Dear All

Already one and a half month’s gone and I’m still behind on last year’s work!   I am totally amazed at the amount of white Yorkies that is suddenly popping up all over.  One advert that really had me giggling for days was that of a “Party” Yorkie Valentines Special!   Isn't that precious?   Fortunately we have enough pure bred Biewer Terriers recognised by KUSA not to have to resort to Specials.    Be scam alerted!

Another funny is that some of our previous members have decided to sell “breeding dogs” at the usual R25000.00.  These dogs are not near breeding quality and have been rejected by the BTCSA as breeding dogs.    So if your dogs are not breeding quality and you are not permitted to sell such dogs but you want to sell them as breeding dogs, what do you do?    You resign for the BTCSA, sell inferior breeding dogs and ruin the whole Biewer Terrier breeding program.  The poor new owner can now breed unregister mutts that will soon be as common as White Yorkies and tri-colour Maltese.  Be very careful, when investing in a Biewer Terrier to breed with.     During one of my previous meetings with Greg Eva, President of KUSA in 2010, it was suggested that we do not make breeding dogs available in 2011.    I am now happy to say I am in a position to invite new potential breeders to become involved in our breeding program.  If you think you have the passion, perseverance, commitment, can abide by rules and regulations, do not have more than 12 other dogs which you are currently breeding with, am a loyal KUSA member for at least the past 2/3 years you are very welcome to apply for breeding status at the Biewer Terrier Club.  The Biewer Terrier will continue to progress and take their place in the world of the purebred dog.

A few snippets from the veterinary world:

Several dog owners have lost puppies to young adults to Parvo Virus. The scary thing is that several of these dogs have in fact had their all their vaccinations as per the SAVA vaccination schedule. Clinicians at Onderstepoort as well as the vaccine producing companies have claimed that this is not a new variation or mutated virus. In Europe further studies are being done as they believe that the virus is no longer identical to the original virus. My advice is still to keep your dogs vaccinated and try not to expose your dogs to possible infection. Here I also unfortunately have to warn you against possible buyers as they could be carriers always ask if they had a dog dying of parvo or have been in contact with possible parvo infected animals. Something very interesting that we have noticed is that “cat flu” in cats has made a come-back. Shelters have lost both kittens and adult cats at an alarming rate. Since the major outbreak of Parvo virus in dogs in the ‘70’s, Parvo in cats was rarely if ever seen. The significance of this observation is interesting, but if it has any significance, I cannot say.  

Diabetes is on the increase in dogs, especially in middle aged fat small breed dogs. There is a better understanding of diet amongst owners. Even if you do not feed your dog commercial dog foods, it is essential to feed a well balanced diet with well balanced amounts of protein to fats to carbohydrates. Remember that 1 dog may also differ from another and a home made diet that works for 1 dog does not always work for another dog. For example, my Rottweiler dog Izzy is allergic to any food that contains Brewers yeast. This seems to be a hereditary trait as 2 of her daughters show the same intolerance. Back to diabetes – dogs fed very fatty foods or high glucose containing foods; tend to show constant upset tummies. This often leads to pancreatitis developing. With pancreatitis, the pancreas cells producing insulin get damaged and insulin is no longer secreted, leading to the development of diabetes. The other causes of diabetes and pancreatitis will be discussed at a later stage. Diabetes requires twice daily injections of insulin for the rest of the dog’s life, special diets, early blindness and susceptibility to any infections. No fun for the dog or the owner!!  

For those on farms: there has been an outbreak of swine fever in pigs in the Delmas area. Although this disease does not affect dogs, it is a disease that causes massive mortalities amongst pigs. This is a notifiable disease (must be reported to the State Veterinarian) and can be the cause of culling of entire piggeries. All sales of pigs and movement of pigs have been stopped in the Delmas area.  

Keep on protecting your Biewers and your blood lines. Feed them well and love them as much as they love you.