*Coventry- 1999: The Chow Chow Club`s Worldconference
I was asked to be one of the speakers at the Chow Chow Club's Wold Conference in Coventry in 1999, here is my contribution:
CHOW CHOWS AND CHOW CHOW COLOURS
Dear Fellow Chow Chow Lovers..
First of all I would like to thank the Organising Committee of the Chow Chow Club for inviting me to address this Conference. It is a great honour nd pleasure to be able to contribute to this important Chow Chow event.
It is NOW 19 years since last time there was a WORLD CONFERNCE concerning our wonderful breed, in Giessen i october 1980. I sincerely hope, and I think you all agree with me, that we are all grateful to The Chow Chow Club for hosting this conference, and THAT we shall not let another 19 YEARS go by before THE NEXT CONFERENCE.
After the Giessen conference the Chow Chow standard was altered on points regarding eyes, skin folds in the head and angulations in hind quarters. As far as I can recall 8 or 9 years went by before the changes werw finally officially adapted by the KC and FCI. It is therefore important for us to realise that the implementation of any changes we want to make in the international standard will for some reason take a lot of time.
The health of dogs, and of pet animals in general, is nowadays not only of interest to the small community of breeders and dog fanciers. Rather, this is now of general interest to the international public opinion, nad as such it has come to the attention of international organisations as well as national authorities. One international organisation, of importancce to most countries represented here, is the Council of Europe, organising 41 European countries. In 1987 the Council of Europe agreed on the "European Convention for The Protection of Pet Animals" which in Article 5 states
"Any Person who selects a pet animal for breeding shall be responsible for having regard to the anatomical, physiological and behavioural characteristics which are likely to put at risk the health and welfare of either the offspring or the female parent".
I think this is very important to be aware of this as the Council of Europe has expressed very strong criticisms about dog breeding in a resolution sent out in 1995. It lists a large number of breedsthat, for the sake of prevention of cruelty to animals, should not be bred from unless the breeding program is changed. The breed clubs are encouraged to change the standard of the breeds in question to prevent health problems. They mention problems like birth problems, breathing probllems due to short muzzles, minimal angulation in the hindquarters, heavy skin folds causing skin disease,, and pretruding or too deep set eyes. We must admit that some of the above fits Chow Chows of today. And we should be aware of that if WE do nothing with these proble, the breed of Chow Chows might simply be probited. in the long run
THIS IS NOT AN ATTEMPT TO FRIGHTEN YOU - IT IS FRIGHTENING IN ITSELF !!
Norway has also signed the European Convention, and the Department of Agriculture has set up The Norwegian Council of Animal Ethics. In a report issued in November 1988 the council declared that there are some breeds which have points in the standard that directly lead to illness or injuries. To breed from these breeds might be in direct violation of the Animal Protection Act. Sorry to say the Chow Chow breed is mentioned in this Norwegian report with particular refernce to its straight hind legs. The Council goes on to say that import and breeding of some breeds may already be deemed illegal under the existsing Animal Protection Act, mentioning in particular the Shar Pei, but not the Chow Chow, among such breeds. But.we have to be aware that our breed can in the long run end up as being prohibited in most of Europe. A problem we also have to take into consideration is that the persons in this council are not dog breeders themselves. They may well be veterinarians, but connected to farming, not
pets,
and quite a lot of what is expressed about dog breeding is what they have heard and what they think is right.
we are given reasonable but not indefinite time to improve the breed and reduce the health problems through a serious and sensible breeding program.
On this serious background I think it is very important that we start meeting regularly to discuss the future of our breed. Like in Giessen we should propose alterations of the breed standard if needed. By active and constructive international co-operation on these matters we show the authorities in Europe that we really care and work together for the improvment of our breed. I also think that it is very important to work closely together with our National Kennel Club`s regarding these matters. For all we know this is our best bet in saving our breed for the future.
ABOUT THE NORDIC/SCANDINAVIAN CHOW CHOW CLUBS
ABT NORWAY AND SWEDEN
The 4 Scandinavian/Nordic Countries do not have the same possibilites concerning buying puppies abroad or go abroad to mate bitches. Sweden and Norway have quarantenes for animals imported from any other counties than those declared to be rabiesfree.
Othervise is its possible to import dogs from the other Common Market countries- if the pup in question is more than 7 months old and declared by bloodsamples free of Rabies and otherspecific deseases that might vary from the different counties of origin.
Our Chows might be inoculated against rabies and after a couple of hundred Pounds and bloodsamples we are allowed - if the dog did respond, to go abroad to the Common Marked to show our animals and of cause we can also go abroad with our inocculated bitches to mate them abroad. To travel with a Chow bitch in season to f. inst. Denmark, Finland or the continent is no easy task. Chow bitches are peculiar - they might stop being season because they do not like the sea voyage. And if the saseon still are present when we arrive at our destination point, the bitch might not like the dog - or he might not think she smells good enough - and we all know how difficult it is to get a Chow bitch in welp.
If we want to buy pups from outside Norway/Sweden we might turn to England as our best and natural solution. Our breeding material get limitated, but still to be an International Champion we have to compete with Chows from other counties that freely canbuy from whereever they like to, f. inst. North America and Canada. And Chows from Denmark, Finland and the Continent can if their are innoculated come to Norway and Sweden and compete with us on our homeground.
DENMARK AND FINLAND
Denmark and Finland have no quaranties and can by from whereever they like, and also with their inoculated dogs go to Norway to show and mate their dogs if they want to.
ANSWERS FROM THE CLUBS
Both Denmark and Sweden have the last two years been working veru succesfully in the health field for our Chow Chows. They have both formed committies whos task is to work with health problems in Chows.
In Denmark the committee is called SUNNHETSUTVALGET . Sunnhetsutvalget has
sent out an inquiry abt the health of the chows and when they refer to 180, it is because they received a report on 180 chows.
In Finland they have the two last years had a committee called PEVISA "PROGRAM FOR RESISTING HEREDITARY DISEASES."
I can not recall that the Swedish CC Club has set up anny committees in this respect, but The Norw. CC Club has pointed ou a "Sunnhetskommitte" a couple of times. These Norw. committes have never been a success due to lack of feed back from the Chow Chow owners and breeders in Norway.
THE ANSWERS i HAVE DIVIDED INTO GROUPS:
1. THE JUDGES:
In many ways it is the judges who are responsible for the development of a breed. The judges must really take their responsibility seriously. It is important that the judges do know the standard for Chows and judge accordingly. The Present standard is sufficient to secure a healhty Chow Chow if interpreted correctly. We have to convince the judges that a healthy Chow still is a good Chow according to the standard. We do not want the judges to put up Chows with f. inst too straight hindquarters, with a lot of loose skin in the head, with wet and too deep-set eyes, with elongated soft palates that makes you hear them panting all over the ring and faint on the first hot day of the year, BUT on the other side we do not want to se Chow Chows looking like Finnish Spitzes or Swedish Lapphounds with blue tongues win in the ring. Too much and too little is just as wrong. Reasently we have withnessed that quite a few judges seems to forget the balance of the Chow Chow, the distance from shouldber tip to elbows should be equal to distance from the elbw to the ground. Too short legs ruins the balance and results in a longcast unbalanced specimen. What is correct Chow movement? Quite a few judges do not know these days, may be because it is so seldom seen ? As a result they might even put up a lame chow and think that this is true stilted gate. Others put up Chows with too long hocks, Chows that are "bicycling" and not parallell when you see them from behind.
Lack of correct angulations in the front often together with a too short and sraight upperarm are often seen, this gives no action on the front movement. The dog does not use his front to move forward, it`s front is just hanging with, and the frontlegs are paddling from one side to the other when the dog is moving.
It can not be stressed enought: The judges play an enormously importent part in our effort to produce correct Chows, and still Chows that the authorithies will accept in the future.
2. ANGULATIONS:
The breed have according to the authorities a straight hindleg problem. I think we have to realize that ligament injuries in the knees are quite common. In Finland there has recently been a discussion abt the streight hindlegs, judges think they are too straight and should be altered. Finland asks if minimal angulation really is the reason for knee injuries? The breed has had those hindlegs for thousands of years. In Denmark they have found from inquiries that 25% of the Chows hav injured one or both ligaments in the knees. Denmark also asks, is the straight hindlegs really to blame, and if so what can be done.
3.HEAD:
Today`s trend in Finland seems to be towards lighter types of Chows. Short and thick muzzle isn`t most popular today. Some Chow Chow owners and judges in Finland seem to think the loud breathing is the result of a too short muzzle and therefore in proporsion to too big soft palate. The Finnish opnion is this can be a problem in Chows with quite lights muzzles too. Denmark is also interested in the breathing problem and if it is a result of a too short muzzles with skin folds, or if it is a result of, as several vets have said: that the Chow have an air passage no bigger than that of a normal domestic cat. Both Norway and Sweden are of course also interested in the breathing problem.The problem with an elongated soft palate can be solved surgically, but if it is inheritable, what then? In Norway we found that quite a few Chows with breathing problems do not get older than 5 to 6 years . They get a heartattack and dies, heartproblems, some say, but is it really a result from the fact that 5-6 years struggle for enough air?
In Denmark they have found that 32 out of 180 Chows have undergone surgery because of entropion problems. They ask is this acceptable? In Norway we seem to find that entropion is more common on some lines than others, and that some breeders pay very little attention to the problem. Is it f inst acceptable to breed from specimens that has undergone 2 or more surgerys because of bad entropion? Or should Chows who have undergone entropion surgery be banned from breeding?
4. SKIN PROBLEMS - ECZEMA
In Denmark they have found that 21 out of 180 Chows have had skin eczema.
In Norway the skinproblems seem to have been reduced the last years.We find that it seemed to follow one particular Chow Chow line, and when this line stopped being bred intensively from, the problem calmed down. Is skin ezcema a problem of any importance in our breed today? Do skinproblems mostly exist today in connections with Tyroxin and Pancreas problems? and are those two problems any threat against our Chow population today?
5. EXCHANGING INFORMATION .
Finland is of the opinion, and they are probably right, that exchanging health and research results over the boarders and getting informations from the countries Chows are imported from, could help in choosing better material for breeding. The increase of global co-operation could help us to avoid our Chows falling into the last of "threatenes breeds". In Finland the Osteocondrosy - OD- has become common by Chows. As the main part of Chows imported to Finland comes from 2 different contries, Finland would like as a start to find out what they f.inst. know abt. this deasease in those contries. The problem is not very bad yet, but if Finland do not take this into consideration know, it might be in 10 years time.
IN NORWAY WE HAVE GOT A PROBLEM WITH DEAF CHOWS. IS THIS A PROBLEM JUST IN NORWAY OR AN INTERNATIOONAL PROBLEM IN CHOWS ?
The reports from the Scandinavian/Nordic Chow Chow Clubs show great concern abt. hindlegs, eyes and breathing problems.. If we are aware of these points and act accordingly the breed should be in safe hands.
BREEDERS
The clubs are very concered abt the judges following the standard. In my eyes it is equally IF if not even more important
that the breeders do their part in this respect. After all we are ones who will breed the Chows that the judges will meet in the ring. We have to remember that a big winner is not necessary the best sire or dam, and that we will need all the information we can get abt. our breeding stock and their background. We must all be remember the fact that pups have two parents, and that the genes the pup carries comes from both of them.
COOPERATION
In earlier days Chowq kennels were large with a lot of Chows, today the kennels are smaller and we have not got such possibilities with the number of Chows and specimens to choose from as these big kennels had. Therefore ot is today important for the breeders to rely on each other, and that they are honest abt. the lines of the sire they let out and abt the puppies they sell. It is important for breeders to get together to exchange information not just on succes but also abt. failures.Those who say they have never had a problem in their kennel, is not telling the truth. We need to learn from each others and listen to each othe, to form owr own breedingprograms. It is not necessary to get the same problems in several kennels when talking abt it, would reduce the proplems to just one litter in one kennel. If we cooperate instead of sitting each one of us on our oun little hilltop, just using our lines and keep all infromation to ourselves noboy will gain anything, and the breed will not prosper from it. Although we breed and loves Chows we do not have to be as stubborn as them.
CHOW FORUM IN NORWAY
This morning I read in the newspapers sportspages an interview with the coach for the Norw. Football team. Somebody asked him "What has maid Norw. football so much better the last years" He said: : We have not looked at the limitations but the possibilies. I think a wice phase to remember even when it comes to dog breeding.
BORDERS AND RESTRICTIONS
Borders and restrictions between countries can create problems when you want to introduce a new Chow into your breeeding program. Quarantine or frozen sperm might be an aletrnative, but in most cases a very expensive one. We have not got a breed that produce 8-12 pups a litter and produce litters each time you mate a bitch. In many cases it might be wise if several breeders know what they are looking for, and know that the new stud that one breeder buys in, also is an interesting stud dog for them.
HD AA BREEDING RESTRICTIONS
More and more contries seems to be introducing breeding restrictions concerning HD and Elbow Arthoses. It is important to know what you are breeding from, but my concern is that as a result breeders might think, IF my bitch or dog is OK under these scemes, they must be very sound, and I ough to breed from him or her. What about the rest of the bitch or dog. All the specimens plus and minuses should be taken into consideration before you plan to breed from them. I have a feeling that focusing too much on HD and AA make all other questions abt the animal unimpotant. A Chow Chow is not a healhy animal if it is HD free, but have undergone surgery both in eyes and knees, have breathing problems and eczema. I do feel those contries who have breeding restrictions must be more clever in stressing that a Chow altghough they can`t exsist withour, is more than hips and elbows.
MISUNDERSTAND ME CORRECTLY. OF COUSE I ALSO MEAN THAT IT IS BEST TO KNOW WHAT YOU GOT BUT IF YOU TROUGH TOO MANY KIDS OUT WITH THE DISHWASHINGWATER THE VARIETY OF GENES MIGHT SUFFER - THE POPULATION GROUP WILL BE TOO SMALL..
FERTILITY
One thing that interests me and gives me a lot of questions, is ferility in Chows. As far as I have been able to find out approx. 1 out of 4 mated bitches in Norway produce a litter. The registration figures for Chows in Norway are dropping and I do think the same tendency are present in several other contries. WE CANNOT JUST SIT DOWN AND THINK THAT ALL CHOWS HAVE READ MAO`S LITTLE RED BOOK AND DECIDED ONE KID IS ENOUGH. Norway is too small to be able to do some needed research on our own. But research and results from other more resourceful contries would be of utmost interest. as I guess this is not just a Norwegian problem.
CLUB NEWSLETTERS
The different Chow Chow clubs have their own magazines and information can be exchanged from magazine to magazine, IF Chow magazine can feel free to copy articles from each other and tell where they copied them from. It is also very important if we come acress some interesting things abt. chows to write ourselves to our Magazine, to the Kennel Club`s Magazine and to the judges club magazine if any in your country.
JUDGE EDUCATION - JUDGE CONFERENCES IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THIS.
COLOURS:
PERKYCHOW
I was first interested on colours in Chows when I for the first time visisted the Perkychow kennels in Aylesbury around 1975. To meet Joan Bennett and talk to her abt. her Chows and to see her lovely chows was really an event for me. She had all the five colours of the breed in the kennels. I can recall she had a lovely fawn colour, true blue Chows, reds of cause, but I can recall falling for her black dog Perkychow Zulu and the creams. I was stunned when I saw the cream Chows, they looked like polarbears. Chow people had very little interest in Cream Chows in those days.
Later one I can recall putting up a cream from Joan, Perkychow Cream Bear to res Best dog at a limited show run by the CC club in the early 80this. I think he was marbellous. I might even have put him up to Best in show IF he had been better handled. He won not res Best dog because of his handler but inspite of his handler.
It was a dream come true to see these Chows and ask Joan abt. how to breed to achieve the best possible results. I am pleased to say that if I look back into the pedigrees of my Chows today, I will find both Perkychow Zulu and Perkychow Cream Bear if I go far enough into the past.
ZULU AND STARTING WITH CREAMS
Zulu gave me my never ending love for black Chows and trough his pedgree he also gave me an interest in Chows from the States which resulted in importing Int Norw Swed ch NV-88 Melody`s All American from Georgia and later Int Nor Swed ch Royal Bacardi Oelan Oede from Holland. SAM as he was called had an US import as his father, and more american genes on the mother side. I also imported Cream Bear`s son, Perkychow Polar Bear to Norway. A black bitch from Perkychow imported some years later has together with Polar Bear represented the cream genes behind the first planned breeding of Creams in Norway. I must admit, I have never done a breeding just to get the colours, I have always tried to remember that the quality and soundness of the puppies are more important than colour.. A cream dog was exported to Danemark and was made up, he even got one of his CC`s from Rodney. This dog has also later achived his Club champion title. A cream bitch together with two bitches, one red and one black, carrying cream genes were exported to Sweden. These 3 bitches combined with cream dogs exported by Jowtrix has produced several highquality creams in Sweden and one of them have even been exported to England. The first cream bitch to be made up a Norw. champion was bred and owned by me, and the first Norw. owned and bred Norw. championn cream dog was made up in the beginning of this month, still along the same lines as mentioned above.
When I some weeks ago judged dogs at the Scottish CC Club`s championship show, I was pleased to find several very good cream dog both smooths and longhaired. My best cream dog turned out to, when I saw the catalogue, to go back to my cream lines and actually descend from Zulu, Polar Bear, All American and Swed ch Jowtrix Creme Colombo.
I have not produced a lot of litters including creams, a litter of two creams mated to gether produced 6 creams, one of the bitches in this litter is the cream bitch that in Germany produced blacks mated to a red two times which resulted in a lot writing and genetests in Germany. . I have now kept a black daughter of a cream dog mated to a red bitch, 3 blacks and 2 reds in the litter, and have planned to mate her to the newly crowned cream dog, who actually comes from red parents, one of them having a cream father, to try to produce some creams with clear colour.
THE INTERESTING CREAM COLOUR
Earlier some odd breeders would be interested in breeding creams, today when reading the Kennel Club`s breed supllement record it seems like cream Chows have become very popular. It is understandable as they look very decorative with their creamwhite colour and buiscit coloured earls. BUT I am worried abt. this popularity and the number of creams born. Will enough care be put into consideration when they are bred from. Cream mated to cream normally produce just creams, but what will happen to f.inst. pigmentation of eyes,eyelids, nose and gums if we for several generations continue to mate creams to creams. And if we mate creams to reds and even fawns, will the results in the long run be colours like one Chow with cream father and fawn mother, registered in the Stud book records supplement for January to March, 99, as "Ginger and White".
IT IS IMPORTANT TO STRESS WHICH COLOURS ARE RECOGNIZED IN THE STANDARD TO AWOID REGISTRATIONS AS ABOVE WHICH PROBABLY IS A RESULT OF THE FACT THAT A CREAM PUPPY WILL HAVE BISCUIT COLOURED EARS.
BLACK, BLACK AND BLACK AGAIN!
We have to be careful in what we mate together, and to me the answer is black, black and black again. We will have to use black Chows, preferably with cream genes to give us the brightest and cleanest cream colours. All colours tends to darken as the specimen get older, and specially creams from one or two red parents can with the years get much darker than we want them to be.
You might think this is a lot abt. cream and it is. The reason is that we know a lot abt. the other colours, we have learned by experience over the years, but a lot of cream chows is new to us, and we have to be careful when breeding from them to do as littel damage as possible.
THE DIARY 2000
As you might know I am very interested in colours and colour breeding. I have written some articles abt. it, but realize I do knot in any way know it all.We are breeding from live animals and if anything can happen it will. Genes can "jump over" called alleller in Norwegian, and create mutations, but luckily very few chows are born two or tri coloured although it has happened.
I have written "tump rules for colours in the CC Clubs yeasr 2000 Agenda, but cannot guarantee the resukts. As I say we are dealing with live animals, and if yiou go further into the material and read abt. Mendel, Carlence C. Little book abt. Inheritance of coat colours in dogs, etc. you will find that the world is not as black, red, blu, fawn and cream as I tell you to believe, it is much much more complicated than that.
I thrust that most of you have received and red the aganda, but if you want me to I can run trough what I did write there in the end of talk.
OTHER COLOURS
Of couse we have to think when we breed from the other Chow Chow colours as well. Mating fawn to fawn for several generations might give less pigmentaion than wanted, same applies for blue to blue for several generations, and also just breeding blues and fawns together. If we breed red to red and never introduce a blue or a black now and then, pigmentation can turn paler.. Mating blacks to blacks for several generations will not inflict on the pigmentation, but we will just end up with blacks and nothing else then black Chows in the long run as the all blacks will end up being homozygot Chows. Like in all other aspects we need some variations in the colours we breed from, and getting a litter with several colours in it, gives a little spice to our breeding experience. As in all other aspects of live too uch and too little is not sufficient.
An Outline of Colour Breeding.
RED
mated to
RED will normally produce reds but also fawns and creams
if the genes for these colours are present on both sire and dam`s side.
RED
mated to
BLACK will normally produce blacks and reds but also fawns, blues and creams
if the genes for these colours are present on both sides.
If the black in question is homozygot all pups will normally be black or blacks and blues
if the genes are present on both sides.
RED
mated to
FAWN will normally produce reds and fawns but also creams
if the genes are present on both sides.
RED
mated to
BLUE will normally produce reds, blacks, blues, fawns but also creams
if the genes are present on both sides.
If the blue in question is homozygot, all pups will be black or blue.
RED
mated to
CREAM will normally produce all colours including blacks. Also blues and fawns
if the genes are present on both sides.
BLACK
mated to
BLACK will normally produce reds and blacks. Also blues, creams and fawns
if the genes are present on both sides.
If one of the black parents are homozygot, all pups will blacks or blacks and blues
if the genes for blue are present on both sides.
BLACK
mated to
FAWN will normally produce reds, blacks, fawns and blues. Also creams
if the genes for cream are present on both sides.
If the black in question is homozygot the resulting pups will be blacks and blues.
BLACK
mated to
BLUE will normally produce the same colours as black mated to fawn.
If the black or the blue in question is homozygot the pups will be just blacks and blues.
BLACK
mated to
CREAM will normally produce all colours.
If the black in question is homozygot the resulting pups will just be blacks or blacks and blues
if the genes for blue are present on both sides.
A BLACK is hetrozygot if
one of the parents are red, fawn or cream.
A BLACK might be homozygot if
both parents are black, black mated to a blue or a blue mated to a blue.
The same applies for BLUES
. The only way to find out
if the Chow Chow in question is homozygot or not is the colour of his/hers offspring.
FAWN
mated to
FAWN will normally produce fawn pups. Also creams
if the genes for creams are present on both sides.
FAWN
mated to
BLUE will normally produce fawns and blues. Also creams
ifgenes for creams are present on both sides.
If the blue in question is homozygot all the pups will be blue.
FAWN
mated to
CREAM will normally produce all colours.
BLUE
mated to
BLUE will normally produce blues and fawns. Also creams
if thegenes are present on both sides.
BUT if both or one of the blues in question are homozygot all the pups will be blue.
BLUE
mated to
CREAM will normally produce all colours.
BUT if the blue in question is homozygot all the pups will be blues and blacks.
CREAM
mated to
CREAM will normally just produce creams.
Mona K Selbach