Author archives: Brian Lynn

Every state has a flower, a nickname and another officially decreed symbols. However, only 11 states have an official state dog. This seems like a gross injustice to me, considering some of the symbols recognized by some states include official state amphibians, insects, fungus, poems and even toys.

In 1964, the Chesapeake Bay retriever was the first dog to be decreed an official state canine – that was in Maryland, the state from which it originated. Typically, the dogs that originated in a state or played a role in its culture tend to have the official-state status bestowed upon them.

Several states have shot down proposed state dog breeds; politics knows no bounds, apparently. In 1991, Georgia politicians came to an impasse when two opposing campaigns pitted the golden retriever against the bulldog for state canine. Similar attempts to designate dogs as state symbols failed in Washington state (Siberian husky) and Kansas (Cairn terrier; a hat-tip to Toto from The Wizard of Oz).

If your state were to name an official breed of dog as the canine symbol, which breed would be the best representation?

Official State Dogs

Alaska: Alaskan malamute
Louisiana: Catahoula leopard dog
Maryland: Chesapeake Bay ...

New information from the Insurance Information Institute and State Farm reveals that dog bite claims continued to rise in 2013. The number of bites are up since 2012, but the amount of insurance payouts since last year are down – but only slightly. In the last decade, claims, value of claims and average cost per claim are all up. 

In 2013, the value of insurance claims related to dog bites totaled $483.7 million! That’s nearly a half billion dollars. The number of claims was up 5.5 percent with a total of 17,359 claims. Those are just reported claims. That’s a lot of biting going on -- some of these are due to irresponsible owners not taking time to properly socialize and train their dogs, while others are likely due to something that happened in the moment and which was likely a one-time incidence; most of those situations, however, were likely avoidable. 

Before you think it’s just nips and torn pants that qualify for those bite incidences, consider that the average claim was for $27,862 – it doesn’t take much to rack up a hospital bill with a visit to the emergency room.

The top-10 states ...

Breeding dogs and producing puppies is no easy task. It’s not a lucrative endeavor, either. The costs associated with breeding can add up quick. Genetic screening of a sire and dam, however, should be a calculated cost of doing business.

Just as going into debt to afford college is considered “good” debt (because it will pay off in the end), genetic screening is a “good” cost that can be recouped and will also pay higher dividends in the end.

As a breeder, genetic screening for inherited diseases helps ensure that you’re producing sound, healthy puppies. It’s a cost that can be passed on to the puppy buyer, and one that underscores your health guarantees. It puts proof in your hands as to your dog’s genetic health, and shows that you’re making breeding decisions and offering guarantees based on the most current scientific data, as well as other goals such as performance or conformation.

The costs associated with genetic testing are minimal compared to the potential damage to your reputation and costs of replacing, refunding or caring for a sick dog that a puppy buyer returns; those costs are easily recovered.

For some breeds, only a single genetic mutation has been ...

Puppy-formula foods have been around for a long time. Theories, myths, personal beliefs and veterinarian recommendations concerning them began to form about 31 seconds after they hit store shelves. This mass of information and misinformation can make it confusing for a puppy owner to know what to feed and when to switch a puppy to an adult formula.

When my dogs were young, a popular theory was to switch a dog off of a puppy formula at around six months of age. It was believed that puppy formulas were too hot and caused bones to develop too fast. I switched both dogs, the lazy bulldog and active Labrador, to performance formulas at about that age. Both developed well and with no issues. But was it the right thing to do and does the advice still apply?

It turns out that a ton of research and changes have taken place around puppy formulas in the last 10 to 15 years, and that’s always good news – for knowledge, whether it proves or disproves your position, is a means to a better end.

“The myth of switching a puppy to adult food early persists to this day. It started at a time ...

Just as with your breeder page in Paw Print Pedigrees, the publicly accessible database of canine test results performed at Paw Print Genetics, your dog page(s) allow you to securely display your dog’s test results. It also lets you to highlight everything about your dog.

While your breeder page allows you to display overview information about your kennel or breeding goals, as well as your website, contact info and dogs, each specific dog page lets you go more in depth about each individual dog.

The dog page starts with the dog’s name and gives you the option of uploading a photo. If your dog is panel tested (meaning it has received all of the known mutations for the breed offered by Paw Print Genetics), a blue panel with a trophy denoting the accomplishment will appear between the name and photo.

Down the left side of the page, the dog’s personal information is listed: call name, registered name, its Paw Print Genetics laboratory number, its registration number, breed, sex, date of birth, microchip number and tattoo identifier.

In the middle of the page appears your name (or the name of the person who tested the dog). If you created a ...

When Paw Print Genetics launched Paw Print Pedigrees, the public-accessible database of canine test results performed at our laboratory, we wanted to give our clients a free platform to promote their breeding program and dogs in a simple, easy-to-use format. The goal was to create a one-stop reference site for our clients that matched the one-stop ease of genetic screening at Paw Print Genetics.

Our breeder page allows you quick access to contact information and permits an overview of your kennel, dogs and breeding philosophies and goals.

As you can see in the picture, down the left side of the page a user has instant access to your name, the badges you’ve earned (currently benchmarks of the number of dogs you’ve tested), your website, phone number and email address. You can then upload a picture of one of your dogs to show the user an example of exactly the kind of dog you are producing.

If you’re trying to promote your kennel, prominently displaying your contact information is of utmost importance. With Paw Print Pedigrees, it’s easy to find and connect with potential puppy buyers and other breeders who take genetic screening as seriously as you do. 

In the ...

Paw Print Genetics is dedicated to bettering canine genetic health by providing the most accurate and reliable genetic screening for disease-causing mutations. We pride ourselves on the customer service given to each client, and even those just curious about genetics or healthy dogs in general. We want to be your definitive resource for canine genetic health. If you have questions about genetics, we’re here to help. If you need your dog screened for genetic mutations, we can do that with 100-percent accuracy.

But canine health isn't our only concern that we support. Several members of the Paw Print Genetics team donate time and money to help create awareness and fundraise for national organizations at the local level that engage in disease-fighting research for humans, too.

As an undergraduate, I was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Now that I’ve returned to my old stomping grounds, I’ve become involved with the local chapter again as the advisor. About two years ago, the chapter decided to take part in the national fraternity’s Iron Phi program, which raises funds for the ALS Association to raise awareness of and research for the disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The ALS Association ...

This weekend Paw Print Genetics attended the Spokane Kennel Club’s all-breed show, where conformation and obedience dogs strutted their stuff. The show, as always, was a great success – approximately a thousand dogs competed for titles. Paw Print Genetics educated attendees about inherited canine diseases, showcased our services and great staff and supported the local club’s efforts and economy. We also met some great dogs, some of which helped with one of our current research projects.

Two groups who were in attendance included the Intermountain Search Dogs and HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response. They were being honored during the Memorial Day weekend for their dedication and service to society.

Intermountain Search Dogs works directly with our local Spokane County Sheriff’s department to perform search-and-rescue work in the area. They have various units that include air-scenting dogs, ground tracking/trailing and human remains detection dogs. These civilians can be called into action day or night, any time of the year and in any weather to find lost or missing people, victims of drowning or natural disasters such as mudslides, avalanches or floods. They’re used to search for the bodies of homicide victims under the direction of law enforcement and emergency service agencies ...

We’ve been busy here at Paw Print Genetics. As we celebrated our one-year anniversary on May 1, we had increased our screening of inherited disease mutations to 143 tests in 243 breeds – the most available on the market. One-stop shopping, outstanding customer service and 100-percent accuracy on all tests are the cornerstones of our company. We’re here to help you breed and buy healthier dogs, and to make that as easy as possible.

To that end, Paw Print Genetics has launched Paw Print Pedigrees – a new service for its customers to promote their dogs and the puppies they produce.

The completely free service is offered to anyone who has had a test performed at Paw Print Genetics, and allows you to display those results to the public. Open access to your genetic-screening records illustrates to the world that you’re taking breeding seriously, and gives you an online location to securely store and display your dog's results to potential breeding partners and puppy buyers.

Paw Print Pedigrees does more than just display your dog's genetic results. You can build a profile for your kennel and dogs – link to other health clearances such as hip scores, CERF certifications, generational pedigrees ...

There's a pretty cool Kickstarter campaign underway (and already funded) for an interesting device that could keep your dog entertained during the day while you're at work.

The Kickstarter campaign is for CleverPet - a Wi-Fi-connected device that challenges your pet and then rewards it with kibble for correctly engaging the unit. It starts off by simply rewarding your dog for responding to what appears to be an audible cue. Then it ups the ante and rewards the dog for touching one of the device's three light-up pads. The third level of engagement requires the dog to touch a specifically lit pad to receive the food-based reward. From there, the unit interacts with your dog by rewarding her only when she solves increasingly challenging puzzles. You can even record your own voice to teach right or left. With the unit's algorithms, it adapts to your dog's learning level so it's not too hard or too easy. For you code monkeys out there, CleverPet allows you to write your own code to come up with new puzzles for your dog.

The unit's makers (comprised of PhD-level cognitive scientists, neuroscientists, dog trainers and animal-interaction specialists), have ...