Bella’s Snazzy Fundraiser supports IVDD Screening – thank you!

Bella’s Snazzy Fundraiser

Following the very sad loss of Bella, the beautiful 5-year old Red Standard Dachshund belonging to Julie Austin, Chris Lamb wanted to try to raise awareness and money for future generations of the breed.

 

 

Chris says:

“Julie has been an inspiration to many, as through social media she has shared Bella’s incredibly brave journey through two surgeries for IVDD. I make hand-crochet Dachshund jumpers and have almost 3k followers on both Facebook and Instagram and decided to offer some of my products as prizes in return for £2 per number. The many Dachshund groups on Facebook were kind enough to allow me to share, which enabled me to reach a very large number of owners. I added a link to the Dachshund Breed Council website to try and direct people there too. I have also now got a page on my own website again with links to the Breed Council and IVDD Information. I feel it’s important to stress that while it’s lovely for some people to dress up their dogs, health is paramount and thought Snazzy Sausage Dog Jumpers was a good platform”.

Thanks to Chris and everyone who supported her to raise over £1000 to support our IVDD Screening Programme.

Chris’s Snazzy Sausage website is here: www.snazzysausagedogjumpers.co.uk and you can find her on Facebook.

You can donate to Dachshund Health UK, our registered charity, via PayPal:

 

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Health Committee response to Daily Telegraph article about Dachshunds jumping off sofas

We are aware it was suggested on the Saturday Crufts TV programme that Dachshunds should not be allowed to jump on and off sofas or to use stairs; linking these activities to an increased risk of back injuries.  In response, the RSPCA commented that it was the way the dogs are bred – too “long and low”, which is the root cause of back disease (IVDD) in the breed.

The Dachshund Breed Council recognises that IVDD is the most prevalent health issue in the breed and it is therefore the prime focus for our breed health improvement initiatives. We have introduced an X-ray screening programme to help to identify dogs at risk of IVDD and we support the ongoing research into the genetics of IVDD which is a complex condition.

In relation to the statement regarding jumping on and off furniture and using stairs, our advice, based on numerous research studies, is that a Dachshund in good body condition, that is well-muscled, should be perfectly capable of tolerating the normal activities of day-to-day living. In our 2015 breed survey, Dachshunds over the age of 3 that were allowed to go up/down a flight of stairs every day had lower odds of IVDD than those not allowed to use stairs. A previous Scandinavian study showed moderate use of stairs also reduced risk. Clearly, there is a risk of injury due to putting sudden stresses through any dog’s spine, but most reported cases of dogs with back problems are not directly attributable to an event such as running down stairs or jumping off furniture.

Turning to anatomical structure, the Breed Council has made it clear that exaggeration of body length or shortness of legs is to be avoided and is not consistent with the current Kennel Club Breed Standard. Dog show judges, in particular, have a responsibility to judge to the Breed Standard which defines a dog that is fit, healthy, temperamentally sound and capable of serving its original working purpose. The Breed Standard was amended in 2008 to make this clearer. There is also significant variation in the risk of back disease across the 6 varieties of Dachshund in the UK (Standard vs. Miniature and Smooth, Long, Wire-coated) showing dogs with similar body proportions have very different risks. These differences point to a genetic predisposition to back disease.

Our advice to owners focuses on lifestyle factors to ensure they keep their dogs slim, well-muscled and fit and to avoid early neutering which has also been shown to double the risk of IVDD.

Roger Sainsbury BVM&S, MRCVS (roger@sains1.plus.com)
Ian Seath: Chairman, Dachshund Breed Council (ian@sunsong.co.uk)

For more information on IVDD please visit our website www.dachshund-ivdd.uk

Issued: 13/3/19

We are grateful to the Kennel Club Press Office for their help in preparing a response to the Daily Telegraph.

Breed Focus: Dachshunds in issue 5 of Edition Dog Magazine

Edition Dog is a relatively new monthly magazine full of in-depth and detailed information written by professionals. Each of the features focuses on dog health and wellbeing. Issue 5 features the Dachshund and has a health article on Intervertebral Disc Disease. Photos of SDA Secretary Wendy Starkey’s Smooth Dachshund Ramsay are in the main feature and there are interviews with Breed Council Chairman Ian Seath and Health Committee Pet Advisor Aimee Thomas.

We are grateful to Edition Dog for including a full-page advert for our Charity, Dachshund Health UK.

 

Dachshund Breed Council Annual Health Report for 2018

Download our 2018 Health Report here or click the image below.

DachsLife 2018 – health survey closes on 30th November

We’ve had over 2200 responses so far. Thank you everyone.

Complete the survey here

Questions cover:
– Details of your Dachshund
– Any history of, or treatment for, cancers and tumours
– Any other health issues

Don’t worry if you don’t have a detailed veterinary diagnosis of your dog’s cancer. Not everyone is able to have a biopsy or post-mortem done but if you can tell us how your dog was affected, that will be fine.

All responses will be treated as confidential and all results will be presented anonymously.  No owners or dogs will be identifiable from the reports produced.  You do not have to tell us your name, or your dog’s name, if you do not wish to.

Please submit a new form for each additional Dachshund using the link at the end of the survey.

The Great British Sausage Walk – thank you to everyone who took part

On behalf of the Breed Council, thank you to Chris Lamb who writes…

I had a little brainwave a few months ago wondering if people would get on board with the concept of a synchronized Dachshund Walk all over Great Britain. The aim was for lots of walking groups to all walk/get together on the same day to socialise, play and raise money and awareness for Dedicated to Dachshunds with IVDD, The Red Foundation and Dachshund Health U.K. with a suggested voluntary donation of £2 per Dachshund. The total going into one PayPal/Bank Account to then be divided between the charities.

I was delighted with the response from the Dachshund community and The Great British Sausage Walk was born!

So, on the 7th October 2018, the following groups held a walk/event raising a total of £2,441.67!

Kent Dachshunds. Lesley Easton

Sausage Dog Friends. Alan Williams

Dachshunds of Cumbria. Sue Fell

Astley Park. Tanya Wright

Sausage Dog Rendezvous. Chris Lamb

Isle of Man. Avril Muller

Derbyshire Dachshund. Tanya Robinson

Cornwall Dachshunds. Pauline Westaway

Fernilee. Nina Moore

Nottingham Dachshund Group. Ginny Bullock

Dachshunds Walking Group. Rosemary Henderson

Teesside. Martin Peagam

Dachshunds Around Glasgow. Jennie Walker

Sausage Dog Walks. South Wales. Charlotte Baldwin.

Absolutely thrilled with the support and hope to do it all again next year!

 

WE ALSO USED THE OPPORTUNITY TO REMEMBER JEFFREY (the Mini Wire who was attacked by another dog and, sadly, died). This enabled us to get more publicity for his Petition.

THANK YOU, EVERYONE.

Dachshunds doing Hoopers – “agility” suitable for Dachshunds

We are grateful to Anna Richardson for sharing this article with us. (PDF: DACHSHUND-HOOPERS-article)