Clean Run Magazine - March 2007 - 6

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authors of the IN FOCUS book, a new DVD video Do you... Have a dog that
doesn’t show as much enthusiasm about doing agility as you would like
him to? Have a dog that lacks conﬁdence and performs slowly and
tentatively? Have a dog that too inhibited, worried, or nervous to just
let go and enjoy himself? Have a dog that is very accurate, but too slow
to make course time? death have been blamed on breeding trends that select
for speed at the expense of skeletal strength and general heartiness. It
seems the pursuit of glory and profit are the forces that have led the
racing industry to draw on increasingly narrow gene pools that produce
“high status” foals. So how does this all relate to dog agility? Since
I began agility 15 years ago, agility dogs have gone from your basic
backyard, family pet, burning-off-a-few-extracalories-type dogs, to highly
sought-after and marketed performance dogs with a hefty price tag. I’ve
heard more and more stories of top agility sires and dams with antisocial,
inflammatory temperaments, chronic unsoundness, epilepsy, deafness,
gastrointestinal disorders, and whelping problems. But eager competitors
are willing to overlook or are in denial about these problems in hopes
that they can get the next World Team contender, and many breeders, as
always, are willing to accommodate them. The research I uncovered suggests
that there could be a connection between dogs and horses bred knowingly or
otherwise for very high metabolism and abnormal adrenal regulation that
puts them at risk for these conditions. I hope that as agility becomes
more popular and increasingly competitive, buyers of future performance
dogs will drive the market toward the overall sound and durable dog. We
should encourage breeders to keep their gene pool large, to breed
sturdy-boned, mentally stable, and balanced dogs, and to screen dogs for
inheritable defects common to their specific breed. We need to place the
importance of this over and above the need for extreme speed. That way,
the dogs we love will be able to participate in agility well into their
maturity. Yes, speed is important, and on the surface, very alluring. And
bless Barbaro’s heart, he did exactly what he was bred to do, with
grace, style, and bravado. But that’s my point; maybe he was bred to do
more than his body could withstand. We should learn from Barbaro’s sad
misfortune. Like race horses, agility dogs bred for good, common sense and
physical stamina will continue to blaze in the agility ring for many years
to come, long after the “firecracker fast” but inherently weak have
fizzled out. then you need to get IN FOCUS and get your dog “in the
game” with you. w ® ww.cleanrun.com After working in behavioral studies
with dolphins at the University of Hawaii, Bonnie Norris was head trainer
for an Arabian horse farm located in Texas. In 1982 Bonnie began to show
and breed Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Since then, she has bred over 70 AKC
champions, and Top Ten conformation, agility, obedience, and field trial
dogs. In 2001 Bonnie opened Paws For Applause Agility school just outside
of Dallas, Texas. She lives with Border Collie MACH Kilt MAD, her loving
husband, her two dog- and horse-crazy kids, three horses, and one fat cat.
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Clean Run Magazine - March 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - March 2007