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1996 American Whippet Club Whippet Annual Pages 51 through 75
Breeders/Owners/Handler (Frank):
The WRA congratulates the following Whippets for earning their Whippet Race Champion (WRCh) Certificates in 1996: Crystal light Mirage Also, the WRA congratulates the 1996 top ten: I. Lyth Vitorio ARM, ORC The WRA offered over 30 meets, and our National Meet had 50 adult entries with representation from all regions. Keuro’s She’s Tuff Too, ItCH, WRCh won the National, with Lyth Vitorlo, ARM, ORC taking second and best of opposite. The winner of the first WRA National conformation match under judge Jean flaunt was Whealland Cab Calloway and best of opposite was Queeuie’s Wave Runner, ARM, SORC, ARX, FD. The WRCh has requirements Identical to the old ARM Title. In addition, 1997 introduces the following new titles: Companion Racer (CR) - Any whippet that accumulates 15 race points (issued for placement during a race meet) at a meet or meets, based on complete mects. Companion Racer Excellent (CRX, CDXII, etc.) - any whippet (not holding an ARM, WRCh, W1IChX) who has earned a CR and then accumulates 60 race points, based on complete meets. Each additional 60 points will earn a CDXII and so on. Whippet Race Champion Excellent (WRChX, WltChXil, etc.) - Any male whippet that accu.nulates 50
(Ch. Whippoorwill Tanager x AmCanCh. Aikerskaill Laurel of VVinsmith) “Liza” is looking for a major to finish her championship.
Ch. Winsmith A Star Is Born
Ch Whippletrees Raisin Cain x BIS Lady Blair of Whippoorwill “Timely” finished quickly as a youngster and spent several years in retirement with his co-owner Syl Rozny. Returning to the show ring as a veteran, his soundness and effortless movement gleaned him many awards. One of the most coveted awards was winning the Senior Veterans Class at the AWC National for the third time at 12 years of age, thereby retiring the beautiful trophy offered by Carol H. Willumson in loving memory of Ch. Pennyworth Would You Believe, a 1964 Best In Show trophy won by Eng & Am Ch. Courtney Fleetfoot of Pennyworth.
Enjoying his last show and a last “hurrah” in a “timely” manner, Timely won an Award of Merit and was Best Veteran at the Second National Whippet Club of Canada Specialty, June 1995. Special THANKS to Syl Rozney for his dedicated friendship and T.L.C. of Timely. We are proud to have Syl as co-owner of Timely’s grandson Whippoorwill DoubIe Trouble.
Annapolis Kennel Club - August 1996 SOS: Ch. WHippoorwiII Burghley Necter Winners Dog & New Champion: TivoIi’s Secret Demon Winner’s Bitch & New Champion: Whippoorwill Passionate Kisses Whippoorwill Tender Moment, SC Winsmith As Time Goes By
(Ch. Whippoorwill Double Time x Ch. Whippoorwill Aeolian Dream) “Mitch”, also known as “Mench” by his Co-owner:
(Ch. Whippoorwill Double Time x Ch. Whippoorwill Aeolian Dream) “AIex” is pictured winning her first points and BOS from the 6-9 month puppy class under Mr. Dick Rupert.
(Ch. Whippoorwill Tanager x Ch. Sonsteby’s Moon Dusk Mink) Pin inherited the best from both coasts, with elegance and movement in a package that gets better every day. Showing him as an owner-handler and finishing with back-to-back majors was the ultimate high! A special thanks to his breeder, Ellen Scheuing, and to Barbara Henderson for selecting him and Ken Wheeler for starting him. Wilsprit
(Ch. Whippoorwill Tanager x Ch. Whippoorwill Tivoli Chris) Another Champion for Timely. Mercy is shown finishing with BOW under John Simm at the Delaware
New Location We are proud to sponsor 4 sprint and oval races per year.
For additional information:
“Yancey” has 11 points toward his AKC championship and has been BOS twice over specials. He is a breed and group winner his only time out as SKC competition, taking the breed over a special bitch that was also an AKC champion. We are very proud of our “little pistol”!
P.O. Box 446
(Ch. Affinity The Lionhearted x Affinity Scout’s Honor) Sheena is my favorite, a wonderful combination of function and beauty She took WB/BOW in the breed ring last summer (one of her few appearances) under noted whippet breeder-judge Katie Winters of Winterwhip, handled by her breeder, David Samuelson. Sheena is lacking one of those “elusive” majors to finish! Sheena has been bred to SBIS Select Ch. Locar Martini on the Rocks and is expecting a January litter Now that’s something to be excited about! After she is through being a “Mom “, look for her back on the field, back in the show ring and forever gracing my (her) couch! We would also like to congratulate Sheena’s grandfather Ch. Affinity Windrose Kemosabi, on his recent Register of Merit.
Although only raced/shown 3 weekends, “Spanky” earned 3 Firsts, 2 Seconds, and 1 Fourth in CWA Conformation, is almost finished with his D.P.C. title and is A.R.X. pointed. In addition, he is nearing his A.S.F.A. LCM title and is AKC conformation pointed.
(BIF AmCanCh. Sun Run's Majestic Light, FCh. x Multi BIF HH Sushi Matsuri of Mwari, FCh)
INHERITED DISEASES IN WHIPPETS The Annual Report
This year was a full one, as regards Whippet health, and due to the emergence of new issues in our breed, I have decided to refocus my annual report on all major health concerns, rather than just eye diseases. As regards inherited eye disease, unfortunately, I don't have full statistics from CERF this year. The main data programmer left CERF due to a terminal illness, and he was apparently in the middle of changing programming. There is a new person on board, but it will be a while till she has a full grasp of the data reporting, so CERF was not able the generate the detailed reports we usually get. They did provide me with the list of Whippets who were issued CERF numbers in 1996, and I'm happy to say there are 352 this year. Of course, some of these are repeat exams, but what I'm most pleased about is that there are now over 850 Whippets who have been issued CERF numbers, since data collection began. (Of course, this number includes ALL Whippets issued a CERF number, many of whom are now aged or dead. However, this is a major increase in numbers since I began reporting to the club in 1989, when the number of CERF Whippets was about 200.) I hope that CERF may be able to provide the detailed numbers before the Annual goes to press. Another area of concern, which had come up in the past, is the blood clotting disorder, von Willebrand's disease. This year, a long-time breeder had several dogs tested, after some of their Whippets had fertility problems, and a few of the tests came back as possibly deficient in the clotting factor. I know that the breeder was worried about it, as the disease is present in quite a few other breeds, and can certainly wreak havoc with the dog's health. von Willebrand's disease (vWD) is a deficiency of the von Willebrand's factor, one of the several clotting factors found in canine blood. In most breeds it is considered to be a dominant with incomplete expression, though in Chesapeake Bay retrievers and Scottish terriers, it is recessive. It is not inherited as a sex- linked trait, unlike, for instance, hemophilia in humans. According to Dr. Jean Dodds, who has worked extensively with blood clotting diseases, the condition can be exacerbated by concurrent hypothyroidism. Testing for the disease can be complicated, because a number of factors can trigger blood clotting during the testing, and other factors can cause temporary reduction of clotting ability. It is recommended that bitches in season, as well as pregnant or lactating bitches not be tested. Dogs under stress, as well as those on long term medication, such as heartworm preventive, may also give false test results. The testing itself must be done by an experienced person, as too much tissue trauma during the blood drawing can activate tissue clotting factors, giving low results. Special anticoagulant must be used, the blood must be handled gently, plasma must be separated from the blood cells fairly quickly, and the plasma must be kept cold or frozen to avoid activating the clotting systems and giving falsely low readings. The test measures the amount of von Willebrand's factor antigen in the blood, and can indicate normal dogs, those which are carriers, but probably won't have bleeding problems, and those which will be clinical bleeders. Puppies can be tested, though I have also read that dogs under a year old may not have accurate results. Late in 1996, it was announced that a cheek swab DNA test is now available but it is only valid in Scottys. From what I've read about the test, it will very accurately indicate whether a dog carries the gene or not. It can be used for puppies and is independent of the dog's reproductive status and so forth. Hopefully, as the mapping of the canine genome progresses, the test will be expanded to include other breeds. To my knowledge, there has only been 1 Whippet with confirmed vWD, but there has been concern that there may be many more dogs who might be carriers. We had talked about doing a vWD clinic at the National, but stress can affect the test results, so it isn't clear that it's such a good idea. Probably the best thing for concerned breeders is to have their dogs tested by their own vet, and if you have enough dogs, doing them at home might be a good idea. Contact Dr. Dodds or the lab at Cornell University for exact information as to timing of testing, shipping samples, etc., as well as the test kits. Their phone number is 607-2533900. A second issue I was made aware of is the apparent increase in the incidence of deafness in some young Whippets. To my knowledge, this has not been a big problem in the past, but I am concerned by the suggestion that there may be more deaf dogs than previously thought. It is especially disturbing to find out that the more we talk about it, the more I hear about yet another breeder who has had deaf dogs, some of whom are quite active in breeding. I am reluctant to say much about the inheritability of this problem, since all my information is anecdotal - ie, not based on any kind of hard data or research. However, I think it s important that we pursue this issue further. Research is ongoing on deafness in Dalmatians, and the disease process is pretty well understood in that breed, as well as in other breeds where deafness is a problem. The genes for deafness in Dals are also being located, but it is often the case that the gene for a condition in one breed is not necessarily the same gene in another, so Dal research may not be relevant to our breed. Karen Lee stepped forward and published information over the Internet, as well as in the Whippet News, about some deaf puppies she has now, and she has asked the Health Committee to devote attention to this issue. She will help with data collection, though she feels that the information should be held by Dr. Austin and myself, so as to try to ensure impartiality and confidentiality. We will keep the club apprised as we get more hard data. Anyone else wishing to contribute information can contact us. We plan to devise a form to be filled out with pedigree information, color and markings of deaf pups and so forth, in order to try to make any sense out of the data. Karen has been in touch with two well known researchers who feel that the deafness which turned up in her pups is almost certainly inherited, and in fact, were surprised to hear that our breed was affected, as there were no previous reports of the problem in Whippets. They will also be advising Karen, and we should be able to turn to them for help in data analysis. But I think it will be a while before we could make any statement about whether deafness in Whippets is inherited, the mode of inheritance, and how extensive a problem it is. Overall, I feel that the breed is in pretty good shape with regards to inherited diseases. But as I've pointed out in the past (ad nauseam, for some folks!) vigilance over health issues is mandatory, since inherited diseases can spread with shocking rapidity through a gene pool. All we have to do is to look at many other breeds to see what carelessness can accomplish. What I believe we all value in our Whippets is their health, and we're all responsible for it's continuance.
Ch. Starline's Reign On, JC, ROMX x AmCanCh. Allerei's Santa Paula, FCh, ROMX “ Mimi” who personifies the true Whippet beauty style and temperament is shown enjoying a short “R&R” with her uncle and best buddy, "Broker" (Ch. Allerei's Wall Street CD), after she completed her Championship one day and took B.O.B. under Dr. John Shelton the next day Thank you, Fern Strother, for the excellent handling of Mimi and to Allerei Farms for entrusting me with the care of these beautiful dogs! Thank you to Mimi's many fans and to all the judges who recognized the quality of this beautiful bltchl (FLASH... Look for notice of a future litter, when Mimi makes her debut as "Mama"!)
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