This is our near-weekly segment where we list all the links we’ve shared on Twitter. It’s always a big post! So grab a coffee and prepare yourself for some serious reading.
Tweet of the Week
DoggieBuddy shared a post featuring information and video of the first dog movie star! It’s actually not a bad silent movie, considering it’s time period, and a nice little bit of history. Head over to watch “Rescued by Rover” on the DoggieBuddy blog.
When Clover was about 8 months old, we visited her breeder’s rural house interstate. We were loading up the car early in the morning (it was still dark) and Clover was off lead. When it came time to load Clover into the car, it was clear that she had found poo to roll in. I didn’t have enough time to fix this problem before we left, so Clover was loaded into the car, smelling like poo.
Did I mention that this was on the way to a dog show? Once we got there, I took Clover into the bathroom and put her under the tap to attempt to wash the poo off her. I managed to get off the poo, but not the poo smell.
A friend at the dog show had some smell-pretty spray and this managed to cover the poo smell, for about 5 minutes, before it was back again. I ended up saturating Clover in the spray moments before she entered the show ring, in the hope that the poo smell would be masked for the moments that mattered.
The moral of this story? It would’ve been pretty good to have Dark Chocolate Scented Splash. Continue reading
You don’t need to be in the dog world for very long before you hear about desexing benefiting the health of dogs. These claims talk about reducing cancer (testicular, mammary, prostate, ovarian, uterine, cervix), reducing prostate disease (in boys), and preventing pyometra (in bitches).
What we don’t hear about is the undesirable side effects of desexing, and how desexing is linked to increased risks of some cancers, and an increased likelihood of joint disorders.
Torres de la Riva et al, in their research published just this month, decided to look into the health effects of desexing in golden retrievers; Neutering Dogs: Effects on Joint Disorders and Cancers in Golden Retrievers.
They, indeed, hit back at these spruced ‘health benefits’ in the introduction of their piece, saying:
“In contrast to the rather strong evidence for neutering males and/or females as a risk factor for osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, lymphosarcoma, mast cell tumours and prostate cancer, evidence for neutering as protection against a dog acquiring one or more cancers is weak.”
This research set out to investigate spay and neuter in Golden Retrievers from 1-8 years. They chose goldens because they are commonly used as assistance animals, and so they hoped the implications of this study may have consequences for related assistance organisations (of course, dog science only happens when it helps people!). It makes sense: it’s ‘wasteful’ to invest in a dog becomes invalid for the work they were trained in, especially if that invalidity could’ve been prevented by more-appropriate timing of desexing.
While other research has pooled many breeds and health affects together, this is the first study to look at desexing in just one particular breed. Prior-analysis determined several conditions to look at: hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament tear, lymphosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, mast cell tumours, osterosarcoma, and elbow dysplasia.
Dogs were included in the study if they were between 1-8 years of age. They were put into categories of either ‘early neuter’ (before 1 year of age), ‘late neuter’ (after 1 year of age), and ‘intact’. Data regarding their health was retrospective, gained from veterinary records. Any dogs where a health diagnosis was ‘grey’ (non-conclusive), they were excluded from the study.
This is our near-weekly segment where we list all the links we’ve shared on Twitter. It’s always a big post! So grab a coffee and prepare yourself for some serious reading.
Tweet of the Week
It’s common knowledge that too many victims of domestic violence stay with their partners because they can’t find temporary accommodation for their pets. They also often can’t leave their pets with their partners, because they are concerned that they may harm the pets in ‘revenge’ attacks. It was touching to watch this video on the pet shelter at Rose Brooks Centre. I truly hope that this sets a trend for women shelter’s internationally.
In response to the Dog & Cat Management Board’s recent proposal for mandatory desexing, my friend Ruth Bell (Markable Curly Coat Retrievers) and I decided to create the event “My dogs are ENTIRELY FRIENDLY”. We were lucky enough to hit the media! We appeared in the City Messenger (below) and also appeared on the AdelaideNow website.
The article can be viewed online (we are on page 10).
I would love to see you at the rally!
My Dogs Are ENTIRELY FRIENDLY!
9am in Victoria Square
17th February 2012
Please only bring sociable and friendly dogs to the event. We recommend that bitches in season stay home. Desexed dogs are welcomed to show their support. Dogless people are also welcome!
It would be greatly appreciated, if you are on Facebook, if you could RSVP to the event. If not, that’s fine, but if you can, please do!
Further reading:
Guilty until proven innocent – SA’s Dog and Cat Management Board’s next grand plan