ISSDC Ontario Region

Information about Bloat/Torsion

noreply@blogger.com (ISSDC Ontario) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:25:00 +0000

This photo shows a beautiful boy, Genesis Dasher who recently passed away passed away from bloat/torsion.

He had spend an amazing day playing frisbee in the garden with his family, had just graduated Top Dog in his obedience class and was a happy, healthy, much loved family member. They woke in the morning to discover Dasher already gone.

We want to take a moment to honour this handsome, gentle soul by bringing this condition to everyone's attention. Maybe, in his own way, Dasher can help save another dog from the same fate.

Dogs most at risk for bloat are deep chested animals, not necessarily wide across the chest but deep from back to sternum. Dogs with a family member who has had bloat have a higher risk. Usually dogs don't bloat until the are upwards of 6+ years but it can happen much younger, as is evidenced by Dasher.

Risks can be greatly reduced.

1. Feed your dog at least 2 meals a day and do NOT use raised food dishes as they increase the change of bloat, despite recent advertising to the contrary. Dogs dishes should be on the floor.

2. If you are feeding moistened kibble moisten it with canned food, NOT water as water can react with certain preservatives and increase the risk of bloat.

3. Adding a bit of canned food tends to lower the risk.

4. Encourage your dog to eat slowly, gulping down food quickly has been known to contribute to bloat. If your dog is a gobbler, break their meals into smaller, more frequent portions.

5. Do not allow your dog to exercise immediately following a meal, and

6. Limit water supply when they are very active.

According to a recent study done in Florida, the three main contributors to bloat are:

1. Breed of dog. Shepherds are on the list of dogs who regularly bloat.

2. Family member having bloated.

3. Raised food bowls.

Also, although 20% of large breed dogs will bloat in their lifetime, not all will die from bloat. If you see your dog drooling , acting restless, thirsty but unable to keep down water, or licking or pawing at their abdomen take him to the vet immediately. Bloat is life threatening. Sometimes, but not always, you can see the build up of gas in the dog.

Perhaps by raising awareness, and each of us taking a few extra precautions, Dasher's very sad death might in fact save another dog.

Rest in peace Dasher.

More Herding Certificates Earned!

noreply@blogger.com (ISSDC Ontario) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:04:00 +0000

The fun in Baxter continued on Sunday when three more shilohs earned their Herding Instinct Certificates.

Congratulations to Cash, Mace and Roxy. We hear that Cash has a special fondness for the sheep. He's currently looking for a nice shiloh female with soft curly fur.

Good work everyone!

Baron The Therapy Dog!

noreply@blogger.com (ISSDC Ontario) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:26:00 +0000

Baron the Therapy Dog

Baron (Trinity/Magnus) is a very special boy..he was diagnosed with Mega E at 7 weeks but despite the diagnosis Baron was a pup who thrived with few symptoms. His family was willing to take a risk with Baron, willing to follow their breeder's (Michelle at Genesis) feeding suggestions and he has done great!! At 6 months Baron was re-xrayed and the mega-e was no longer noticable. Thankfully Baron's owners, Dawn and Ed, took a gamble, opened their hearts and lives to a boy who maybe wasn't considered "perfect" but who has turned out to be a wonderful addition to their family as well as to the shiloh world. At 21 months Baron has just earned his Therapy Dog Certificate much to the delight of all of involved!!
Way to go Baron!!

Brodie the Therapy Dog

noreply@blogger.com (ISSDC Ontario) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:12:00 +0000

There's a new Therapy Dog in the Shiloh world!

A big congratulations to Brodie; GVx2 TD GrCanCH rbCH Shenandoah's Midnight Special, OFA CGN HIC TT who passed his Therapy Dog testing on Saturday April 25, 2009. Brodie completed his test with St. John's Ambulance. Way to go Brodie!

Herding Instinct Test

noreply@blogger.com (ISSDC Ontario) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:50:00 +0000

It was a fun day yesterday in Baxter Ontario with a small gang of Shiloh's all working on their Herding Instinct Test. It is amazing to see these beautiful dogs doing what they were intended to -- all from instinct alone.

In alphabetical order the following Shilohs earned their HIT classification:

-Brooklyn

-Cinder

-Paris

-Tracker

-Vienna

Also, just visiting were puppies Matilda and Sapphira.

MOST participants were able to enjoy the test during a beautiful sunny but very warm afternoon. Poor Vienna with Kevin, and Brooklyn with Dave however were not quite so lucky - thunderstorms rolled in an made for a VERY wet end to the day.

Gunner is the proud pop to all five recipients. Dave tells us he received an extra piece of meat with his dinner last night - perhaps they were serving lamb.

Congrats to all.

2009 Upcoming Shows

noreply@blogger.com (ISSDC Ontario) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:27:00 +0000

Here are the dates for the upcoming 2009 Shows. I'm looking so forward to getting to know everyone and learning all I can about these great dogs we all love.

June 6 & 7 - Caledonia - CKC Sanctioned. A pet first aid course will be offered after the show on Saturday. More details to follow.

July 11 & 12 - Woodstock - CKC Sanctioned, Shiloh Specialty, Top Dog Presentations.

I understand that this show is huge. It is highly recommended to book accommodations now. Camping is also available at the site.

Sep 12 & 13 - Petrolia - Enjoy the Petrolia Fall Fair as well!

Sep 12 & 13 - Gananoque - IABCA Show being held in Gananoque, Ontario

Oct 3 & 4 - Brampton

I can't wait to see everyone again,

Charlene

The Toronto Sportsman Show

noreply@blogger.com (ISSDC Ontario) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:36:00 +0000

We had a great turn out to the Toronto Sportsman Show on March 21st and 22nd. Lots of dogs and lots of people enjoying the dogs. It was a great weekend.

Exhibitors were judged on their booths and there were some terrific booths that not only showcased their dogs, but that told the story of their breed in a glance.

The following is a list of the dogs who attend:

Aggie (Faith/Sampson)

Gabbie (Jessie/Cade)

Cash (Kachina/Brodie)

Titan (Kachina/Brodie)

Jayda Dolly (Abby/Brodie)

Tracker (Lola/Gunner)

Vienna (Lola/Gunner)

Brooklyn (Lola/Gunner)

Matilda (Jade/Chase)

Phenix (Aly/Gunner)

Freya (Lexi/Aggie)

Tiegan (Lexi/Aggie)

Sierra (Aly/Gunner)

Jet (Aly/Gunner)

Remington (Karma/Gunner)

Shade (Hope/Zeus)

Awesome (Karma/Gunner)

Cinder (Karma/Gunner)

Tequila (Talon/Zeus)

Mace (Karma/Chain)

Tucker (Aly/Gunner) (Sat p.m. only)

Paris (Karma/Gunner)

China (Pepper/China)

Ruby (Trinity/Carter)

Kiera (Trinity/Carter)

Enzo (Hope/Zeus)

Griffin (Trinity/Carter)

Groban (Hope/Jack)

B'Rocco (Jade/Chase)

Destiny (Jade/Chase)

Titan (Jade/Chase)

Smooths:

Quest (Hope/Chain)

Altered: Hooligan (Lily/Denver)

Visiting:

Odin (Keeper/Cade)

Lexi (Lily/Denver)

Chain ()

Zeus (Cade/? )

Spirit (?)

Envy (Hope/Zeus)

Saturday A.M. Results:

WD - Titan

RWD - Remington

WB - Gabby

RWB - Cinder

BOW - Titan

BOS - Gabby

BOB - Mace, Group 4

BOB Puppy - Remington, Puppy Group 3

BOB Smooth - Quest, Group 2 Adult, Group 1 Puppy

Saturday P.M. Results:

WD - Titan - Titan is now a Canadian Champion

RWD - Remington

WB - Brooklyn

RWB - Tequila

BOW - Brooklyn

BOS - Mace

BOB - Brooklyn, Group 1 - Brooklyn is now a Canadian Champion

BOB Puppy - Tequila, Puppy Group 2

BOB Smooth - Quest, Group 3 Adult, Puppy Group 1

Sunday A.M. Results:

WD - Remington

RWD - Tracker

WB - Ruby

RWB - Tequila

BOW - Remington

BOS - Groban

BOB - Brooklyn, Group 1, RESERVE BEST IN SHOW

BOB Puppy - Remington, Puppy Group 2

BOB Smooth - Quest, Group 4 Adult, Puppy Group 1

Sunday P.M. Results:

WD - Tracker

RWD - Cash

WB - Awesome

RWB - Tequila

BOW - Tracker

BOS - Brooklyn

BOB - Mace, Group 1, RESERVE BEST IN SHOW

BOB Puppy - Awesome, Group 2 Puppy

BOB Smooth - Quest, Group 4 Adult, Puppy Group ?

The show year is off to a great start. We can't wait to see everyone again in Caledonia!

Shenandoah Shilohs proud breeder of first NAKC Hall of Fame Dog

noreply@blogger.com (wildeoffice) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:54:00 +0000

We are excited to send Congratulations to Shiloh Shepherd Brodie for not only being the first Shiloh Shepherd to have earned a place in the NAKC Hall of Fame, but for being the first dog of any breed to earn the honor. This is so exciting for his owners, The Grieves family of Midnight Shilohs, his handler Suzy Graham of Tantara Shiloh Shepherds and his breeder ISSDC NE member Patti Schaefer of Shenandoah Shilohs. This is no small feat to achieve as Brodie had to beat 10 Master Supreme Champions to earn the honor. Until recently a Master Supreme Championship was the highest CH awarded by the NAKC and at the present time there are only a select handful of them. Brodie was only the second Shiloh Shepherd to earn his Master Supreme Championship title with NAKC (formerly Rarities) and the fifth dog all around to achieve the title.

Brodie, above with Handler Suzy Graham, with his 2007 ISSDC and NSBR GV awards; Brookville Show Weekend –May 2008. Photo courtesy of Dave Herz of Bold Canine via Midnight Shilohs.

Brodie; GVx2 TD GrCanCH rbCH Shenandoah's Midnight Special, OFA CGN HIC TT; is from the August 2005 Bullet/Willow litter bred by Shenandoah Shilohs in PA.

Brodie has excelled in the conformation ring since puppyhood, starting his career as the ISSDC 2006 Puppy of the Year; 2006 #1 Puppy in Group, #2 Puppy all around and #4 dog in Group for the RBCSWO (Rare Breed Club of Southwestern Ontario); as well as the NSBR #1 Top Dog for 2006. 2007 brought more success as Brodie was honored with double GV awards earning GV status with the ISSDC and the NSBR as well as being named the #1 Top Dog for the RBCSWO.

Brodie, enjoying a momemt of sheer abandon!
Photo courtesy of Midnight Shilohs.

"Brodie's success could not have been obtained without the help of his handler Suzy Graham," explain his owners, the Grieves family. "She brings out the best in him and he absolutely enjoys being in the ring with her."

But on top of Brodie's impressive show career he is a total family dog. The Grieves go on to share, "We have to thank his breeder Patti Schaefer of Shenandoah Shilohs for him, and he is an absolute gem to have in our home. He has a laid back attitude which fits in well in our family. He loves our girls very much and can often be seen upstairs on a bed looking out the window waiting for them to come home from school. He also gets along very well with our other Shiloh, Meeka (Ocean State's Bonnie wee Lassy)."

Brodie taking a minute to stop and smell the flowers.
Photo courtesy of Midnight Shilohs.

Thank you to ISSDC NE member Patti Schaefer for breeding such a great Shiloh and for his owners, Robert and Sue, and handler, Suzy, for bringing out the best in him and showcasing the breed in such a positive way.

January 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Shiloh Shepherd Times) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Good afternoon all & Happy New Year!

I've asked John for an updated Canadian membership list, so for now I'll need to go with my last update (late summer), along with anyone that I think may have become members since (if so, congrats). If I have missed anyone, please alert me so that I may forward this to them and include them in future correspondence.

It's been a while since we've had a chance to dialogue, so I thought with Sportsmen a mere two months away that we get an email out to the group and begin some discussion with regards to the upcoming year, and to further some discussion that took place late summer of 2007 to form subcommittees for various projects (shows/specialties, social functions, fundraising events,
etc).

First - Dogs Annual Advertising 2008
========================
The ISSDC (Ad Guru Jacki Wilde) will likely assist with the orchestration of a collective ad in the 2009 edition of Dogs Annual in Canada. We had a two page spread in 2007, but due to time constraints missed the 2008 edition. We will be on the horn early this year to see who is interested in advertising their kennel name in the 2009 edition.

Second - RBCSWO Shows
========================
For those not up to speed on the upcoming season, the updated schedule has been posted as the RBCSWO show site (www.rbcswo.com). The first show of course is the Toronto Sportsmen Show (March 15th/16th) which does require pre-registration (due to "assigned" booth space). You can double up with a friend and share a spot, keep your own spot, whatever you feel is needed. As is previous years, I can coordinate the booth layout with Lori Borda provided people tell me if they're going and/if they are sharing a booth/who they would like to be beside, etc etc. It makes life a bit easier for Lori having a central point of contact given the size of the group, but is by no means mandatory - you're entirely welcome to speak directly with her if you so wish.

A *** MAJOR *** topic that needs to be addressed in the next few weeks is the ongoing discussion of having the smoot coats show as the same breed as the plush coats. For those that do not know, this is the way it is with all other show organizations - both coat type are covered by the same breed standard and hence show together.

This topic is a bit sensitive, but is important that we collectively discuss the point and try to reach a resolve prior to the start of this show season (awkward to try and switch mid-stream). From what I have heard so far, there is an overwhelming majority to unity to two coat types as done with Rarities, ARBC, IACBA, etc.

The primary rationale behind having the breeds show together is mainly for the benefit of the smooth coats. As it stands right now, since their population numbers are relatively small in comparison with the plush coats (certainly the case in Canada), when a smooth shows without competition in breed there is zero opportunity to earn Breed Championship Points, and is very difficult to earn Canadian Championship or Grand Championship points. Note that both our coat types are covered under the SAME breed standard which states the breed has two different coat types, not two different "breeds".

For example, if Michelle was to bring out her bitch Hope (as she did on a few occasions in 2007), without other smooth breed dogs in the ring, she could take WB/BOW/BOB and not get a single point towards her championship. Same with Nancy who brought up Francis last year from the states, only one in the ring at breed level so basically just paying for a ribbon.

It becomes very difficult to encourage smooth coat owners to come out, or to drive up from the US, when there really aren't any points to be had. The money basically just goes into paying for a ribbon, which can get pretty expensive.

There are some with a feel that the smooth coats have a tougher time competing against plush coats. Personally, I disagree with this position and think that for the most part our Judges are better than that. And folks like Nancy who have had great successes with smooth coats showing against plush coats would also likely disagree.

For the plush coat types, there is no down side to the two showing together and allows the smooths to have a chance to earn their titles as well.

However, this is certainly not my call. This is something that needs to be decided as a collective (ideally with those that actively show, or have progeny being shown). The RBCSWO has already been approached and is indifferent to the position and have indicated they will follow whatever
preference that we, as a community, chose.

For some history on the subject, the split of the breed within the RBCSWO was originally orchestrated by Tina Barber, who of course is not/and has not been active up here in some time (or at least we haven't seen her since The Skipper and His Little Buddy introduced themselves - inside joke - read her Tillsonburg '06 article for more details). I cannot state why she did this, but rather can only speculate (I would assume it was done to get two shiloh's in group hence increasing the chance of a Shiloh getting to "show").

Third - Christmas Gathering
========================
The First (hopefully annual) Christmas gathering was held at the Lion Heart Pub in December. We had a great turnout and fantastic hospitality from Lion Heart Pub (Robert had taken care of all the bookings and reservations - THANKS ROBERT!). They even welcomed the group on the big screen TVs.

Hopefully we'll get even bigger numbers to join in on the fun for Christmas 2008!

Fourth - Sub-Committees
========================
It was discussed last year to seek volunteers to help form some sub-committees to help focus on some of the areas that we all thought were important - some of the ideas were: communications, show committee, social committee, and fund raising. We'll get a second email drafted up and sent out to everyone for hopeful participation.

Fifth - 2008 Specialties
========================
No formal decisions/discussions have taken place, but the consensus so far has been to keep the same format as in 2007 with a Specialty in Woodstock, and a Specialty in Brampton. This allows for a specialty at an outdoor summer show when we usually have a strong turnout, and have an opportunity to get some more of our American friends up for the show. The Brampton one is nice to end the year, and provide an extra show to pickup some extra Ch points.

We would need to find a Judge again most likely for Woodstock (Virginia did a great job for all of us last year with Mr Fabian)

Sixth - ISSDC Membership Renewals
========================
Reminder - All memberships (except NEW ISSDC members who joined after July 1st 2007) had their memberships expire on December 31st, 2007. To renew your single or family membership you can go to: http://www.issdc.com/ISSDCap.htm

There are too many reasons to list all the benefits of supporting and joining the ISSDC in this already long winded email. If for no other reason than to support the strength of the collective Shiloh community for the betterment of the breed - which is accomplished by providing a centralized body for communication, regardless of registry or affiliation.

Seventh - Congrats
==================
Congrats to Claude, Mirjana, and Brad for the successful litter between Aggie and Lexi. This is Phenom Shilohs first litter, so a big congrats is in order! You can read about their updates at http://www.phenomshilohs.com/

Regards,
Dave