Just launched is a dedicated new international website for Juvenile Kidney Disease in Boxers.
The website's aim is to raise awareness, provide information on the disease for owners and breeders, publish pedigree information for affected dogs and provide a centralised point to report new cases.
A big well done to the team headed up by geneticist Dr Bruce Cattanach - I know the website has been a lot of work.
Please spread the word to any and all dog/pet sites. The more awareness, and the more pedigree information gathered, the greater the chance of cracking this horrible condition which we documented in Pedigree Dogs Exposed Three Years On in 2012.
For a reminder of just how important this is, please watch the clip below. NB there is now greater awareness - and more support within the breed - than we documented three years ago, but juvenile kidney disease remains a real blight in Boxers and more action is needed.
That's gotta be one of the worst home pages for a website that I've seen so far in 2015.
ReplyDeletePardon me. I forgot to ID myself on that post above. -- Rod Russell, Orlando, Florida USA. Not a boxer breeder, but a fan of the breed.
Deletei think the site was set up by a group of scientists - not website designers why dont you contact them and make some suggests on what you would like to see on the Home Page
DeleteAw... would you look at that? First comment from a Boxer breeder in JKD-denial...
ReplyDeleteJemima, anonymous's reply is a knee jerk reaction, because like many of the prominent breeders, they don't understand the science behind breeding, so they 'blag' what they know. Their replies don't come from any real understanding. The best thing for them all to do is go back to college, or better still get the KC to to set a package up with a college for all breeders to do a course in genetics. May be this would be a good idea for the Assured Breeder scheme?
DeleteHey! It's a lousy home page. It defies all the rules of good communication on the web. It does not draw in the viewers, unless they are impressed with a list of names of people. -- Rod Russell, Orlando, Florida USA (not a boxer breeder; I'm into cavalier King Charles spaniels)
DeleteGood luck to them in eliminating this condition. Vanity shouldn't overrule the goal of happy healthy puppies.
ReplyDeleteSadly the arrogance of breeders who make huge sums of money from a breed deny any knowledge of illness. They better be careful, Sam the Irish Setter who died a tragic death at a young age, in Holland has set a precedent. Sam's breeder denied that they knew of, had experience of etc etc of the condition that killed Sam. They lied. So, breeders need to be aware that some young lawyer wanting to make his name will take on a "no win no fee basis" and be happy to see justice done for the dogs and this time the victim will be the breeder. I've shared the video on fb in the hope to spread the word and make them aware of this painful terminal disease. I've had kidney problems and know the agony.
ReplyDeleteSo far as the design of the web site is concerned, "Anonymous" obviously is lacking in design know how. A very good use of "white space" in my opinion. It is a professional INFORMATION web site, not a kiddies playtime web site. Well done to all
ReplyDeleteSeriously, the home page does not even tell the viewer anything about juvenile kidney disease in boxers. And there is no apparent link or button to take the enquiring viewer to a page that tells anything about the disorder. I have read the entire page and still do not know anything about JKD except that it apparently is a problem for boxers. And no photos! -- Rod Russell, Orlando, Florida USA
DeleteEr, did you miss the About JKD link, Rod?
Deletehttp://www.boxerjkd.com/what-is-boxer-jkd.html
Seriously, this is a personal initiative by people really concerned that not enough is being done to tackle the condition by kennel clubs and breed clubs. Even simple websites like this take a huge amount of time and effort to put together, and no one is being paid for this. It is fantastically curmudgeonly of you to make your SOLE contribution to the debate here about the website, rather than the condition.
I did miss that link. The way that button stood out, I thought that meant (as it usually does in web design) that it was the page I presently was on. Anyway, that home page went out of style in the 1990s.
DeleteAs I said before, from the home page, I learned nothing about the disorder. Now that I know that left button leads to pages that discuss JDK, I will read them and find out what the disorder is. However, I tend to focus on the genetic disorders of another breed, the cavalier King Charles spaniel. The CKCS has enough genetic disorders to give a webmaster a lifetime career.
I was trying to be helpful by pointing out the deficiencies of the home page, because that is what I know -- websites -- not JDK or much of anything else about boxers, except that I'm very fond of the ones I've met. -- Rod Russell, Orlando, Florida USA
Again, boxers - like all isolated populations - are exhibiting freaky inherited disorders in large numbers because they are inbred and intentionally deformed. Selection for relatively healthy animals is helpful, but not enough. The solution is simple: let them mix. The closed-registry system that dog pure-breeders follow today was cutting edge 200 years ago, but is now archaic and destructive. Dog breeders should get with the times, and allow their animals to outcross like any normal animal would. The purebred paradigm is damaging and should finally be abandoned.
ReplyDeleteAnd a sad day that would be when we would no longer could enjoy and breed the wonderful variety of canine breeds in all their varied sizes, colours coat types and behavioural traits, that reliably reproduce themselves.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. So let's hope for most dog breeders to soon realize that they don't need closed studbooks nor a constant use of inbreeding to have those things.
DeleteYou can still have a diversity of dogs without line-breeding (incest) or closed registries (isolated gene pools). Other domestic animals, like cattle, still have breeds, but they are not in closed registries, and people are free to mix them if they like. That's because when it comes to livestock, people know that allowing animals to mix helps keep them healthy. Only in pet fancies, where looks matter but health doesn't, can breeders get away with preventing animals from outcrossing. But it's high time pets got the benefit of high genetic diversity, too.
Delete