News

12th December 2011

Three litters from an LUA parent have now been born in England:

One born to Fiona in Wales on 19/11/11.
10 pups -

Two sired by Merlin:
One born to Poppy belonging to Amanda Watson - all recently hearing tested as +/+ which is fantastic!

One born to Rosie belonging to Elizabeth Sampson. Born 1/12/11
10 puppies, 4 boys and 6 girls.
Hearing / DNA tests still to be performed.

Wendy / Harry Offspring

10th December 2011

There is still one puppy available from this litter -
Gaby LUA

See pics on the photos page

24th September 2011

Wendy - Harry litter (the first from a Uu dog in Europe) born and doing well!

Happy announcement from Dominique (who owns Wendy):

...the puppies will be Hua and BAER tested on mid-October.
Pictures of each puppy every 2 weeks on my website.
At the 13th day the spotting seems good.

Our newest recruit

1st August 2011

There is now also a boy imported from the States and owned by Elizabeth Sampson.
His name is Merlin and he just turned 1 today.
Proper name is Stocklore Wizard of the Forrest.
And we look forward to following his future and his offspring once all his health checks have been completed.
Welcome Merlin!

Exciting news about Wendy

14th July 2011

Wendy is the first of the nuts in Europe to be mated:
Details as follows:

The mating took place in Germany on July 13 and 14, between Wendy “StockloreForrest Windsong”and Harry “Odraz od Motovuna” ( see photo).
Harry has sired 90 puppies, 1 unilateral hearing 89 bilateral hearing. Harry lives with the family Esteves D’Iserlohn in Germany and he’s a German Champion.
His first litter in France is due in Mid Septmeber.
Reservations: dpvincent@orange.fr

Pedigree Wendy
Pedigree d’Odraz

Busy Weekend !!!

14th March 2011

Fiona attended Crufts Yesterday !!!
She made friends with everyone she met as only a Dalmatian can ;-) And she certainly received a lot of attention ;-)
She met up with some new friends & some who already knew her,including Loretta Swanson who had made the journey from the USA to be there.
This time, she was not the type the judge was looking for, but, still showed herself off to her very best, assisted by Julie ;-)

Fiona qualifies for Crufts!

4th December 2010

More great news from Julie and Fiona:

At the British Utility Breeds Championship Show today 4/12/10,
Fiona was 3rd in Limit Bitch. The first 3 qualify for Crufts.
Limit B is nearly always the STRONGEST class of
the day at championship shows & today was no exception.
It contains most of the top winning bitches in the breed -
Bitches with 1 & 2 CC's battling for their 3rd CC & title.
I think there were 15 TOP winning bitches in this class!
And FABULOUS FIONA was in the top 3!!!

Finally - the AKC release the report from the Health and Welfare Advisory Committee on the LUA dalmatians!

3rd December 2010

And its very supportive.
The main caveat being not to rush into mating NUAs to NUAs but seeing as that is not something we are really looking to pursue at the moment there is no problem there.
Our aim is to slowly spread the gene through the population to allow it to become available so if people choose to breed with a dog with this gene they have that option.

Here is the report:

The AKC Canine Health & Welfare Advisory Committee
(Sandra Barker, PhD; Jerold Bell, DVM; Eddie Dziuk, MBA; John Hamil, DVM; Joan
Hendricks, VMD, PhD; Linda Lord, DVM, PhD; Colleen O'Keefe, DVM, MS; Patricia
Olson, DVM, PhD; Elaine Ostrander, PhD; Frances Smith, DVM, PhD, DACT)

Executive Summary & Recommendation – LUA Dalmatians

On October 30, 2009, the Canine Health & Welfare Advisory Committee received
email communications from Jim Crowley seeking the Committee's input on the
request to register a group of Dalmatians commonly referred to as the Back Cross
or LUA (low uric acid) Dalmatians.

The question of registration of the LUA Dalmatians has been a contentious
subject of debate. The committee has attempted to remove itself from any
emotionally and politically charged issues, and instead focused purely on the
following basic questions:

• Should these descendants be considered purebred Dalmatians?
• What is known about Dalmatians and high uric acid?
• Are urate uroliths a significant health issue in Dalmatians?
• Are high levels of uric acid a predisposing factor to urate uroliths?
• Could selective introduction of the LUA Dalmatians into the AKC Dalmatian
gene pool have a positive impact on the health and welfare of the breed?

Are the dogs in question purebred Dalmatians?

In the research phase identifying the single gene responsible for the uric acid
defect, retrospective analysis of the LUA dog's pedigree and parentage data,
along with correlation to spot urine testing records, revealed that zero
mistakes had been made in the record keeping. The DNA test results confirmed a
100% accuracy of the pedigree and urine testing records. With over twelve
reported subsequent generations from the single cross breeding in the early
70's, today's descendants should be more than 99.97% pure Dalmatian. Surely this
level of purity should pass a litmus test of being purebred.

What is known about Dalmatians and high uric acid?

The Dalmatian breed is known to be fixed for a medical condition which causes a
metabolic abnormality in which uric acid is not efficiently converted to
allontoin. As a result, abnormally high levels of uric acid are secreted in the
urine of all purebred AKC Dalmatians (hyperuricosuria), which in turn often
leads to crystallization of uric acid salts and/or stone formation (uroliths).
This metabolic defect was shown to be inherited as a simple autosomal recessive
trait by early investigators, and in the early 1970's a single
Pointer/Dalmatian cross breeding was done by Robert Schaible, PhD in an attempt
to introduce a normal copy of the gene. Subsequent research has shown that the
inability to properly convert and reabsorb uric acid is the result of a mutation
in the SLC2A9 gene, a gene since widely documented to be influential in uric
acid transport. All AKC Dalmatians are homozygous for the SLC2A9 mutation.

Are urate uroliths a significant health issue in Dalmatians?

Studies at the urolith laboratories at the University of Minnesota, UC Davis,
and the University of Guelph have all shown that Dalmatians have a significantly
higher odds ratio of urate stones than any other breed, and male Dalmatians have
an exponentially higher incidence than female Dalmatians. While the exact
frequency of urate stones in Dalmatians is unknown, based on the published data,
the frequency of stone formation in male Dalmatians has been reported in peer
reviewed scientific journals between 13.8% and 34.3%. In a twenty year survey of
the Minnesota Urolith Laboratory, 9,095 Dalmatians were diagnosed with urate
stones. This represents almost 500 Dalmatians a year from
this center alone.

Are high levels of uric acid a predisposing factor to urate uroliths?

It is true that while all purebred AKC Dalmatians exhibit high levels of uric
acid; not all of them form stones, not all stone formers block, and not all dogs
with blockages require surgical intervention. Continued research is warranted to
determine what additional genes or environmental factors may influence the
actual formation of stones. However, given the genetically fixed condition of
hyperuricosuria in Dalmatians, and the data regarding urate stone frequency
compared to other breeds, there is no question that high levels of uric acid are
a significant predisposing factor.

Could selective introduction of the LUA Dalmatians into the AKC Dalmatian gene
pool have a positive impact on the health and welfare of the breed?

Urinary obstruction due to uric acid stone formation is also a significant
problem in Black Russian Terriers and Bulldogs. Affected dogs in both breeds
have been shown to have the exact same SLC2A9 mutation as found in the
Dalmatian, though at a much lower frequency. However, since the mutation is not
fixed in these breeds, breeders can use the available genetic test to
selectively breed away from the mutation – thus preventing the production of
dogs liable for uric acid stone formation. This will allow a reduction in the
frequency of the disease over time.

Unfortunately, since AKC Dalmatians are 100% homozygous for the mutation, the
only way to correct the genetic defect is through the introduction of the normal
SLC2A9 gene. The addition of the LUA back cross descendants (those heterozygous
or homozygous for the normal SLC2A9 gene) would enable breeders to voluntarily
introduce the normal
gene into the gene pool, and would yield immediate benefits in reducing uric
acid levels and the liability to form urate stones.

Recommendation

Because the introduction of the low uric acid dogs into the AKC registry gives
Dalmatian breeders a scientifically sound method of voluntarily reducing the
incidence of the condition, this committee strongly recommends some controlled
program of acceptance of these dogs. Where the strict health and welfare of the
breed is the over-riding concern, no other argument can be made.

The only caveat to the reintroduction of the normal functioning SLC2A9 gene is
in the rate of reintroduction. Any attempt to rapidly reintroduce a normal
functioning SLC2A9 gene will result in a significant population bottleneck and
loss of genetic diversity due to the small kindred of Dalmatians carrying the
normal gene. A reintroduction program must be conducted slowly, and with a
diversity of pedigree background. The breed must avoid popular sire effects that
would occur with a rapid reintroduction program. Individual breeders can be free
to make their own decisions about incorporating the normal gene. However, it
would be a disservice to the health and welfare of the Dalmatian breed to not
allow the normal gene to be reintroduced.

Fiona's success so far

1st December 2010

Well, since Fiona's first show where she got BOB she had plenty more success.
At Manchester 21st November, she got Best of Group!
At Conventry 27th November she got 1st in Open Class.
At Stafford (Sedgley and Gornal Dog Show) 28th November she got 2nd in Open Class.

We are very proud of her and are obviously ecstatic that she has achieved so much but more than that we are just so grateful that she has a chance to compete on equal terms with any other dalmatian in the UK.

Merlin makes it to Europe

29th November 2010

Merlin, our 4th NUA import to Europe from the US has arrived safe and well in Italy.
He is co-owned by Barbara Petronio in Italy (where he is now) and Elizabeth Sampson in the UK.
He is the first male to come over the pond and will hopefully do his bit for making the NUA gene more available when the time is right.
He will spend a few months over in Italy and once he has been cleared for rabies in six months or so he'll be making his way over to England. Very exciting!!
A big thankyou to both owners for investing a lot of time, energy and money into making this import possible.

For anyone interested his parents are: Ch. Stocklore Stalwart and Ch. Stocklore Vilia de Forrest. He was bred by Dr. Robert Schiable who started the Back-cross Project all those years ago.

Fiona's first UK Show & she got BoB

7th November 2010

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!
To everyone who made the following possible....

fionaBOB

Fiona (BIMBS BISS Gr Champion Fiacre's First and Foremost CGC) who, not only got 1st in the Open class, but, then BoB at her FIRST UK show (Coventry open).

THE GIRLS HAVE ARRIVED !!!!

22nd August 2010

We are pleased to announce the arrival of BIMBS BISS Gr Champion Fiacre's First and Foremost CGC (Fiona) & Stocklore Sally Forth (Sally) in the UK. Thank You to everyone involved in making this possible.

We have received some great news !!!

20th July 2010

Fiona (Gr Ch Fiacre's First and Foremost), who will be arriving in the UK very soon, is now a Premier Total Dog!!!!
To be a total dog you must qualify in a performance event AND win BOB or your Gr Ch or Ch or WB or WD class or receive an award of excellence.
Fiona
Well Done to Everyone involved !!!

Beauty, Brains & NUA!!!!

JDC confirms that all Dalmatians have high uric acid levels!

1st May 2010

The Joint Dalmatian clubs, with funding from the KC Charitable trust, carried out DNA tests on 50 unrelated dalmatians to see if any carried the normal gene for low uric acid. We also know that at least 5 other test's have been done by individuals, taking the number tested to 55.
The following letter from the AHT was sent to those who were invited to participate :

The results show that each of your dalmatians carries two copies of the mutant hyperuricosuria gene. You may be interested to know that all of the sample of 50 Dalmatians tested produced this same result.
The Kennel Club Charitable Trust kindly made a grant towards the costs of this screening programme and intends to publish the overall result in the Kennel Gazette and on its website.
Individual results will not be published.
The Joint Dalmatian Clubs would like to express their thanks to you once again for agreeing to participate in this programme.

Sally appears in the showring

1st April 2010

Sally has made an appearance in the showring and won her class!

14th March 2010

Information about Wendy

1st March 2010

Following many enquiries concerning Wendy, we are publishing the following information concerning Wendy:
"Wendy (D'STOCKLORE FORREST WINDSONG) is definitively entered in the Livre d'Origines Francais (French Kennel Club register). She has entered "a titre initial" with an exceptional mention of her United Kennel Club number. This will allow interested persons access to her full origins. Her PEA (BAER) is also mentioned on the pedigree. Her offspring will receive a birth certificate (Certificate de Naissance) from the Societe Centrale Canine provided that the formalities are completed in the usual way. They can receive a full pedigree after confirmation of the birth certificate. That is, the dog is examined by a specially qualified judge who certifies that it complies with the breed standard. ALL PEDIGREE DOGS in France are subject to this examination, which in Dalmatians cannot take place before 12 months of age. Wendy's offspring (G1) will carry her owner's affix "du Relais des Mauges". Generations 1 & 2 can be exported with an Export Pedigree, in lieu of a Certificate de Naissance, to any country which complies with the FCI rules. Offspring which remain in France will continue to be tested for hearing and hip dysplasia. Obviously the pedigree will not be complete until the third generation. There are no restrictions on showing and Wendy's descendants are eligible to qualify for the French National Championship title."

Wendy's SCC pedigree is available here, and her UKC pedigree is available here. All this information, and more, will be available shortly on Dominique Vincent's site Dalmatien, mon ami.

GiGi is not coming...

1st February 2010

Sadly, due to unforeseen circumstances Gigi will not be coming to Wales after all. However, Carol Chase has very kindly offered to allow her gorgeous liver bitch, "UKC Grand Ch Fiacre's First and Foremost" (Fiona) to join the gang at Tyrodal. She has her CHIC number (tested for hearing, hips, eyes and low uric acid gene).
We are all very grateful to Carol for this fantastic news.

JDC response to KC decision

1st January 2010

The Joint Dalmatian Clubs have released a statement re: KC acceptance of registration of 2 NUA Dalmatians to be imported from the US. As their statement is copyright you will have to go here to read it:
http://www.britishdalmatianclub.org.uk/news/index.php?action=view_news&news_id=201
Our reply to this is not copyright & anyone is free to post it:
NUA response to Joint Dalmatian Cubs' submission