Acadia Shelties: March 2011

Acadia Prince of Peace- aka- Manny wins a major!

>> Sunday, March 27, 2011 – Charlie Brown, conformation, Dove, Glory, Manny

Yeah Manny! Manny is the litter brother to Cassia and Eden. He is the 3rd from this litter to be pointed and both he and Cassia have won majors now. That is a great start. This successful litter is sired by Acadia King Charles x Acadia Peace of Mind. Acadia King Charles is the litter brother to Ch. Acadia's Crowning Glory.

Rincon x Allie puppies

>> – Allie, Rincon

Acadia Presence of Mind (mother) and Acadia Stage Presence (daughter) win again

>> Saturday, March 19, 2011 – Cassia, conformation, Liza

Today Cassia, Acadia Presence of Mind, was Winners Bitch and Best of Winners at the Shetland Sheepdog Club of Greater Baltimore's spring specialties. This was her second specialty major and gave her 8 total points out of the needed 15 points. She will not be shown again until the American Shetland Sheepdog Association (The National) show in April.

Cassia's daughter, Liza- Acadia Stage Presence, was Runner-up in Sweepstakes. Sweepstakes is for puppies 6 months to 12 months. There are no points for sweepstakes, but it is a really great place to showcase the puppies and get them trained and ready for "real" competition.

I am very proud of both of these girls.

Copyrighted Photo by Dean Von Pusch- permission to use must be obtained from Dean Von Pusch

I am Quoted!!!!

>> Monday, March 7, 2011 – brags

I am so excited!!! I JUST NOTICED! that I am the weekly quote on shelties on line http://www.sheltiesonline.com/ I was so excited to see Cassia's ad that I didn't even go on to read the weekly quote- until today- and BONUS!!!!

The quote that was used comes from my website and is my mission statement if you will- I call it "My Commitment" and it is:
"To only use healthy dogs in my breeding program, to adhere to the standard as the measure of quality, and to provide every opportunity to my puppies to make then well adjusted family members."
I work hard to live by this.

Trait Selection and Domestication

>> Sunday, March 6, 2011 – articles and information, Bianca

The front cover of this month’s National Geographic pictures a fox and the teaser line, “designing the perfect pet.” The opening paragraph tells the reader of two Russian brothers, Nikolay and Dmitry Belyaev, in the mid-20th century who risked their lives and their careers to continue research on genetics when it has been outlawed by Joseph Stalin. For Nikolay, the price he paid was his life. Dmitry only lost his job as director of the Department of Fur Breeding, but he secretly continued his quest, consumed with the question, how did such a diversity of dogs result from man’s relationship with the wolf?

To study the answer, Dmitry Belyaev chose to reproduce history himself, and he selected the silver fox, a cousin of the dog that had never been domesticated, as his subject. National Geographic outlines his work, the politics, the struggles, the findings, and in an interesting read, lets us know that the answers are far from easy. His work continues in Russia today- 53 years after he obtained his first generation of silver foxes. The answer is; it’s complicated.

Over the generations, the foxes in Belyaev’s study changed more than their attitudes towards humans, they changed their appearance as well. It seems that the genetics in silver foxes linked with ”Tameness” , are also linked with floppy ears and white body spots called piebald. Of course there is more research occurring on the subject of domestication than just the fox project in Russia- Leif Andersson (a fellow Swede!) studies genetics of farm animals. Andersson believes that human selection for “cute” traits were allowed to persists just because humans liked them. These traits, which may have just been random mutations, may have been detrimental to a wild animal and therefore would have been weeded out. He feels that humans have a greater role in selection. Personally, I tend to agree with Andersson. How else can we explain a Pug?

I highly recommend reading this article in full. Click Here to read it. The practical question that I have to answer with each generation is how do I select for the whole package- a sheltie that retains it’s appearance as a sheltie, but “improves” in one area without causing undesirable changes in another. Maybe we breeders and these researchers share some genetic traits that cause us to seek the answers, while the other side of the coin, the “anti-breeders” share a different set of genetic traits. Maybe there is a genetic propensity to understand one’s role in shaping who we are - and it is in direct opposition to those who fear the answers. Maybe genetic research and experimentation is just in my genes.

Cassia on Sheltiesonline

>> Saturday, March 5, 2011 – Cassia

This ad is currently on http://www.sheltiesonline.com/ They change the ads every week, so next Saturday there will be new ads (and I will have two dogs advertised- any guesses who they might be?)