[This article was first printed in the Canaan Club of Ontario Winter 2007 newsletter - copies of the newsletter are available by contacting Michelle at sufat.sheleg@gmail.com ]
Talk about losing focus…or is it just a sign of the times. It would appear that what a dog does is nowhere near as important as how pretty they are. We have all seen how the AKC is quite content to sell out its small breeders, as demonstrated by the infamous PAWS legislation. Without the board’s support this obsequious piece of “law” would have died an ignoble death and maybe helped quicken the departure of Senator Santorum. On one hand they are “saving” dogs from the hands of all those evil puppy-millers, much the same way that our past government was saving all of us from illegal guns. PAWS requires the onerous registration of litters from the very heart-and-soul breeders of each type of dog, and by focusing the light on them they will be able to stamp out the mills. And this works how? Well, the same way that by registering lawful gun owners in Canada, the criminals will stop using guns. Gives logic an entirely new meaning.
But back to Form over Function, the AKC way. Our canine chums have been enduring our clumsy attempts at civilization for thousands of years. Talk about patience. They probably discuss among themselves how different things would be if they were the ones with opposable thumbs. But we have stumbled along on our hind legs and somehow managed to get ourselves to a point of time where we have lawyers setting our standards and 15-second TV soundbites setting our agendas. Are we off base!!
And all the way along Fido has been there to perform whatever task we have asked of them. Of course this was never enough for us. Despite Fido’s ability to outperform our senses at every turn, we decided that we needed to improve him. So we shortened him; we made him bigger; we grew his nose, or shrunk his face. And if breeding new “qualities” into him wasn’t enough, we then performed surgery on him by chopping off his tail or forcing his ears to stand up…. the floppy ears were also our contribution to him. So in the name of improving his performance in some specified task we make Fido shape-shift. All well and good, right? We now have dedicated dogs for smelling, guarding, running, herding, or being stuck in some Hollywierdo’s purse. But Fido has a job. He has a purpose, right? Well, back to that sign-of-the-times thing. Yes, we do still need some dogs to perform tasks, but we are also in a boom period of having dogs that don’t do anything. Of course there are those pesky tennis balls in the park that keep getting away, but Fido has become little more that a four-legged lawn jockey in most households.
Well, the AKC recognized that it needed to change its original mandate, that of being a Registry for certain approved breeds. People meticulously kept records of sires and dams through the years so that AKC could put a stamp of pur laine on the descendants. That is what a Registry is for, is it not? And people pay good money for a dog that is part of that Registry. It gives the dog legitimacy in the breed, and this verification comes from having some sort of identification on their bodies. By and large tattoos have been replaced by microchips, and dogs are still grateful to us for not implementing branding.
So there is the AKC with all of these dogs registered, and people are examining the registry so that they know whom to breed with whom. And why is this important? Well, in the 1880s when the first meetings of the AKC occurred, shows were set up to represent various breeds that had jobs! The organizers wanted the dogs that were tops in their performance fields to show. This is where the conformation side came in. The dog with the best conformation of his breed would be the one to best perform the task for which they were bred. Thus, breeders sought out the owners of the top male to stud to their females, and hopefully produce litters of future field champions or herding experts.
Back to that sign-of-the-times thing. Fido no longer has a job. Most people do not keep sheep. Hunting is not as prevalent as it once was, primarily because we now forage at supermarkets. Guard dogs are replaced by home security systems. And bull baiting is an absolute no-no. So the reason for the conformation shows shifts. It evolves. And Fido is again not good enough. We start to make him different colours; we make his coat grow; we even start to increase the number of recognized breeds because the North American ones are not unique enough. But suffice it to say that the focus has shifted, and what Fido can do plays second fiddle to how he looks.
And with their $35 You-Name-It-We-Will-Register-It program the AKC confirms this position. They, of course, have a fancier name for it, complete with the requisite acronym. It is the Indefinite Listing Privilege, or ILP. Now for a $35 nonrefundable fee and some good lighting, you can send in photographic proof to the AKC that that little pound-puppy you picked up is a purebred something-or-other. And their skilled judges of canine flesh will give you the big old Nero-ish thumb up or down. Now you say, well surely the people in employ of the Venerable Ole’ Registry will not want to bring recognition to any dogs that will cast aspersions on a certain breed. They will debate, analyze, debate some more, and in the end come up with the correct decision. Yeah right…. for $35 we are lucky if they deign to open the envelope. The AKC wants lots of these ILPs to come aboard. And why is this a good thing for the AKC…money!!!
First off, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that their coin does have a pass side and a fail side. So let’s make the big assumption (you know what assuming does for you) that they reject 50% of the applications. In 2001, the AKC granted divine-right-of-breed-name to over 2000 dogs. At $35 a crack that’s over $70,000. But wait…didn’t we say that 50% of the potential heirs-to-the-throne would be rejected. And their fee was nonrefundable. So the AKC would have added over $140,000 to the coffers just for telling people that the $50 puppy in the pound window was or was not descended from kings. Makes one almost happy to get mail. Ok, so why does this population explosion of the AKC registry make the board members do their happy dances? Because the AKC is also making money from giving out titles to sports that dogs perform. So they have dogs jump and run and chase and herd, and other things that dogs are very good at, and some are better at than others because of, you guessed it, their conformation. Now greyhounds can get recognition from the Venerable Ole’ Registry for chasing simulated rabbits in real fields and GSDs can be titled for herding real sheep in simulated pastures. And the AKC gets money from all of the registrations for these trials.
They are quick to note on the promo page for ILPs that in 2001, the same year they registered over 2000 new “purebred” dogs, they also issued over 2000 new titles to ILP bluebloods. Rough math on that, with 3 legs needed for each title, and maybe 4 attempts to succeed 3 times (these ILPs are quick learning social climbers), those 2000 titles would have generated in the neighbourhood of $240,000. Not bad chunk of change so that these nouveau canine elites could put a letter or 3 after their names.
So now that we have shown that the AKC is really in the business of printing money we can understand their motivation for swelling the ranks. But what do the various breed clubs get out of all this. And more importantly, how does this benefit the Canaan Dog? You were wondering if there was a Canaan Dog angle to all of this, weren’t you?
In the history of the Canaan Dog in North America, there have been a small, but dedicated number that have received the royal tap on the shoulder from the AKC for performing tasks. And the handlers of these dogs are rightly proud of their accomplishments. They have raised the profile and the stakes for the breed in these events. And we are not going to get into things about temperament and aloofness and other such nonsense. We are talking about flat out being the best dogs and handlers in the Canaan Dog breed. Others have made these claims for GSDs, for Golden Retrievers, for Whippets, for Jack Russell Terriers, for Border Collies. Ah yes, Border Collies. The nebulous BCs. The Do-All breed that rises to the top in so many of the sports. It would be so difficult to climb that mountain, to be even in the Top 100 of Border Collies in Agility, in Obedience, in Herding, etc. You could train your brains out and still not be on the first page of accomplishments. But what if you had an unregistered dog from the pound or rescue that they think is a BC-cross, a medium sized black-and-white dog with a relatively wedged head, and ears that were up most of the time. And you come across this ILP program from the Venerable Ole’ Registry and think that getting your pup into this would do him some good. But you are a competitive so-and-so and are looking for an edge. Having him ILP’d as a Border Collie would mean that he would likely never get any recognition, and you want those placement ribbons. But wait….look at this breed….the Canaan Dog. Hmmm, similar physical attributes…fix the lighting a bit….have the pup gaze off in an aloof-ish manner….and those pics and $35 go on into the AKC for their expert approval. And, lo and behold, their wheel of chance that day lands on an affirmative as a Canaan Dog for you! You have sidestepped all of those breeder interviews, the waiting for a litter, the purchase fee, and of course, the proof positive that your dog is a Canaan Dog. All of those suckers with the pedigrees and microchips and purchase receipts are now on the same level as you.
Now I am not saying that this dog is a definite to excel above and beyond other competing Canaan Dogs. I don’t believe for a second that with proper training that the Canaan is inferior to any other breed, and their great versatility makes them competitors in a wide variety of sports.
All I am pointing out is that fair is fair. AKC, CKC, UKC events are for purebred dogs…. ones that can PROVE their lineage. There are a great many venues for “uncertain” dogs to compete. But if you are bound and determined to compete in PUREBRED trials then you must prove that you have a PUREBRED dog. The second that doubt enters the equation the dog should not be eligible. There is a pride that goes with completing a title with your dog. And to have the added benefit of being unique within your breed makes it extra special. But to have it sullied because an ILP dog also gains recognition for that title is just plain wrong.
The Canaan Dog Club of America (CDCA) is no help in this manner. The vast bulk of their "leadership" are only inclined to breed their Canaans and occasionally allow them out of their crates long enough to flinch at the first judge who has the audacity to require the dog to conform to the same standards to which all other breeds are held.
The CDCA even acknowledges these CD-wannabees by putting them up on their performance page!!!!! This is such an insult to anyone who has taken the trouble to learn how to train their Canaan Dog!!
Of course this saves most of them the trouble of actually learning how to train a dog to do something and gives them more time to come up with new ways to blame the dogs for their own insecurities.
Shouldn’t there be some sort of protest vote for this ham-handed programme that the AKC has foisted on the clubs. I see no benefit to a club nor to its legitimate membership by this action. Why would this entice an individual to get a “real” Canaan in the future, as some suggest. If you have sidestepped the system once, surely there are other candidates to be found at the pound. Snap a couple of new Polaroid’s and write a cheque and play the AKC Wheel-Of-Breeds again. To me the great missing demographic of future Canaan Dog owners are the ones that favour performance events. Too much is made of difficulties and too little of the Canaan’s attributes. This is a well-built athletic breed that loves to do things, and I read more articles making them sound like special children that are in need of remedial studies. If the clubs are to be so forgiving of this ILP money grab, then they should vote out the spade/neutered portion and allow these prodigals the chance to compete in the Conformation ring. It is such a sad state of irony that the venue that once showcased the top of the breeds based on their superior working abilities now is the one that is a sacrosanct temple that insists on Proof-Of-Breed. But as a sign-of-the-times, it doesn’t matter what you do, it is how you look.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Warm-mongers & Other Hot Air Prophets
[This article was originally published in the Spring 2007 Canaan Club of Ontario newsletter. The newsletter can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/newsletter_spring2007/ ]
False prophets, doomsayers, snakeoil salesmen and Chicken Littles. They have been around for as long as man has learned to be paranoid. Their messages are frantic, with no provable information, spreading their “truths” that all is forsaken and mankind is doomed. And they all have an agenda. An agenda that benefits very few even though they are preaching the salvation of many. Because the masses that they preach to are either looking for a savior, or that they are too lazy to go and learn the truths themselves, these charlatans are able to spread fear and anarchy with absolutely no accountability. We are all to follow blindly based simply on trust.
Canadians have listened to one such paranoid little gnome for several decades now. His longevity can be directly linked to his association with the socialists that run our State-sponsored television network, the CBC. Most people refer to it as the Corpse because the broadcasts on it have been dead for years. But back to the little high school teacher that made a name for himself preaching about how we are all destroying the planet, despite all the evidence to the contrary. The nice little Foundation that has developed around him…. that had many large Corporations as significant contributors…. is one of the perks that has others looking for a slice of the lucrative Green pie.
Global Warming is the latest Dire Strait for mankind. And to really make it really fun it has gone Hollywood. Albert Arnold Gore took his little Sony video camera and went out there to bring us the Truth. His Truth. Some would call this science fiction. Some would call Albert Arnold Gore science fiction. Somewhere he fit saving the planet into his busy schedule of inventing the Internet and cleaning up the Love Canal. At first I just assumed this was his new stunt to join the nomination process for the Democrats. He is not ethnic enough to compete with Obama, don’t call me Osama, and not manly enough to compete with Hillary, so on a warm jet stream of world saving he was going to coast into 1600 Pennsylvania. But then a bio on a small investment firm called Generation Investment showed up. Generation Investment provides businesses with assessments of “risks and opportunities presented by climate change”. And the founding director is none other than AAG. Hmmm…. in order to be able to advise one must first have these opportunities. And if they don’t exist then a little “the world is ending” campaign should help create them. And while lecturing the rest of us to leave as small of a “CO2 footprint” as possible, Al is leaving a large assprint on one of the director chairs at Lehman Brothers. I only mention this because Lehman Brothers is trying to be the lead brokerage for the trading of Greenhouse Gas Emission credits. The valuation of this new security is in the trillions. So I would say that the term “conflict of interest” should be explained to Good Ole’ Al and the rest of the warm-mongerers.
So with his gold-plated bobblehead Oscar riding on the dashboard of his stretch limo, Al the Environmentalist is off promoting his view of how the world should be. This, of course, is how he perceives that you and I live, not the Alster and his ilk. Homes that use more electricity in a week than we use in a year, or jetting into Toronto to be feted by the silver spooned Socialists in his private jet and SUV motorcade are the world for this new hierarchy of the Loopey Left. Of course privilege and extra powers has always been the trademark of the Demo-lition-crats and their “Brothers”. Their favourite ideologue Lenin perverted Marxism in order to add a vanguard that would better guide socialism. This was just an excuse to keep him and his buddies in power. Al may even be off to Sweden to have those meatballs at the Institute “nobelize” him. Hell, if they will give it to a terrorist like Arafat then what is to them to bestow the medal on someone like Al who is, after all, only looking out for the shareholders of Lehman Brothers. Ooops, I mean, the general public….the great unwashed….the ones that will have to foot the bill for saving the planet from this toxic and deadly gas, CO2. Of course the fact Greenhouse gases only occupy a small portion of our atmosphere, about 3% by volume, and that the vast majority (about 97%) is water vapour and clouds, just adds facts to the equation and “clouds” the hyperbole.
Imagine, water vapour and clouds on a planet that is 70% water……I wonder where it all comes from. Must be an anthropogenic reaction. Quick, put water on the list of toxic substances! CO2 actually only constitutes about 0.037% of the atmosphere. Now if we are this fragile, and I am using the collective “we” here – plants, animals, and those hypersensitive bipedal carbon-based life forms – then maybe we should let natural evolution take its course. After all, it took a freaking meteor the size of Manhattan to bring the dinosaurs to their knees. We apparently are having a tough time with less than a 1 degree Celsius temperature increase. Wow, aren’t we the little hothouse flowers. But then again maybe there is more to this than just protecting us from a few gas molecules.
The IPCC panel just released their Executive Synopsis for 2007 to show us where we stand. True to form, the version that was released already has raised the seas, dropped the glaciers and developed a new occupation for polar bears as the After models for Jenny Craig. Plus we are all slow roasting while all those cataclysmic hurricanes lay waste to our homes. Oh woe be mankind….these are truly the darkest days!! With all of those superegos telling us that we must repent or else, how can we even think of starting our cars or turning on our furnaces.
So with all this credibility, why aren’t we at the Edge gulping down the Kool-Aid of GW with all the rest of the Jonestowners? The Evidence is all around, the effects are evident…just look at New York City….they have never had temps this high….at least not this high when scientists started looking at it. And then there is Boulder, CO….no wait, their average temp decreased. OK, how about Ann Arbor, MI. Nope, cooler temps are prevailing there. Hmmmm, some places have shown an increase, many others a decrease. And the national average for the U.S. shows an up-and-down trend, with the 1930s leading the way as the warmest decade. Must be an anomaly. Just ask the Europeans….those Americans are always screwing things up. Remember, the only time that the French like the Americans is when the Germans are drinking coffee on the Champs-Élysées. Ok, GW is after all a Global phenomenon, so how about Paris, France, and Stuttgart, Germany, and Alice Springs, Australia. Nope, all decreased. Well, those ones should be ignored. For Pete’s sake, Puntas Arenas, the closest city to Antarctica has shown a drop of 0.75 Celsius since 1888. OK, look at Tokyo, Japan!!! There!!! Higher average temps!!! Clear evidence that those pesky greenhouse gases have us stewing in our own juices!!
What this comes down to is man’s unquenchable desire to control everything about his environment. Or even worse, to think that all events are attributable to him. Well, as wonderful as we may think we are, not all events are anthropogenic. The earth, the universe, continues to spin with little regard for the gnat bites that we inflict upon it. This GW event is just the latest crisis that we are being fed. We had just stopped bemoaning the next coming Ice Age when the deep-thinkers began beating the drums about GW. We have suffered through Killer Bees, Noise Pollution, and Y2K. And yet we persevere. Of course those that lived through the Black Plague would probably call us a bunch of wimps, seeing as that was just one of the times in history when the End was Nigh. In a bit of subtle irony a polar expedition to prove GW had to be scrapped because one of the members became frostbitten. Who says Mother Nature doesn’t have a sense of humour. But we egocentrics have to bring it all back to ourselves. Has no one considered that an external event, like the fact the Sun is getting hotter, might account for any temperature shift?
Even our furry canine companions are not exempt from plagues of locusts and rivers of blood. Someone makes a comment about a specific event and it gets repeated, and before you know it the one incident has become the norm. People take as gospel the reports of others and it changes the way that they perceive situations. Take for example a recent email we received from someone in Vancouver that thinks that she has “rescued” a Canaan Dog from the shelter. Even a cursory look shows the dog to be a Border Collie mix, but this woman based her assessment on reading that Canaan Dogs were dog aggressive, and this dog is dog aggressive, so it must be a Canaan Dog. I should send her pics of Macc playing with little white dogs, but I guess she would dismiss this as an exception. After all, don’t you know, the Canaan Dog is dog aggressive.
Many of the recognized breeds have developed health issues over time. Some like the Doberman have dilated cardiomyopathy. Dachshunds and Bassets have cervical issues. Labs and Retrievers are prone to hip dysplasia. Bulldogs are a complete mess…AI to get pregnant and caesarian to whelp the young. That is why when we were searching for a new breed, health was a major main concern. I have yet to open a breed book and find more than epilepsy listed as a possible affliction of the Canaan Dog. Most say that there are no long or short-term health concerns. And I say this is rightly so. This is the model of evolution…. an animal that has survived for thousands of years in one of the harshest environments on the planet. Well, there were some good years in the Levant also. Recent studies have shown six major climate changes since the beginning of the Holocene Period. They had some lush tropical conditions for a while, then some very dry barren ones. Yet through this whole time they were able to adapt and survive. And to look at them this should come as no surprise. They are built so well…strong limbs, well balanced body, and well developed senses. This was the noble beast that Dr. Menzel found in the 1930s and helped mold into such a versatile creature.
I was looking up facts listed on the OFA site. Did you know that the Canaan Dog is seventh best when it comes to being diagnosed with hip dysplasia? With all other measurements, like patella luxation, elbow dysplasia, thyroid, and cardiac the numbers are statistically insignificant. There have been five deaf Canaans reported….at least one of them was born without eardrums. Others became deaf through disease. I would not consider this a significant health concern.
This is not to say that we should take their health for granted. All dogs deserve the best care and protection that we can give them. I am all for being proactive when it comes to the health of my Canaans. They receive a well-balanced raw diet, lots of exercise, and much personal time where we play and train. Challenging them this way keeps them alert and ready to perform in whatever activity they are participating. And this socialization has developed two Canaans that love to play with other dogs.
My point is that we need to understand the issues, be they health, training, or performance, and we can only do this by making the choices ourselves. The same goes for this current Environmental Catastrophe. If they had come out and said that they were going to combat NOX and SOX, then I would have been behind them 100% because these are the pollutants that cause smog, acid rain, etc. But this card had been played before and they needed a new scapegoat. So CO2 becomes a toxic, Earth-threatening substance, rather than one of the building blocks of nature. I’m all for alternative forms of power, but if you are supporting it please do it for the right reasons. Go solar, Go wind, Go microhydro, so that you can be off of the grid. Do it so that you have the peace of mind of managing your own resources. Don’t do it because some clown in telling you to reduce your CO2 footprint. The only way to get any truth out there is to examine the facts and make the decisions ourselves. Create your own agenda. Then the warm-mongers are only blowing hot air at each other.
False prophets, doomsayers, snakeoil salesmen and Chicken Littles. They have been around for as long as man has learned to be paranoid. Their messages are frantic, with no provable information, spreading their “truths” that all is forsaken and mankind is doomed. And they all have an agenda. An agenda that benefits very few even though they are preaching the salvation of many. Because the masses that they preach to are either looking for a savior, or that they are too lazy to go and learn the truths themselves, these charlatans are able to spread fear and anarchy with absolutely no accountability. We are all to follow blindly based simply on trust.
Canadians have listened to one such paranoid little gnome for several decades now. His longevity can be directly linked to his association with the socialists that run our State-sponsored television network, the CBC. Most people refer to it as the Corpse because the broadcasts on it have been dead for years. But back to the little high school teacher that made a name for himself preaching about how we are all destroying the planet, despite all the evidence to the contrary. The nice little Foundation that has developed around him…. that had many large Corporations as significant contributors…. is one of the perks that has others looking for a slice of the lucrative Green pie.
Global Warming is the latest Dire Strait for mankind. And to really make it really fun it has gone Hollywood. Albert Arnold Gore took his little Sony video camera and went out there to bring us the Truth. His Truth. Some would call this science fiction. Some would call Albert Arnold Gore science fiction. Somewhere he fit saving the planet into his busy schedule of inventing the Internet and cleaning up the Love Canal. At first I just assumed this was his new stunt to join the nomination process for the Democrats. He is not ethnic enough to compete with Obama, don’t call me Osama, and not manly enough to compete with Hillary, so on a warm jet stream of world saving he was going to coast into 1600 Pennsylvania. But then a bio on a small investment firm called Generation Investment showed up. Generation Investment provides businesses with assessments of “risks and opportunities presented by climate change”. And the founding director is none other than AAG. Hmmm…. in order to be able to advise one must first have these opportunities. And if they don’t exist then a little “the world is ending” campaign should help create them. And while lecturing the rest of us to leave as small of a “CO2 footprint” as possible, Al is leaving a large assprint on one of the director chairs at Lehman Brothers. I only mention this because Lehman Brothers is trying to be the lead brokerage for the trading of Greenhouse Gas Emission credits. The valuation of this new security is in the trillions. So I would say that the term “conflict of interest” should be explained to Good Ole’ Al and the rest of the warm-mongerers.
So with his gold-plated bobblehead Oscar riding on the dashboard of his stretch limo, Al the Environmentalist is off promoting his view of how the world should be. This, of course, is how he perceives that you and I live, not the Alster and his ilk. Homes that use more electricity in a week than we use in a year, or jetting into Toronto to be feted by the silver spooned Socialists in his private jet and SUV motorcade are the world for this new hierarchy of the Loopey Left. Of course privilege and extra powers has always been the trademark of the Demo-lition-crats and their “Brothers”. Their favourite ideologue Lenin perverted Marxism in order to add a vanguard that would better guide socialism. This was just an excuse to keep him and his buddies in power. Al may even be off to Sweden to have those meatballs at the Institute “nobelize” him. Hell, if they will give it to a terrorist like Arafat then what is to them to bestow the medal on someone like Al who is, after all, only looking out for the shareholders of Lehman Brothers. Ooops, I mean, the general public….the great unwashed….the ones that will have to foot the bill for saving the planet from this toxic and deadly gas, CO2. Of course the fact Greenhouse gases only occupy a small portion of our atmosphere, about 3% by volume, and that the vast majority (about 97%) is water vapour and clouds, just adds facts to the equation and “clouds” the hyperbole.
Imagine, water vapour and clouds on a planet that is 70% water……I wonder where it all comes from. Must be an anthropogenic reaction. Quick, put water on the list of toxic substances! CO2 actually only constitutes about 0.037% of the atmosphere. Now if we are this fragile, and I am using the collective “we” here – plants, animals, and those hypersensitive bipedal carbon-based life forms – then maybe we should let natural evolution take its course. After all, it took a freaking meteor the size of Manhattan to bring the dinosaurs to their knees. We apparently are having a tough time with less than a 1 degree Celsius temperature increase. Wow, aren’t we the little hothouse flowers. But then again maybe there is more to this than just protecting us from a few gas molecules.
The IPCC panel just released their Executive Synopsis for 2007 to show us where we stand. True to form, the version that was released already has raised the seas, dropped the glaciers and developed a new occupation for polar bears as the After models for Jenny Craig. Plus we are all slow roasting while all those cataclysmic hurricanes lay waste to our homes. Oh woe be mankind….these are truly the darkest days!! With all of those superegos telling us that we must repent or else, how can we even think of starting our cars or turning on our furnaces.
So with all this credibility, why aren’t we at the Edge gulping down the Kool-Aid of GW with all the rest of the Jonestowners? The Evidence is all around, the effects are evident…just look at New York City….they have never had temps this high….at least not this high when scientists started looking at it. And then there is Boulder, CO….no wait, their average temp decreased. OK, how about Ann Arbor, MI. Nope, cooler temps are prevailing there. Hmmmm, some places have shown an increase, many others a decrease. And the national average for the U.S. shows an up-and-down trend, with the 1930s leading the way as the warmest decade. Must be an anomaly. Just ask the Europeans….those Americans are always screwing things up. Remember, the only time that the French like the Americans is when the Germans are drinking coffee on the Champs-Élysées. Ok, GW is after all a Global phenomenon, so how about Paris, France, and Stuttgart, Germany, and Alice Springs, Australia. Nope, all decreased. Well, those ones should be ignored. For Pete’s sake, Puntas Arenas, the closest city to Antarctica has shown a drop of 0.75 Celsius since 1888. OK, look at Tokyo, Japan!!! There!!! Higher average temps!!! Clear evidence that those pesky greenhouse gases have us stewing in our own juices!!
What this comes down to is man’s unquenchable desire to control everything about his environment. Or even worse, to think that all events are attributable to him. Well, as wonderful as we may think we are, not all events are anthropogenic. The earth, the universe, continues to spin with little regard for the gnat bites that we inflict upon it. This GW event is just the latest crisis that we are being fed. We had just stopped bemoaning the next coming Ice Age when the deep-thinkers began beating the drums about GW. We have suffered through Killer Bees, Noise Pollution, and Y2K. And yet we persevere. Of course those that lived through the Black Plague would probably call us a bunch of wimps, seeing as that was just one of the times in history when the End was Nigh. In a bit of subtle irony a polar expedition to prove GW had to be scrapped because one of the members became frostbitten. Who says Mother Nature doesn’t have a sense of humour. But we egocentrics have to bring it all back to ourselves. Has no one considered that an external event, like the fact the Sun is getting hotter, might account for any temperature shift?
Even our furry canine companions are not exempt from plagues of locusts and rivers of blood. Someone makes a comment about a specific event and it gets repeated, and before you know it the one incident has become the norm. People take as gospel the reports of others and it changes the way that they perceive situations. Take for example a recent email we received from someone in Vancouver that thinks that she has “rescued” a Canaan Dog from the shelter. Even a cursory look shows the dog to be a Border Collie mix, but this woman based her assessment on reading that Canaan Dogs were dog aggressive, and this dog is dog aggressive, so it must be a Canaan Dog. I should send her pics of Macc playing with little white dogs, but I guess she would dismiss this as an exception. After all, don’t you know, the Canaan Dog is dog aggressive.
Many of the recognized breeds have developed health issues over time. Some like the Doberman have dilated cardiomyopathy. Dachshunds and Bassets have cervical issues. Labs and Retrievers are prone to hip dysplasia. Bulldogs are a complete mess…AI to get pregnant and caesarian to whelp the young. That is why when we were searching for a new breed, health was a major main concern. I have yet to open a breed book and find more than epilepsy listed as a possible affliction of the Canaan Dog. Most say that there are no long or short-term health concerns. And I say this is rightly so. This is the model of evolution…. an animal that has survived for thousands of years in one of the harshest environments on the planet. Well, there were some good years in the Levant also. Recent studies have shown six major climate changes since the beginning of the Holocene Period. They had some lush tropical conditions for a while, then some very dry barren ones. Yet through this whole time they were able to adapt and survive. And to look at them this should come as no surprise. They are built so well…strong limbs, well balanced body, and well developed senses. This was the noble beast that Dr. Menzel found in the 1930s and helped mold into such a versatile creature.
I was looking up facts listed on the OFA site. Did you know that the Canaan Dog is seventh best when it comes to being diagnosed with hip dysplasia? With all other measurements, like patella luxation, elbow dysplasia, thyroid, and cardiac the numbers are statistically insignificant. There have been five deaf Canaans reported….at least one of them was born without eardrums. Others became deaf through disease. I would not consider this a significant health concern.
This is not to say that we should take their health for granted. All dogs deserve the best care and protection that we can give them. I am all for being proactive when it comes to the health of my Canaans. They receive a well-balanced raw diet, lots of exercise, and much personal time where we play and train. Challenging them this way keeps them alert and ready to perform in whatever activity they are participating. And this socialization has developed two Canaans that love to play with other dogs.
My point is that we need to understand the issues, be they health, training, or performance, and we can only do this by making the choices ourselves. The same goes for this current Environmental Catastrophe. If they had come out and said that they were going to combat NOX and SOX, then I would have been behind them 100% because these are the pollutants that cause smog, acid rain, etc. But this card had been played before and they needed a new scapegoat. So CO2 becomes a toxic, Earth-threatening substance, rather than one of the building blocks of nature. I’m all for alternative forms of power, but if you are supporting it please do it for the right reasons. Go solar, Go wind, Go microhydro, so that you can be off of the grid. Do it so that you have the peace of mind of managing your own resources. Don’t do it because some clown in telling you to reduce your CO2 footprint. The only way to get any truth out there is to examine the facts and make the decisions ourselves. Create your own agenda. Then the warm-mongers are only blowing hot air at each other.
Is Your Canaan Dog BSL Ready?
[This article was originally published in the Summer 2007 Canaan Club of Ontario newsletter. The newsletter can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/newsletter_summer2007/ ]
The rise in dog numbers has come with a price. Agendas are at work to take away rights from dog owners. These rights can be as simple as where we walk our dogs, or as oppressive as banning a breed from an area. And bans go hand-in-hand with death. Here in Canada we have had an example of this in Bill 132 in Ontario. Enacted in August 2005, this bill was to keep Ontarians safe from deadly “pit bulls”. Even though legislation already existed that would punish the owners of aggressive dogs, Michael Bryant and the rest of the torchbearers decided that the ultimate Frankensteins were the dogs. Caught up in the net of “pit bulls” were the American Staffordshire Terriers, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and the American Pit Bull Terrier.
Owners of these dogs were told to get them out of Dodge or there would be a reckonin’ at High Noon. Enforcement agents have been given KGB-like powers to seize dogs, and then force the owners to prove that they are not “pit bulls”. Of course, these agents of the State do not have an accurate description of what a Pit Bull looks like, they are working on the method of defining obscenity – you’ll know it when you see it. This has caused dogs to be taken from people’s homes and confined in Lubayanka-like facilities awaiting the hangman. And this scenario could play out for other breeds in the not to distant future.
Across Canada laws are already in place to restrict and contain vicious dogs. Only in a couple of cases is the definition of vicious actually spelled out. The area of Lakeshore has added Presa Canario to the list of banned dogs. Guysborough in Nova Scotia has banned “Pit Bulls” and Rottweilers, while Sherbrooke has enacted controls on Rottweilers and Mastiffs. And the new Sword of Damocles is in New Brunswick where the Restricted Dogs Act (Bill 55) pops up and down like a demented gopher depending on how the political winds are whistling at that moment. This stellar piece of legislation would place severe restrictions on the ownership of not only the dreaded “Pit Bull”, but also the Rottweiler and the Akita. A gentleman in Calgary had the renewal of his homeowner insurance policy denied “due to unacceptable dog breeds in the household". He had a Rott-mix and a GS-mix. A quick peek over the border finds bans on such breeds as Great Danes, Boxers, German Shepherds, Chow Chows, Dalmatians, and even Golden Retrievers. Dogs are being banned on the basis of what-if, not what they have done.
Even a cursory glance at the stats shows that the range of dogs that bite is wide. In Perth County, Ontario, dog bite statistics compiled since January 2002 show just 1% of bites attributed to 'pit bulls'. One third of reported bites were caused by mixed breed dogs, and the top five biting breeds were, in order: Chow Chow, Jack Russell Terrier, Labrador Retriever, Dachshund, and Rottweiler. Of the nearly 900 reports of bite incidents in Ottawa, Ontario for the last three years, only five were attributable to pit bulls. The largest number of bite incidents involved Black Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. Kitchener-Waterloo banned 'pit bulls' after 18 bites reported the previous year. During that same period, there were 85 bites attributed to German Shepherds. And yet the “Pit Bull” is the banned breed. In Winnipeg, after their breed ban came into effect, Winnipeg Humane Society Spokesperson Aileen White was quoted as saying, “It's certainly already proven within our province that if you ban a certain breed, the people that want to own this kind of tough looking dog, if you will, they're going to go on to the next breed," she says. "They'll just keep going down the list, until when do you stop? At what point do you actually stop banning breeds?”
It would seem that the “Pit Bull” is just a very convenient animal to ban. The image of them has been painted as the dog of choice for drug dealers and Atlanta Falcon quarterbacks. They show pictures of them chained up, snarling away, an obvious killing machine just waiting for the chance. They are supposedly genetically programmed to bite, maim and destroy. And with this Clintonian abstract of logic in place – I never had biting relations with that woman – all of the “Bully Breeds” can be compartmentalized and filed under BANNED.
What makes a dog vicious? Is it the breeding? Is it the environment? Is it age? Do the circumstances of the biting incident come into play? Ultimately there is no such thing as a specific vicious breed. In the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled that there was no genetic evidence that one breed of dog was more dangerous than another simply because of its breed. The fllowing organizations do not support Breed Bans:
The Canadian Kennel Club
The BCVMA (BC Veterinary Medical Association) and CVMA (Canadian Veterinary Medical Association)
The Canadian Safety Council
The Canadian Association of Pet Dog Trainers
The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies
The National Animal Coalition
Toronto Humane Society
Winnipeg Humane Society
Every provincial organization of the SPCA
The Pet Industry Advisory Council
The American Kennel Club
The American Veterinary Medical Association
"Singling out one or two breeds for control can result in a false sense of accomplishment and create a false sense of security. Of course, even dogs from small breeds can also bite and are absolutely capable of causing severe injury."
The American Veterinary Medical Association
If these organizations don’t know about dogs, who does? Oh yeah, the “Fiberals”. Dalton McGuinty and Michael “Dr. Death” Bryant have used BSL to deflect their litany of lies with the public once, they will do it again. After all, no new legislation needs to be enacted, just the old one modified. And they will look to breeds that are smaller in number, but have those qualities that can have them labeled as a killer. Prick ears are a good starting point. Those soft, snuggly Goldens have the floppy ears, and this makes them look so gall darn cuddly. Lean muscular bodies….all those teddy bear breeds have the nice fluffy coats just like a stuffed animal. An alert and watchful presence…not like those snuggly, wuggly Labs that follow you everywhere. So, essentially they will be looking at the watch-type dogs. We have already shown that neither the deeds nor the quantity of deeds is relevant when the Bryant Inquisition is on a roll.
Some people point to the breed standard for the Staffies as being part of their downfall. They talk about “Jaws well defined. Underjaw to be strong and have biting power…. should give the impression of great strength for his size, a well put-together dog, muscular”. In other words, traits that do not apply to a Caviler King Charles Spaniel. The Canaan Dog has in its breed description terms like “reserved and aloof with strangers, highly territorial, and natural guardian.” This could be interpreted as a defensive watchdog that will attack anyone coming into its territory. Of course similar things are written in many other breeds, but we are looking for those little needles in the 'Breed' haystack. What I would like to see is that no one gives them an excuse to think these things about the Canaan. Most of us want pets that are not a threat to visitors, other animals, children, or meter readers. So when we go out in public, we want dogs that will walk well in the park and socialize well at events without snarling at anyone who comes within 5 feet of them. The requirements of the Canine Good Neighbour programme are an excellent starting point for what we should expect from our dogs. You don’t have to take the test, but knowing that your dog could pass it should make all of us more comfortable.
The rise in dog numbers has come with a price. Agendas are at work to take away rights from dog owners. These rights can be as simple as where we walk our dogs, or as oppressive as banning a breed from an area. And bans go hand-in-hand with death. Here in Canada we have had an example of this in Bill 132 in Ontario. Enacted in August 2005, this bill was to keep Ontarians safe from deadly “pit bulls”. Even though legislation already existed that would punish the owners of aggressive dogs, Michael Bryant and the rest of the torchbearers decided that the ultimate Frankensteins were the dogs. Caught up in the net of “pit bulls” were the American Staffordshire Terriers, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and the American Pit Bull Terrier.
Owners of these dogs were told to get them out of Dodge or there would be a reckonin’ at High Noon. Enforcement agents have been given KGB-like powers to seize dogs, and then force the owners to prove that they are not “pit bulls”. Of course, these agents of the State do not have an accurate description of what a Pit Bull looks like, they are working on the method of defining obscenity – you’ll know it when you see it. This has caused dogs to be taken from people’s homes and confined in Lubayanka-like facilities awaiting the hangman. And this scenario could play out for other breeds in the not to distant future.
Across Canada laws are already in place to restrict and contain vicious dogs. Only in a couple of cases is the definition of vicious actually spelled out. The area of Lakeshore has added Presa Canario to the list of banned dogs. Guysborough in Nova Scotia has banned “Pit Bulls” and Rottweilers, while Sherbrooke has enacted controls on Rottweilers and Mastiffs. And the new Sword of Damocles is in New Brunswick where the Restricted Dogs Act (Bill 55) pops up and down like a demented gopher depending on how the political winds are whistling at that moment. This stellar piece of legislation would place severe restrictions on the ownership of not only the dreaded “Pit Bull”, but also the Rottweiler and the Akita. A gentleman in Calgary had the renewal of his homeowner insurance policy denied “due to unacceptable dog breeds in the household". He had a Rott-mix and a GS-mix. A quick peek over the border finds bans on such breeds as Great Danes, Boxers, German Shepherds, Chow Chows, Dalmatians, and even Golden Retrievers. Dogs are being banned on the basis of what-if, not what they have done.
Even a cursory glance at the stats shows that the range of dogs that bite is wide. In Perth County, Ontario, dog bite statistics compiled since January 2002 show just 1% of bites attributed to 'pit bulls'. One third of reported bites were caused by mixed breed dogs, and the top five biting breeds were, in order: Chow Chow, Jack Russell Terrier, Labrador Retriever, Dachshund, and Rottweiler. Of the nearly 900 reports of bite incidents in Ottawa, Ontario for the last three years, only five were attributable to pit bulls. The largest number of bite incidents involved Black Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. Kitchener-Waterloo banned 'pit bulls' after 18 bites reported the previous year. During that same period, there were 85 bites attributed to German Shepherds. And yet the “Pit Bull” is the banned breed. In Winnipeg, after their breed ban came into effect, Winnipeg Humane Society Spokesperson Aileen White was quoted as saying, “It's certainly already proven within our province that if you ban a certain breed, the people that want to own this kind of tough looking dog, if you will, they're going to go on to the next breed," she says. "They'll just keep going down the list, until when do you stop? At what point do you actually stop banning breeds?”
It would seem that the “Pit Bull” is just a very convenient animal to ban. The image of them has been painted as the dog of choice for drug dealers and Atlanta Falcon quarterbacks. They show pictures of them chained up, snarling away, an obvious killing machine just waiting for the chance. They are supposedly genetically programmed to bite, maim and destroy. And with this Clintonian abstract of logic in place – I never had biting relations with that woman – all of the “Bully Breeds” can be compartmentalized and filed under BANNED.
What makes a dog vicious? Is it the breeding? Is it the environment? Is it age? Do the circumstances of the biting incident come into play? Ultimately there is no such thing as a specific vicious breed. In the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled that there was no genetic evidence that one breed of dog was more dangerous than another simply because of its breed. The fllowing organizations do not support Breed Bans:
The Canadian Kennel Club
The BCVMA (BC Veterinary Medical Association) and CVMA (Canadian Veterinary Medical Association)
The Canadian Safety Council
The Canadian Association of Pet Dog Trainers
The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies
The National Animal Coalition
Toronto Humane Society
Winnipeg Humane Society
Every provincial organization of the SPCA
The Pet Industry Advisory Council
The American Kennel Club
The American Veterinary Medical Association
"Singling out one or two breeds for control can result in a false sense of accomplishment and create a false sense of security. Of course, even dogs from small breeds can also bite and are absolutely capable of causing severe injury."
The American Veterinary Medical Association
If these organizations don’t know about dogs, who does? Oh yeah, the “Fiberals”. Dalton McGuinty and Michael “Dr. Death” Bryant have used BSL to deflect their litany of lies with the public once, they will do it again. After all, no new legislation needs to be enacted, just the old one modified. And they will look to breeds that are smaller in number, but have those qualities that can have them labeled as a killer. Prick ears are a good starting point. Those soft, snuggly Goldens have the floppy ears, and this makes them look so gall darn cuddly. Lean muscular bodies….all those teddy bear breeds have the nice fluffy coats just like a stuffed animal. An alert and watchful presence…not like those snuggly, wuggly Labs that follow you everywhere. So, essentially they will be looking at the watch-type dogs. We have already shown that neither the deeds nor the quantity of deeds is relevant when the Bryant Inquisition is on a roll.
Some people point to the breed standard for the Staffies as being part of their downfall. They talk about “Jaws well defined. Underjaw to be strong and have biting power…. should give the impression of great strength for his size, a well put-together dog, muscular”. In other words, traits that do not apply to a Caviler King Charles Spaniel. The Canaan Dog has in its breed description terms like “reserved and aloof with strangers, highly territorial, and natural guardian.” This could be interpreted as a defensive watchdog that will attack anyone coming into its territory. Of course similar things are written in many other breeds, but we are looking for those little needles in the 'Breed' haystack. What I would like to see is that no one gives them an excuse to think these things about the Canaan. Most of us want pets that are not a threat to visitors, other animals, children, or meter readers. So when we go out in public, we want dogs that will walk well in the park and socialize well at events without snarling at anyone who comes within 5 feet of them. The requirements of the Canine Good Neighbour programme are an excellent starting point for what we should expect from our dogs. You don’t have to take the test, but knowing that your dog could pass it should make all of us more comfortable.
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