The seminar by Dr. Coates was close enough I couldn't pass it up. 3 hrs. drive up there. 3 hrs. back. And 3 hrs. of discussion, slides and questions. And more questions.
I took one of my budding scientists with me. (I amazingly have 3!) The 15-year-old one enjoyed the whole thing immensely and it was good to have a buddy along.
Mostly it was Pembroke people there. In terms of numbers of carriers and at risk dogs their breed is more deeply impacted by this thing called Degenerative Myelopathy, an inherited neurological disease that leads to progressive deterioration of the nervous system. It's also associated with some forms of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). It's created a lot of controversy in our breed as well.
It was very good to hear from the doctor firsthand and form my own opinion. What I think at this point is we still have a lot to learn. And we don't do that if we stick our heads in the sand. So I believe in testing and submitting tissue samples from all dogs no matter what their test status. They're primarily focusing on Pembrokes and Boxers right now due to limited funding but Cardigans are also involved in the research. All the dogs here at Toreth have been tested and I take the results into account just as I do any health issue while keeping the whole dog in mind.
For more information go to
http://www.cvm.missouri.edu/neurology/dm/index.html
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5 months ago
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I agree, there is a LOT to learn. I was quite shocked at the Fox Terrier thing, until it was pointed out that there were only two on the OFA site. Both tested at risk and neither has shown signs, yet. Did you have the same confusion?
It was good to see you and the wonder child. I enjoyed the talk, but a bit too much interruptions for my taste. it made me realize how much I don't enjoy school. :o(
I felt the statistical graphing and many of the slides were flipped through too quickly for anyone to really get any understanding of what they actually said. I'm hoping to get a hold of them and go over them more thoroughly.
Let me know if you access them. THAT was the stuff I was interested in.
I sure wish you were doing the Idaho cluster...
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