I haven’t used the forum since all the changes and am not sure how to PM people.
Really Really appreciate all the responses.
As to my recent loss I paid a lot for her because I wanted to get into lure coursing.
Very interesting as the Penn Hip results on her were bad and she limped as a pup yet we were careful with exercise and built up her muscle strength . she lived to be old dying of kidney failure. A famous orthopedic vet and Penn hip were incorrect when they said she need new hip by 5 though she never got to ride with us or compete she was a happy girl and good guard dog for animals and us.
She also saved our lives when she woke us up at 3 am barking, there was a gas leak in the kitchen. What a smart dog.
I am looking for a healthy young dog under 3 , not a small dog and not a water dog because I have ponds and I want a dog that can live in the house.The ridgeback hated water.
I can no longer ride (health) though I still have 3 great horses.
so PM me if you learn of a young dog that needs a great country home.
Thanks again
Thats not a ridgeback.
There are no young Ridgeback rescue dogs anywhere in the southeast. I am in touch with RR rescue.
You sent me a private message about this 
Click on the user name to pop up the user card and click “message.”
Were her parents Penn Hip scored as well?
I think OFA and Penn Hip are both good but the more important factor is the pedigree if hip evals over multiple generations. In my breed more people use OFA so you are more likely to trace generations of good hips with OFA versus Penn Hip. Which is one reason that even though I think Penn Hip gives better views, I would still OFA my dogs so that you could use the OFA database to see the history.
I’m sorry for your loss of your beloved dog ~
While the search for your next companion may be long ~ and hit many snags ~ this is nothing ‘small’ nor something to hurry ~ do your work ~ search ~ do your work with patience.
Your dog will ‘appear’ at the right time ~ patience ~ and GOOD LUCK !
Here’s a 2 yr old female in Tampa Fl., owner died, is now fostered, must be only dog.
Sent you a PM
already adopted and didn’t look like a Rhody.
Thanks I am in touch with southeast’s coordinator for RRUS but she wasn’t very encouraging. Unfortuately they put mixed breeds on the web site which is great but not what I need.
Thanks for trying but she siad by the time they are on facebook they are gone in a flash.
Its great all these dogs are finding homes.
Since you are horse people I think you’d understand that any old dog just like any horse won’t do for most of us.
Finding a dog or a horse is as hard as finding a good lover…
I totally understand. Which is why I don’t understand why you aren’t reaching out to reputable breeders, who breed for correctness and soundness.
Thanks schoolmaster, you are correct. I had thought I could find a rescue who would love living on the farm but with my broken heart I can’t pull the trigger on just any dog. I believe if it was like in the old days ( pre pandemic) then I could walk down the cages and find the one that grabs my heart then I and the dog would be happy. . I also lost my 20 yr old horse this year.
My Rhody was exceptionally beautiful, used in some magazines plus a heart of gold and saved our lives.
I was hoping to find a “mutt” to get away from the pure breds and all their health problems.
so if I find one lose in the road then she’s coming home with me otherwise I just don’t know…
Don’t be fooled into thinking that mutts are less prone to health problems, because they aren’t. They suffer from nearly all the same issues that purebred dog suffer. Especially the common ones - hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, luxating patellas, heart issues, thyroid issues, eye issues, etc. There are some genetic disorders that are correlated with specific breeds, but they can occur in mixed breeds too.
I just read that a plane in Canada landed today with load of dogs including 30 dead puppies .
That’s what we are dealing with now people AKA sharks making money off of inexperiened people thinking its cool to have pets.
I looked at 20 rescues and they had no dogs that anyone who knew dogs would want unless you are very kind hearted and willing to care for an aged senior.
Yes I am cynical , really hopeless now and I did not want a puppy.
The farmers market has pens full of pups . I fear there will be some awful contagious diseases among our pets very soon.
These rescues are suspect as some have dogs that they admit never seen a vet or had a vaccination.
The country really is a mess.
BTW I have a vet hospital across the road and much of what I am saying is coming from their experience this year.
I don’t really think it has to do with the pandemic. International rescue has been a big thing for several years now, and it’s more about tugging at the heartstrings of animal lovers. Of course it’s heartbreaking to see that in many foreign countries dogs are starving in the streets and there are people here would would like them.
There are also a lot of “greeders” out there - but the rescues are a different entity. Unfortunately, the rescues bail out the greeders and find new/better homes for the BYB puppies that were placed in wrong homes.
I have nothing against legitimate rescues - they do good work. What I don’t understand, though, is the “adopt don’t shop” mentality. Why would we want to discourage reputable breeders and encourage crap breeders whose puppies end up in rescue? Those dogs in rescues come from somewhere! But not usually from good breeders.
You are mostly correct that crossbreeds have the same genetic problems as pure breeds .
Would like people to know that U.of Wash had inexpensive genetic testing for many breeds . a great program. In general Genetic testing is getting cheaper I had my exome tested and insurance paid the whole bill but otherwise it would have been 2K , 8 years ago it would have been 50K .
we’re going to learn a lot form genetic testing , much more than just Collies can’t take wormers or some vaccines.
I lost a wonderful dog to DM which strikes so many large breeds. I’d never heard of it but common for GS and Labs at least my dog didn’t get it till he was 12 so had a good life till then but I did have to pt him down when he couldn’t walk… Heartbreak,
A lot of common issues are genetic but not passed on by a single gene, which makes it difficult to screen for by DNA/genetic testing – e.g. dysplasia, epilepsy, certain eye and heart issues, etc. The only way to screen for those are by testing the sire and dam (and other littermates, offspring etc) and look for patterns.
There are some defects that can be identified by DNA and they are not expensive tests to conduct. And, ongoing research to help identify other genetic issues - e.g. epilepsy is being studied now. Maybe some day it will be possible to use only DNA to identify issues, but I doubt it. I don’t think it will ever entirely replace things like hip xrays or eye exams in breeding dogs (which are also not very expensive.)
NSU is doing genetic research on a Ridgeback stud (requested by breeder) which has been producing pups with heart disease. You are correct that so much is unknown but the science is changing daily. I’ve been in touch with geneticist at Duke and UNC . I am not a scientist, just a very curious soul with access to some very smart people doing genetic research. Sine they are friends they do waste their time and try to get me to understand .
Very cool stuff with horses especially related to disease and coat color. we know the research on animals is easier because we can dissect them hence much new information is coming from domestic animals.
They can ID genes for DM, cardiomyopathy, kidney disease and more in dogs (and people ) and more importantly breeds that will die from certain drugs. Even in people we know certain groups cannot take blood thinners or will die from common anesthetics.
It really wo;t be long till genetic testing will be done on our bred dogs hopefully to stop breeding all these defects.
Schoolmaster I am enjoying our discussion. Are you a scientist?
A friend with cystic fibrous is now still alive in his 60’s due to this new research.His siblings e deceased, sadly this came too late for them.
No, I’m not. I’m actually a purebred dog owner who is active in my breed. (Actually, my user name isn’t Schoolmaster…that’s the subtitle that COTH gave me, I guess!) I can’t claim to be a “breeder” because I only own males, but my dogs have been used for breeding, and health testing/clearances is something that I take very seriously, as do most of my breeder friends.
One of the issues in my breed is epilepsy, and it is known (so far) to be hereditary, but multi-factorial, so a single DNA test cannot yet be performed to identify it. We are hoping that current research will help eliminate it from our breed. It is nearly impossible to identify without testing because dogs can present with idiopathic epilepsy as late as 4 years old - by which time many otherwise fantastic dogs may have been used for breeding (after being titled and clearing many other health tests).
I almost bred my dog to a bitch that produced epilepsy in her first (and only) litter; once we realized that epilepsy was possible we cancelled the breeding. It was, and still is heartbreaking - because that bitch, and her litter excelled in so many ways (multiple multiple titles), but 4 of 7 puppies were affected. All of them have been removed from the breeding pool, as was the bitch herself (the sire was already deceased for many years). And it is impossible at this point to know how to prevent it. So frustrating, and removing all of those exceptional dogs from the breeding pool is a tragedy.
There are really great breeders out there; who are striving to produce correct dogs in both temperament and health - usually at a huge financial investment on their part, not recovered by selling puppies. So it’s frustrating when people talk about breeders being “greeders” - those people exist, too. We don’t call them breeders, though.
I have a water dog (Chesapeake Bay Retriever) and live on a lake and she lives in the house… Even sleeps on my bed. I just dry her off after she is swimming (which is OFTEN). I wouldn’t limit yourself based on that. Most dogs LOVE water regardless of whether they are “water” dogs or not.
I am not naive , the breeder did OFA on the bitch she just lied, remember its a business. I’ve had dogs for 40 years!
