The Functional Breeding Podcast

Laura Sharkey, PhD and Carolyn Kelly, RN: We All Have the Same Goals

This week we have Laura Sharkey and Carolyn Kelly back on the podcast. They are the co-founders of the Copilot Pet Dog Breeding Cooperative, and I always love to talk to them because of their fascinating insights into breeding dogs to be really good pets. We're talking about social media culture and how we love it and hate it - and how all of us love dogs and have the same goals even if we have such different perspectives sometimes on how to get where we're going.

Below are some links that were mentioned in the episode:

• Morrill, Kathleen, et al. “Ancestry-inclusive dog genomics challenges popular breed stereotypes.” Lay summary at https://functionalbreeding.org/2022/06/03/breed-behavior-and-mutt-genomics/ with a link to the original paper.
• Chen, Frances L., et al. "Advancing genetic selection and behavioral genomics of working dogs through collaborative science." Frontiers in Veterinary Science (2021): 1017. https://frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.662429/full
• The Copilot Breeding Cooperative: https://functionalbreeding.org/copilot-coop/
• The Companion Dog Project: https://www.companiondogproject.com/
• Ji's essay about temperament testing: https://www.midwoofery.com/amp/is-temperament-testing-really-worth-the-effort

 

Ji Khalsa, MS: Guardian Homes

This week we have Ji Khalsa back on the podcast. Ji is the founder of Midwoofery, a highly respected science-based educational resource for responsible dog breeders. She has a Masters degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry from Arizona State University, including independent studies in the link between canine genetics and behavior. She has decades of experience in breeding, including working dogs and companions. I asked Ji to talk to us about guardian homes - why are they useful for breeders and how do they help improve dog welfare?

Alison Skipper, PhD: the history of breed registries

This week we welcome back Dr. Alison Skipper to talk about the history of breed registries. Dr. Skipper is a veterinarian and historian at the Royal Veterinary College, London. She has an interest in the history of the health and welfare of purebred dogs. She works as a veterinarian at Crufts, has been on Kennel Club committees, and is very involved in the purebred dog world. Her perspective on the history of breed registries was a much demanded followup from her previous episode with us!

Sarah Stremming, CDBC: Fear Periods

This episode is jointly released through the Functional Breeding Podcast and Cog Dog Radio, which is hosted by Sarah Stremming. Sarah is an internationally known dog behavior consultant with a special niche working with sports dogs. She consults at The Cognitive Canine, teaches online courses on dog behavior, and hosts the Cog Dog Radio Podcast. I sat down with Sarah to talk about fear periods - do they exist? What do we know about them scientifically? What do we know about them anecdotally? What do puppy raisers and breeders need to know about them?

Carolyn Kelly, RN: Litter Highlight

Carolyn Kelly is a registered nurse with over 30 years of experience in human health including in labor and delivery, and in mental health where she witnessed the power that animal assisted interventions can play in the healing process. She holds a Masters Degree in Nursing Leadership and runs a small mixed breed companion dog program, Old Mission Retrievers. Along with Laura Sharkey, Carolyn heads up the Co-Pilot Pet Dog Breeding Co-operative, which is the Functional Dog Collaborative's first breeding co-op. In this episode, Carolyn and I are talking about her most recent litter. If you're interested in getting into the nitty gritty about health testing, mate selection, and some of the hurdles facing mixed breed breeders, you should enjoy this one.

Mary Peaslee, MD, MPH: Deep Dive on Hip Testing, Part 2

This is the second part of my epic interview with Mary Peaslee about hip testing. As I said in part one, I highly value Mary's insights about hip testing for a whole bunch of reasons. She's a medical doctor with an additional master's in public health, specializing in preventive medicine, so she has extensive training in understanding screening tests just like the kinds of tests we do for hip health. As for her dog cred, she has been breeding English Shepherds for over 20 years, with a focus on growing and sustaining a healthy breed population. She's been very involved in the breed, earning herding trial championships, and serving on the the board of directors for the English Shepherd Breed Conservancy, English Shepherd Club, and the American Herding Breed Association. Mary has volunteered for FDC for several years and we've had many discussions about health testing and breeding. We've talked a lot recently about hip testing and I asked her to come onto the podcast to tell us her thoughts. If you haven't listened to part one yet, I recommend you check that one out first!

Mary Peaslee, MD, MPH: Deep Dive on Hip Testing, Part 1

This episode I'm talking to Mary Peaslee about hip testing. I highly value Mary's insights about hip testing for a whole bunch of reasons. She's a medical doctor with an additional master's in public health, specializing in preventive medicine, so she has extensive training in understanding screening tests just like the kinds of tests we do for hip health. As for her dog cred, she has been breeding English Shepherds for over 20 years, with a focus on growing and sustaining a healthy breed population. She's been very involved in the breed, earning herding trial championships, and serving on the the board of directors for the English Shepherd Breed Conservancy, English Shepherd Club, and the American Herding Breed Association. Mary has volunteered for FDC for several years and we've had many discussions about health testing and breeding. We've talked a lot recently about hip testing and I asked her to come onto the podcast to tell us her thoughts.

This is part 1 of 2 parts.

Dr. Alison Skipper: the Health and History of Brachycephalic Dogs

Dr Alison Skipper is a veterinarian and historian at the Royal Veterinary College, London. She has a particular interest in the health and history of brachycephalic dogs, and has authored multiple peer-reviewed articles about the subject. She works as a veterinarian at Crufts, has been on Kennel Club committees, and is very involved in the purebred dog world. I very much respect her nuanced approach to the question of brachycephalic health and welfare.

Midwoofery and the FDC Breeder Curriculum

This week we have Ji Khalsa back on the podcast to talk about her highly regarded breeder educational resource, Midwoofery. Ji has a solid science background herself and has built a science-based curriculum (and we'll talk about what that means). Ji and I talk about how Midwoofery came to be, how it works, what courses she has, and what to expect from a course. We also explore how Midwoofery fits in to the Functional Dog Collaborative Breeder Curriculum.

To learn more about Midwoofery, check it out at midwoofery.com, and use the code fdcbreeder for 15% off your courses. To learn more about the FDC Breeder Curriculum, visit it at https://functionalbreeding.org/breeder-curriculum-outline/.

Litter highlight: Sara Reusche

We are pleased to have Sara Reusche (she/her) back on the podcast! Sara is a CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, CVT, and owns Paws Abilities Dog Training, LLC in Southeast Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro. Sara is back to update us on her multigen mixed breed breeding program and her new litter. She talks about transparency in breeding and making hard decisions and tells us all about her latest litter of dogs bred to be excellent companions and sports-lite partners.