Thoughts on Hip Testing — Part 3

This is the third and last column on hip testing, although much more could be written. (If you haven’t already, you may find it helpful to review Part 1 and Part 2.)

Just to review the terminology: CHD is Canine Hip Dysplasia. OA is osteoarthritis, a late-onset condition associated with CHD; joint laxity may be described as excess space where the femoral head meets the acetabulum, the cup-shaped hip-joint socket. Subluxation is partial dislocation and DJD is degenerative joint disease.
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Thoughts on Hip Testing — Part 2

In the November issue (Part 1), I spoke with Deb Lang and profiled her Norwich Norma, who suffers from severe hip dysplasia. I also looked at the basics of hip testing, describing the terminology and the two popular rating systems—that of the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, and of PennHIP (the University of Pennsylvania’s Hip Improvement Program).
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Thoughts on Hip Testing — Part 1

In 1999, Deb Lang took her less-than-a-year-old Norwich Terrier, Norma, for a routine hip X-ray. “I noticed a somewhat loose rear gait,” she says, “although she was not lame and fully functional.” Coming from a background in sporting dogs, Lang was accustomed to doing this. “It was immediately apparent that the dog was dysplastic,” she remembers.
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Earthdog or Ratter?

How often have you heard a Norwich owner say their dog will hunt for hours at home or in fields , but
when it comes to earthdog tests, he doesn’t want to play the game? Many conclude that the earthdog test is artificial and that their dogs are too bright to fall for caged rats they can’t get.

I think they are half right. Their dogs do know they can’t get the rats and that barking and growling at the cage isn’t going to work. That said, I also think the AKC earthdog tests do a pretty decent job of simulating a hunting situation — for earthdogs! Earthdogs are bred to enter the tunnels or dens of their prey and hold that prey at bay until the owner can dig down to kill the cornered animal. Since the diameter of a burrowing animal’s den is typically the size of its head, and since the earthdog must be able to traverse the tunnel, we are talking some pretty big prey!
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The Dangers of Xylitol: Preventing Another Tragedy

Beetle Kelly, 10 months old, was, according to his owner Elizabeth, “the most magical puppy imaginable.” And now he is only a memory, an achingly sad place in his family’s heart.

It all happened in a moment. “We’d been out walking and had just returned, when I turned around and saw him with a pack of gum. I took a half-piece out of his mouth but didn’t know how much he’d actually swallowed. Beetle looked guilty, and something rang in my brain that what he’d eaten, sugarless gum, was toxic.”
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How Performance Affects Conformation

Performance competitions are fun. Norwich do great. What else? Their success in performance (or lack of it) gives us important information about our breeding programs.  Do you wonder if you’re breeding Norwich that can do what your dog was bred for, as well as other tasks and activities that all dogs should be able to do?  Do you want to know if you should breed the dog you’re considering?
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