May 2008

The MacBlog asks how much is enough when it comes to breeding dogs for specialized characteristics:

108 years of linebreeding has locked into our gene pool genetic predisposition for bladder cancer, among other genetic problems, making our breed some 20 times more likely to die of bladder cancer than other dogs. As a result, Scotties have the unwelcome ‘honor’ to be canine subjects for current NIH Cancer Research into the genetics of bladder cancer because the inbreeding over the past century that shrank our gene pool to a gene puddle inadvertently created a small, inbred, genetically imperiled, population ideal for genome mapping.

See also this article from Britain’s Daily Telegraph on heriditary disease threatening purebred dogs.

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International Fire Fighting News reports on how a wiener dog was brought back from the brink of death:

Flynn said he’d never learned how to resuscitate a choking dog, but he applied the same techniques that he uses on infants.

He and other firefighters thumped the dog on the back, hoping to dislodge the meat. They also performed the Heimlich maneuver repeatedly.

When that didn’t work, Flynn put his mouth over the dog’s tiny nose and tried to force air into his lungs.

“The fourth time I did it, I felt the air go into his lungs,” he said.

It definitely was a much closer call than the Scottie News‘ recent throat obstruction.

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There’s an interesting discussion on chubby Scottie dogs going on in the comments of an older post. If you have any doggie diet tips, please join in.

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