“The heartwarming stories of these five ACE Award honorees demonstrate the many ways that our canine companions uplift humankind each and every day,” said Doug Ljungren, President of the AKC Humane Fund. “We are grateful to everyone who shared their story by nominating a dog for an ACE award this year. We are pleased to be able to pay tribute to these five canines with the 2021 ACE awards.”
Now that everyone has lined up, received their Covid jabs, and the next round is underway, probably the last thing you want to hear about is another shot. But here we are, debating the need to vaccinate dogs against Covid.
Actually, quite a few members of the animal kingdom have been receiving Covid vaccinations for the past year. Couple that with the conventional wisdom of ensuring that your dogs’ shots are up to date, the ongoing worry is obvious. You may recall early in the pandemic, when documented cases of crossover transmission confirmed the existence of Covid antibodies in dogs and cats owned by infected individuals led to mass panic. Ultimately, none of the dogs developed any serious illness.
The problem with a virus is that what’s true today won’t necessarily hold true tomorrow. Alpha, delta, well, you get the point. Viruses mutate constantly and quickly. Zoonotic transmission is also nothing new, it accounts for most of viral diseases humans contend with. Viruses constantly recombine and eventually jump the species barrier. However, that doesn’t automatically translate into something like rabies. Most of these viral one off mutations fall under the radar. They never lead to illness and never get noticed unless we start hunting them.
Preference in bed partners is normally not a topic for general conversation except in our little sector of the universe. When we get down to those “open and honest” confessions, it’s never a question of yes or no to allowing dogs in the bed. Usually, it’s how many.
After all those years of didactic advice about how to prevent dogs from developing that terrible habit, we don’t need to pretend anymore. Actually, we gave up a long time ago. Chihuahuas or Great Danes, they invariably hog the covers and we find ourselves clinging to a sliver of the mattress by morning. We complain but it goes on, nonetheless.
In reading the following 1933 AKC Gazette article written by the renowned Russian Wolfhound owner, breeder, exhibitor, and judge, Mr. Louis Murr, (https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/the-tsar-of-spring-valley) I think many of the same observations and trends are true today.
The Canaan Dog can be considered a very old and still a relatively new breed. The Pariah Dog, the ancestor of the Canaan Dog, can be traced back thousands of years to the dogs of the “Land of Canaan.” It functioned as a guard and herding dog for the ancient Israelites. Later, the dogs lived mostly wild in the Negev Desert, although some stayed with people in the area functioning as herd and general guardians.
The second most common question about the Spanish Water Dog (after only, “what breed is that?”) is, “Why is a water dog in the Herding Group?” The short answer is, it’s primarily a goat-tending dog.
The long answer is, it’s complicated.
The Spanish Water Dog is an ancient Iberian, multi-purpose breed. They were commonly owned by the working class that could not afford a luxury, single-purpose dog. They lived hardscrabble lives and performed whatever tasks were put in front of them to earn their keep.
Click here to read the complete article 302 – November, 2021 Click here to read the complete article 302 – November, 2021
