The odds are pretty good that you are a dog lover; even better that you have either a dog or a cat, or perhaps another animal pet. So, I know that I am talking to most of you this month. Many of you know that I am called “Mr. GSD” in magazines and websites, although I judge all breeds, not only German Shepherd Dogs. I have judged shows in about 30 countries and have lectured in many of them...

It was a great pleasure and honor to be invited again (my fourth time) to judge in Jamaica, and to find that fanciers continue to strive for balance and perfection while improving the average quality of the German Shepherd Dog here. I will give my observations on the adult classes first, then make some comments on other entries.

For most of the decades that I have been attending the Sieger Show in Germany, I have shared my impressions with you readers. My guided tours (and thus the reports) have included the sights of the countryside we explore, and the kennels and clubs we visit, as well as my opinions of the dogs.

This article is a consolidation and slightly updated version of two or three that have appeared in the canine press over the past decade or so, because a couple of things have changed during that time. It concerns the more well-known hip registries operating principally in the U.S. and Canada. Revising and combining this way should give you a better “meal” at one sitting. I hope to not only bring you up to date on methods and organization, but also stress again the importance that an open registry would be to progress in reducing incidence of HD in the better strains or breeding lines.

I have written in a few publications before, on the topic of genetic diversity, linebreeding, and health, and am now living up to my promise to the club leadership to supply another article on the related topic of phenotype variability as it relates to genotype. That is, “What you see is a clue to what you got.” (“Got” here means “obtained,” not just the teeny-bopper’s or Valley girl’s misuse of the word when they mean “have.”) For it is what you got from the breeders of your dog and its ancestors that you have to work with. If you are a non-breeding owner, you will want to read this to understand more about your dog’s appearance and health...

Every so often, old arguments resurface and writers try to change public perception about some particular topic. They may be based on well-thought-out scientific studies, or on poorly designed experiments, or on hot air. For years, Vitamin C (also known as ascorbate or ascorbic acid) has caused great controversy, mostly because of extreme and unfounded claims but also on fairly accurate studies with different conclusions because of the design of those experiments. Are most or any of the conclusions valid? There are many things we know or think we know about vitamin C, especially...

This is an excerpt from a Rottweiler website interview with Fred Lanting done in mid-2004, by Karim (“RevCamara”) of  von Lowenfels and The Rottweiler Chronicle.

These comments are enlarged upon in my book on HD and other orthopedic disorders, available from the publisher or the author. Get the whole book for the whole picture. This magazine/website format is in response to requests by dog clubs where I lecture, and from individuals for a synopsis-comparison between diagnostic methods...

People take actions based not so much on logic and reasoning as on emotional bases. This is something I learned in some 33 years in the business of chemicals marketing. I saw the same thing in my experience as a breeder since the '40s, a handler since the '60s, and a judge since the '70s. And it's been a hard lesson for me to assimilate, because I am the penultimate logic-based person. So much so that I've been accused by some as not only being from Mars (women are from Venus) but from the dark side of a moon of Mars! Trained in the scientific method, which is based on careful observation and collection of facts, cause-and-effect, testing and proving all things (including following the Scriptural admonition in I Thessalonians 5:21 to do that very thing), I never quite learned...

During or following the semi-annual major hair loss, you can bathe the dog, if he still needs washing, with a good pH-balanced shampoo especially formulated for dogs. Baby shampoo will do as well, and as long as you don’t wash him too frequently, plain old hand soap is good enough. Bathing will help loosen and remove much of the rest of the dead hair. This is especially helpful if you don’t take time for daily prolonged combing during these shedding periods...