Canadian Kennel Club Breeder Seminars

We are heading north of the border to Ottawa, Ontario in June to attend the Canadian Kennel Club conference and to see Dr. Gayle Watkins, Ph.D. present seminars on "The Boys We Love: Raising, Managing and Using a Stud Dog", and "Timing Your Breedings: From Beginning to End", and Dr. Laurie Larson, DVM at University of Wisconsin CAVIDS laboratory - speaking about vaccine antibody testing.

We are excited to see this new seminar on Stud Dogs, particularly - as we may decide to keep a male Stabyhoun puppy from our upcoming planned litter!

About Dr. Gayle Watkins: Gayle Watkins, PhD is a longtime golden retriever breeder with over 70 American and Canadian Conformation, Tracking, Obedience and Agility champions, plus Qualified-All Age and Master Hunter golden retrievers. In 2016, the AKC honored Gayle’s breeding program with a sport Breeder of the Year Award. Through Avidog International, Gayle designs continuing education for pet, competition and working dog breeders around the world. Avidog’s courses, seminars and products enable breeders and puppy owners to raise great dogs through cutting-edge science focused on long-term health and stable temperaments. She also serves on the boards of Cornell’s Baker Institute for Animal Health and Canine Health Events to fundraise and guide future canine research efforts. Gayle’s professional life included 22 years of service as a US Army officer (retiring as a Colonel), teaching, speaking and publishing, and conducting research for the Department of the Army, as well as many corporate and non-profit organizations. Her education includes biology, business and sociology degrees from Harvard, Stanford and Gettysburg College. For more information visit www.avidog.com.

Dr. Laurie Larson, DVM

Vaccine antibody testing can be helpful to your breeding program – Find out how! Joining Gayle this year is Dr. Laurie Larson from the University of Wisconsin. An expert on small animal immunology, Dr. Larson will guide participants through an interactive discussion covering:

• General overview of canine vaccines and how they work

• Pros and cons of various puppy vaccination schedules

• Reasons for vaccine failure in puppies

• Potential problems that can be caused by vaccines

• Types of antibody tests and what they can tell you

• How to use dam nomographs and puppy baseline titers

• Detection of active response to vaccines versus maternal antibody

• Factors impacting passive transfer of antibody from dam to litter

• Special approaches to high risk situations

This interactive discussion will include several real life scenarios and examples of ways that antibody testing can be useful to you to ensure your pups are protected and healthy. Dr. Larson is one of the authors of the most recently updated Canine Vaccine Guidelines produced by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) in September 2017.