Historic Win for Our Unique Australian Breed

nospam@example.com (Ambajaye) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:13:03 -0700

Ambajaye Kennels celebrates an historic achievement for the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog, winning Best in Group, Best Breeders’ Team and Best Australian Working Dog at the 2007 Sydney Royal under Lithuanian judge Mrs K Butrimova.

This win symbolises the ‘arrival’ of the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog as never before. A far cry from near-extinction in 1988, when the ANKC introduced a development program to save this unique Australian working breed, the ‘stumpy’ has now become a force to be reckoned with in every arena.
The recent win was widely regarded by fellow competitors and spectators as one of the most popular ever seen and was greeted by enthusiastic approval from those that witnessed this historic and emotional occasion.

“I almost did not take ‘Legend’ and his litter sister ‘Dewie’ to the Royal at all”, said Mrs Merchant. “Up until the Sunday there had not been any ‘veterans’ going best of breed. I was pretty disheartened, but as he was a member of the breeders Group, he had to go. Lisa Kennedy - who had made the long drive to Sydney from Melbourne (Alkina Kennels of Victoria) - and Ann Wherry had the other two exhibits entered in the Breeders’ Team. So as not to disappoint the efforts of these girls, Legend and his litter sister Dewie were exhibited. The rest as you know is now history.”

Mrs Merchant of Ambajaye Kennels has become synonymous with the ASTCD and from the early days of the development program has been committed to producing sound dogs that conform to the breed standard and are of exceptional type and temperament. She has been published widely both within Australia and in several languages internationally where the breed is attracting interest. Mrs Merchant is considered the leading authority on the ASTCD worldwide and has been a passionate campaigner of the breed throughout its redevelopment.

Mrs Merchant has campaigned the breed widely throughout Australia and has commanded the attention of judges and peers with her presentation of the breed. Ambajaye has been responsible for producing multi BIS and BISS winning dogs, plus herding, obedience and agility titled dogs, as well as therapy dogs and much-loved companions. Ambajaye has raised the profile of the ASTCD and continues to demonstrate the ability and versatility of the breed across every discipline.

In July 2005, after six years of arduous research and preparation, Mrs Merchant and Lisa Kennedy of Alkina Kennels together completed a successful submission to the FCI for international recognition of this unique breed. Ambajaye Kennels has also been dedicated to developing DNA tests for hereditary disease (prcd-PRA) in the breed as well as for colour genotyping and has a long history of commitment to standard health tests such as hip and elbow scoring and BAER testing (for deafness).

With the final close of the development program in December 2006 it is fitting that Mrs Bernadette Merchant of Ambajaye Kennels has in 2007 enjoyed the culmination of two decades of dedication and the highest honour in the history of the breed. The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle dog now looks forward to the next phase in the journey and the future of the breed can be considered to be in very safe hands at Ambajaye.

For more information on this breed contact the NSW Breed Club at astcd@australianstumpytailcattledog.org or visit www. australianstumpytailcattledog.org.

Colour in the ASTCD

nospam@example.com (Ambajaye) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:08:52 -0700

The inheritance of coat colour in the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog (and in his long-tailed cousin, the Australian Cattle Dog) is complex. The inheritance of colour in both breeds is described by Dr Helen Hewson-Fruend and Noreen Clark at http://www.adcb.au.com. Miscolour (coat colour that is unacceptable in terms of the Breed Standard) occurs in both breeds. In the ASTCD the most common miscolours appear to be: tan points; chocolate; cream; and, white.

Miscoloured ASTCDs should not, of course be used for breeding. However, it is evident that many excellent ASTCDs carry miscolour. The ASTCD breed population is small and miscolour carriers should not be excluded from breeding if they are otherwise excellent.

Coat colour genes are not breed specific. The 'b' and 'e' genes, for example, are associated with chocolate and cream miscolour in the ASTCD, and these genes are also found in the Labrador Retriever. VetGen (USA) has developed a DNA test for Labradors that can identify carriers of chocolate and/or cream. VetGen is now accepting ASTCDs for colour testing. Not many ASTCDs have been colour tested but combined with colour testing in the ACD breed the test for genotyping for colour has now been released. So far, however, all test results have been consistent with expectations and Noreen Clark, who is evaluating all results in association with VetGen (www.vetgen.com), is confident that the Labrador tests are valid for ASTCDs & ACD. This has proven to be correct.

At Ambajaye, colour testing is being used to reduce the incidence of chocolate pups, and of cream/apricot pups. Photos of these colours are featured below. Some look like pale red ASTCDs, except for their liver-coloured nose leather and pale toenails. Their liver noses may be so dark as to appear almost black.

BAER Testing

nospam@example.com (Ambajaye) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:44:27 -0700

ALL PUPPIES are BAER-tested at Ambajaye at seven (7) weeks of age. All breeding stock are also BAER tested with full hearing.

Congenital deafness is observed in more than 85 breeds of dog, including the ACD and the ASTCD. The prevalence in ACD populations is as high as 15% (including bilaterally and unilaterally deaf dogs—this will be explained later), and although there is no data available on the prevalence in ASTCDs it can be assumed to be similar to that of ACDs for a number of reasons.

Firstly, ASTCDs share a common ancestry with ACDs and share other inherited conditions such as prcd-PRA and HD. Secondly, stumpy DNA and BAER test results have formed part of a ten year research program into congenital deafness at the University of Queensland. Lastly, there is anecdotal evidence of deafness within the relatively small gene pool of ASTCDs.

Congenital deafness is associated with the genetics of white pigmentation in dogs and other animal species. Much of the research undertaken has involved the Dalmatian, which records the highest prevalence of deafness and has comparable pigmentation and distribution genetics to the ASTCD.

A genetic marker for deafness has yet to be developed, despite decades of research into this area. It is therefore left to breeders to be mindful of the heritability of the problem.

Proven strategies to greatly reduce the incidence of deafness include:

- Removing affected dogs from the breeding population. Affected dogs are more likely to produce affected offspring. However, unaffected dogs can also produce affected offspring.
- Breeding away from pedigrees with a high prevalence
- Not breeding away from patches.

Identifying bilaterally deaf puppies (deaf in both ears) could be considered to be easy. Unfortunately even these puppies are not always identified by breeders and are sold to unsuspecting owners.

The main problem, however, arises from unilaterally deaf puppies (completely deaf in one ear only) as these dogs are considered to be ‘genetically’ deaf, although they can still hear much better than you or I (they will have an early, subtle problem with the direction of sound). The only way to reasonably identify a unilaterally deaf puppy or dog is to BAER test (brainstem auditory evoked response).

Studies have shown a significant relationship between deafness and parental hearing status. However, as mentioned earlier it is still quite possible to produce deaf progeny from parents with full (tested) hearing and, interestingly, two bilaterally deaf dogs can produce offspring with full hearing. This is why a simple Mendelian model of inheritance cannot be used to trace inheritance of deafness. Eliminating affected dogs from the breeding population has been proven to be the only way to drastically reduce the incidence of deafness within populations.

In studies of deaf ACDs (combining both bilateral and unilateral) the percentage with unilateral deafness was 84%. This means that without BAER testing these dogs could potentially remain in the breeding population, perpetuating the problem.

Article courtesy of the ASTCD Club of NSW

Hip and Elbow Scoring in the ASTCD

nospam@example.com (Ambajaye) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:45:58 -0700

Hip and elbow X-rays are a routine part of Ambajaye's checks for health and soundness. Preliminary X-rays of young pups are not accepted for hip and elbow scoring under the Australian Veterinary Association scheme. These X-rays are evaluated by a competent and experienced veterinarian. All breeding stock at Ambajaye are hip and elbow scored.

The AVA follows the hip and elbow scoring protocols developed by the British Veterinary Association and the Kennel Club (UK). Hip and elbow problems in the dog are described on the BVA web site http://www.bva.co.uk/public/chs/.