of the whiskers triggers nerve signals and are used for sensing air movement, objects close to the face, and so on.  Like any other hair whiskers grow from follicles, where they will grow to a certain length, "live" a certain length of time, and then fall out in order to be replaced by a new whisker.  They fall out and regrow in a staggered pattern, but they will indeed regrow, just like any other hair that is cut.  In fact, long-haired cats that receive close grooming routinely have their whiskers cut as part of trimming the face.  However, it can take 2-3 months for a full set of whiskers to grow out so it will not happen soon.

So reassure your friend that her cat will be fine and will have normal whiskers in a few months.  Until then the cat may feel a little strange and even be reluctant to go in certain areas as she is missing certain sensory input.  But in my experience, this is usually not noticable to the owner.

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THE MOON RABBIT

Most people have heard of the Man in the Moon, but I have to admit that when I look up and baroo at the moon, I cannot exactly figure out where the face of this man is supposed to be.  And I especially don't understand what he's doing up there unless he's spying on everybody on earth.  So that's why I was excited to learn about the Rabbit in the Moon, and to see pictures that show exactly where this rabbit is, because the Moon Rabbit really does look like a rabbit to me.

The Chinese were some of the first people to recognize the rabbit that lives on the moon.  He is mentioned in a poem from the Warring States period, which says that there is a rabbit who is constantly pounding herbs for the immortals.  And also there is a toad, but I don't know anything about the toad.  Later on, in the Han Dynasty, the poets called this rabbit on the moon the Jade Rabbit or the Gold Rabbit.

The story about the moon rabbit goes like this:  There were once a monkey, an otter, a jackal, and a rabbit.  And they all decided they would do charitable things on the day of the full moon.  So when an old man came along and begged for food, the monkey gathered fruit for him from the trees.  The otter brought him fish, and the jackal went out and stole a lizard and a pot of milk-curd to give to the beggar.  But the rabbit told the old man that he only knew how to gather grass, which he did not think the man would want to eat.  Then the rabbit threw himself on the fire so that the man could have a nice meal of roasted rabbit.

But the rabbit did not get burned!  And the reason for that was because the old man turned out to be a god named Sakra.  He was so touched by the rabbit's virtue that he drew a picture of the rabbit on the moon so that everyone could always see it.

The Aztecs, in ancient Mexico, also had a legend about the rabbit in the moon.  In this story, the god Quetzalcoatl, who was living on earth as a man, went on a trip.  And after he had walked a long ways, he was so hungry and thirsty that he thought he would die.  There was a rabbit grazing nearby, and this rabbit offered himself as food to save Quetzalcoatl's life.  The god was so moved that he raised the rabbit up to the moon and brought him back to earth again.  Then he told the rabbit that everyone would remember him forever because his image would be up there shining on the moon.

Another group that had a story about a rabbit being on the moon was the Cree tribe of North America.  In their tale, the rabbit wanted to ride the moon.  Nobody would take him up there except the crane, and the rabbit hung onto the crane's legs during the journey.  This is why the crane has such long legs.  And the rabbit is still up there riding the moon, to this very day.

Now it's time for another little vocabulary lesson.  When people see faces or animals on the moon or in other places, this is called pareidolia (which is pronounced pear eye DOH lee uh).  Another example of pareidolia is when people see something like the face of Jesus or the Virgin Mary on a tortilla.  Which just goes to show that there are all sorts of people and animals watching you, wherever you look, so you'd better behave yourself and not pick your nose or do things you're not supposed to.  Just in case.

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AFRICAN ELEPHANTS

Here's how you can tell the difference between African elephants and Asian elephants:
1.  African elephants live in Africa and Asian elephants live in Asia.
2.  African elephants are bigger.
3.  Also, African elephants have bigger ears.
4.  Both male and female African elephants have tusks, but only male Asian elephants do.
5.  African elephants have two finger-like things at the tip of their trunks, and Asian elephants only have one.
6.  Asian elephants can be tamed, and they will carry heavy loads and do a bunch of work for people, but African elephants prefer being self-employed.


There are two different species of African elephant, and one is called the African Bush Elephant or Savannah Elephant (Loxodonta africana), and the other is called the African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis).  The word loxodonta is Greek, and it means "oblique-sided tooth."

An elephant has four molars to chew with.  Each one weighs about 11 pounds and is 12 inches long.  Okay, now here's the interesting thing:  when the front two molars get all worn down, they fall out, and the other two molars move forward to take their place.  Meanwhile, two brand-new molars grow in in the back of the mouth.  An elephant gets new teeth 6 times, and then by the time it is between 40 and 60 years old, it doesn't have any teeth left, and it starves to death.


The elephant's tusks are actually the second set of incisors that grow out really long.  A baby elephant starts growing tusks when it is about 2 years old. There are many good uses for tusks, such as digging up roots, tearing bark off of trees, herding young, and poking around in the ground to find water.  Also tusks can be used as weapons in a fight.  They weigh between 51 and 99 pounds, and they can be from 5 to 8 feet long.

The bush elephant is the biggest of all land mammals.  Males are 10--13 feet tall at the shoulder, and they weigh from 13,000 to 20,000 pounds.  Females are 7.2--8.5 feet tall and weigh 4,800--7,130 pounds.  The very largest elephant that we know about was a male that was shot in Angola in 1965.  He weighed 27,060 pounds and stood 13.8 feet high.   This elephant got stuffed and mounted, and now you can see him in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Elephant skin is super thick and leathery.  It is made that way so it can help the elephant keep cooler.  Also an elephant's ears are really big, and when the elephant flaps its ears, the blood in all the blood vessels in the ears gets cooled off.  Elephants have really good hearing, but their eyesight is not so great. They usually move along at about 4 mph, but if they are scared or upset, they can run as fast as 25 mph.

Of course, the thing that makes elephants really special and different is that they have trunks.  The trunk is a combination of what would be the nose and the upper lip of any other animal.  Elephants' trunks are about 7 feet long, and they are very muscular and strong.  Trunks are used for eating, drinking, and taking dust baths or water baths.  When elephants drink, they suck up as much as 2 gallons of water into their trunks and then squirt the water into their mouths.

Also the trunk can show what sort of mood an elephant is in, sort of like a dog shows its mood with its tail.  Elephants can punch and push with their trunks.  And sometimes they wrap their trunks together in a sort of hug.  Elephants also have a very good sense of smell, so they can do things like find water that is out of sight under the ground.

Elephants are very smart, and they are also very social.  A herd of elephants is usually made up of females and their young, with the oldest female as their leader.  This leader is called the matriarch, and she's the one who decides where the herd goes.  She knows how to find all the water sources, and she teaches the locations to the other members of the herd.  When one of the elephants gives birth, all the other females come and touch the baby with their trunks.  And when an elephant dies, the others will stay by its body for a while.

A female can come into season at any time of the year, and when she does, she starts sending out something called infrasounds, and that makes lots of males come around.  They fight with each other, and whoever wins gets to mate with the female.  Then after 22 months, a baby elephant is born.  This is the longest gestation period of any mammal.  The baby weighs about 220 pounds when it is born, and it will nurse until it is 5 years old.  But it will also eat solid food, starting at about 6 months old.  Adult elephants don't have any natural predators to worry about, but they have to keep the young elephants safe from lions, crocodiles, leopards, and hyenas.

Watering hole

Elephants eat lots and lots of food, but what they eat depends on where they live.  Mostly, they like to eat stuff like leaves off of trees and shrubs.  In one day, an elephant can eat as much as 660 pounds of vegetation.  But since elephants have lousy digestive systems, only about 40% of the food is actually digested.  The rest ends up being poop, which Mom is very happy that she doesn't have to pick up, but I think it might be nice to roll in it.  Elephants also drink a lot of water, like 50 gallons every day.

African elephants have a conservation status of VULNERABLE.  They have been hunted for their ivory tusks since at least the 14th century.  During all the years when Africa was under colonial rule, the Europeans exported ivory so that they could make things like piano keys and billiard balls out of it.

Fang Traders With Ivory

When the World Wars came along, people stopped exporting ivory for a while, but in the 1970s, Japan started using raw ivory to make name seals.  The ivory was also used for making souvenirs, jewelry, and trinkets.  By the 1980s, Japan was using about 40% of the ivory coming from Africa, Europe and North America used another 40%, and most of the rest of it stayed in Africa.  In 1989, the export of ivory was outlawed, but there is still a lot of poaching going on, not just for tusks, but also for elephant meat and hides.  Oh, and there is also some trophy hunting.

Forest Elephants

Forest elephants live in west and central Africa, where there are still a lot of tropical rainforests.  Bush elephants live more in eastern and southern Africa, with the biggest bunches of them in Botswana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zambia, and South Africa.  In some areas, there are plenty of elephants, but in other places there aren't very many.  There are several protected areas for elephants, but less than 20% of the elephants' range is formally protected.

Elephant at the KC Zoo

Okay, well, this was a very BIG topic, so it's hard to say everything there is to say about elephants in one little blog entry.  I don't think I would want to see an elephant in person because I would be afraid the elephant would step on me, and then I would be as flat as a little black-and-white pancake!

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