# AKC ACCEPTS LUA DALMATIANS July 2011



## Debbie Skinner (Sep 11, 2008)

Good news that they are understanding how a cross-breeding project can be beneficial =D>=D>


http://www.thedogplace.org/Genetics/LUA-Dalmatians_Mitchell-11.asp

July 18, 2011 – Today the AKC accepted Low Uric Acid (LUA) Dalmatians into the registry after Dalmatian owners finally persuaded the Dalmatian Club Of America membership.

The AKC Board reviewed the results of a vote by the membership of the Dalmatian Club of America (DCA). By a 55-45% margin, the membership voted in favor of registering these dogs. Following a motion by Dr. Newman, seconded by Dr. Smith it was VOTED (unanimously) to authorize AKC Staff to develop procedures for the registration of these dogs. The procedures will be developed in consultation with the Board of the DCA. To ensure that the introduction of the Low Uric Acid dogs into the registry is an informed, voluntary decision, the registration numbers for the Low Uric Acid Dalmatians and their descendents will have a letter indicator as part of the registration number.

The Dalmatian Backcross Project commenced in 1973 with the original outcross of an AKC registered Champion Pointer sire CH Shandown's Rapid Transit bred to an AKC registered Dalmatian dam Lady Godiva. Dr. Robert Schaible conducted the breeding in an effort to address the Dalmatian fixed genetic defect that affects uric acid metabolism and that may lead to increased urinary uric acid, urate crystals, urinary bladder aggregate formation, stones, urinary tract obstruction and even death.

AKC registered Dalmatians were used in subsequent matings of the progeny of the original Dalmatian-Pointer cross. The first three matings, termed “backcrosses”, yielded progeny generally distributed as Low Uric Acid (LUA) and High Uric Acid (HUA). Urinalysis was used to distinguish LUAs from HUAs in litters.

In 1981 Dr Schaible requested registration for two of his dogs with the American Kennel Club. After careful evaluation the AKC granted registration of Stocklore Stipples and Stocklore Linus . The president of AKC stated “If there is a logical, scientific way to correct genetic health problems associated with certain breed traits and still preserve the integrity of the breed standard, it is incumbent upon the American Kennel Club to lead the way” Stipples went on to win several points at AKC shows.

News of registration of Dr. Schaible’s Dalmatians, cause a great deal of controversy. In 1984 a majority of Dalmatian Club of America members voted that they were opposed to registration of descendants of the Dalmatian-Pointer backcross. In response to that vote, the AKC put a hold on registration of any more Dalmatians from the line created by Dr. Schaible. DCA considered the matter closed and the subject was off limits at meetings and in the club magazine for the next 22 years.

In 2005 Denise Powell a well known breeder obtained a female LUA puppy from Dr Schaible and the LUA project which was in danger of extinction was revived. In that same year, DCA sponsored a study in which ultrasound was used to detect bladder stones in Dalmatians. 377 Dalmatians took part and it was found that 25.4% of the females and 71.3% of the males had sludge crystals and stones in their bladders.

In 2006 the membership of DCA was polled as to whether the members favored the continuation of testing and the breeding of LUA Dalmatians. This passed with a resounding yes. However the question of registration was not raised.

In 2007 Danika Bannasch DVM PhD announced that the gene that controls uric acid had been identified and a DNA test for normal or the mutated gene had been created.

In 2008 a group of LUA Dalmatians were invited to attend the Nationals so that the membership could see for themselves that LUA’s were no different from their AKC cousins. The people who met the LUA Dalmatians in person were asked to complete a confidential questionnaire. The response was overwhelmingly positive.

Proponents of LUA Dalmatians felt the time was right to begin discussing how LUA Dalmatians could finally be integrated in to the general population of Dalmatians - in other words what steps would be necessary for LUA Dalmatians to be registered with the AKC. Unfortunately, opponents of LUA Dalmatians were able to convince a slim majority of DCA members to vote against any discussion of registration.

Since the Dalmatian Club Of America was not willing to discuss registration and gave no indication of when the topic might be opened for discussion in the future, proponents of LUA Dalmatians decided to approach the AKC directly. In the spring of 2009, a petition asking the AKC to register descendants of the backcross project was circulated among Dalmatian fanciers and veterinarians. In 6 weeks time over 1,000 signatures were gathered and sent to the AKC.

Upon receiving the request for registration, the AKC Board referred the matter to their newly formed Health and Welfare Advisory Committee - an impartial panel of highly regarded people in the field of canine health. Early in 2010 the committee reported back to the AKC Board with a unanimous recommendation that LUA Dalmatians should be registered. {1}

After getting the Health and Welfare Advisory Committee report the AKC spent the rest of 2010 conferring back and forth the Dalmatian Club of America. In November they reached an agreement giving DCA six months to disseminate information and encourage discussion among club members about LUA Dalmatians. At the end of the six months club members were to be polled again on the question of registration. {2}

In June 2011 ballots were sent to all DCA members asking if they were in favor of registration for descendants of the Pointer-Dalmatian backcross. 55% voted Yes. At the July meeting the AKC board voted to allow registration of descendants of Stocklore Stipples.

One further note; the Kennel Club of the United Kingdom had already recorded that three imported LUA Dalmatians are indeed real Dalmatians and are registered with the Kennel Club. This year Fiona who had been imported by Julie Evans of the UK won enough shows to be asked to attend Crufts. A fourth LUA female resides in France.

In closing I would like to say that Dr. Schaible’s dedication to Dalmatian health which lead him to persist for over 40 years, against all odds, is an inspiration to all who envision a better future for all purebred dogs.

{1} http://thedca.org/LUA/DalmatianExecSummary.pdf
{2} www.thedca.org/LUA/HennesseyDCA.pdf

Reference:
July 2011 AKC Board Minutes: Registration of Low Uric Acid Dalmatians


http://www.thedogpress.com/ClubNews/AKC/1107-Report.asp#Registration of Low Uric Acid 
DalmatiansThe Registration of Low Uric Acid Dalmatians - The Board reviewed the results of a vote by the membership of the Dalmatian Club of America (DCA). By a 55-45% margin, the membership voted in favor of registering these dogs. Following a motion by Dr. Newman, seconded by Dr. Smith it was VOTED (unanimously) to authorize AKC Staff to develop procedures for the registration of these dogs. The procedures will be developed in consultation with the Board of the DCA. To ensure that the introduction of the Low Uric Acid dogs into the registry is an informed, voluntary decision, the registration numbers for the Low Uric Acid Dalmatians and their descendents will have a letter indicator as part of the registration number.


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## Tamara McIntosh (Jul 14, 2009)

thanks for posting this! Great information!


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## Derek Milliken (Apr 19, 2009)

After the kennel club in britain did it last year, it is kind of inevitable that they will all have to or run into trouble the first time someone imports one and tries to register it. Still, good to see they did it on their own.


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## Timothy Saunders (Mar 12, 2009)

what is the difference between the 2?


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## Melissa Thom (Jun 21, 2011)

Timothy Saunders said:


> what is the difference between the 2?


"pure" dals have a higher incidence of urinary stones which have a nasty habit of gumming up the works in male dals. So back in 73' they crossed a pointer to a Dal (this is the only time it was ever done) and started crossing the offspring to pure dals which reduced incidence of urinary sludge. 

Fast forward to today at 99.98% Dal after much twisting of truths, and angst by dalmatian fanciers they are finally accepted in AKC, KC, and elsewhere as "pure enough" for their closed registry system even though the old guard still don't like these mongrels in the genepool.

You can read more here:
http://www.luadalmatians.com/index.html


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I remember when this first started, Just glad to see that some breeders are recognizing that "mongrels in the gene" pool are just what many breeds need to keep them from going the way of the dodo bird.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Bob Scott said:


> I remember when this first started, Just glad to see that some breeders are recognizing that "mongrels in the gene" pool are just what many breeds need to keep them from going the way of the dodo bird.


are you shitting me???

I thought most breeds that open up a stud book consider 3-5 generations back to pure, as pure..


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## Melissa Thom (Jun 21, 2011)

Joby Becker said:


> are you shitting me???
> 
> I thought most breeds that open up a stud book consider 3-5 generations back to pure, as pure..


Maybe once upon a time... the new KC registration system (UK) will eventually allow this with their new registration system but AKC is firmly entrenched in closed registries that remain closed at the urging of the breed clubs. What is a breed club after all? Primarily run by people in the conf ring who are interested usually in preserving their monopoly on business as usual like any other trade association. 

It's hard for the AKC set to admit that outcrossing has benefits and can bring in some very desirable traits without nearly the number of consequences they doom and boom about. It gives me hope someday that perhaps a healthier version of the doberman, the cavalier, and the clumber can indeed be made without further restricting their genepools further.


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## Sheena Tarrant (Sep 21, 2008)

Bob Scott said:


> I remember when this first started, Just glad to see that some breeders are recognizing that "mongrels in the gene" pool are just what many breeds need to keep them from going the way of the dodo bird.


Earlier this year when "Fiona" was shown at Crufts, the statements that some Dal breeders were reported as making were a bit outrageous, but to be expected I suppose. Things about the dog being a mongrel, that it was a travesty she was allowed to show, etc.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

The show "elite" forget that MOST our dogs were "mongrels" not much more then 100 yrs ago.
They may have been a strong "type" but that's a whole nuther thing.


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## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

very interesting!


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## Ingrid Rosenquist (Mar 27, 2006)

Bob Scott said:


> The show "elite" forget that MOST our dogs were "mongrels" not much more then 100 yrs ago.


I think this is a generalization. While there are some show people who need a proctologist to find their heads, not all people who show are like this. 

I have a good friend who is a breeder/judge of Dals and when I talked to him about this last year he was heavily in favor of it and hoped it passed. While it was a 55/45 vote, the majority of the DCA members were in favor of it passing. Like many things in the dog world (be it the breed ring, schutzhund field, or herding arena, etc), some people cannot see the forest through the trees. I am glad for one that this got passed.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Ingrid Rosenquist said:


> I think this is a generalization. While there are some show people who need a proctologist to find their heads, not all people who show are like this.
> 
> I have a good friend who is a breeder/judge of Dals and when I talked to him about this last year he was heavily in favor of it and hoped it passed. While it was a 55/45 vote, the majority of the DCA members were in favor of it passing. Like many things in the dog world (be it the breed ring, schutzhund field, or herding arena, etc), some people cannot see the forest through the trees. I am glad for one that this got passed.



Definitely a generalization. I did the dog show scene long enough to see that. It's just that I saw a ton of the other side also. If they got a few good yrs of specialing/breeding a big winner so be it. 
From that point to many were relagated to living in a run...at best. You can see a LOT of the smaller breeds that spend much of their life in crates.
Again, not all. Just more then I liked seeing.


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## Ingrid Rosenquist (Mar 27, 2006)

Bob Scott said:


> Definitely a generalization. I did the dog show scene long enough to see that. It's just that I saw a ton of the other side also. If they got a few good yrs of specialing/breeding a big winner so be it.
> From that point to many were relagated to living in a run...at best. You can see a LOT of the smaller breeds that spend much of their life in crates.
> Again, not all. Just more then I liked seeing.


Absolutely in agreement! I am not defending some (even many) of the actions of show people. I cannot imagine essentially warehousing a dog just to keep it in proper coat etc. I just hate generalizations because every dog event (I won't call conformation a sport) have people who do things that (at least I think) are unfair to the dogs. Unfortunately, no matter the sport, the ego of the owner/handler can produce a "win at any costs" mentality.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Amen to ALL dog events! ;-)


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## Melissa Thom (Jun 21, 2011)

Bob Scott said:


> Definitely a generalization. I did the dog show scene long enough to see that. It's just that I saw a ton of the other side also. If they got a few good yrs of specialing/breeding a big winner so be it.
> From that point to many were relagated to living in a run...at best. You can see a LOT of the smaller breeds that spend much of their life in crates.
> Again, not all. Just more then I liked seeing.


I wish I could say that is not my experience of the show scene in smaller breeds but I cannot. The banks of rabbit cages, automatic feeders, and house dogs who are never allowed to live in a home do exist and in some places are very entrenched BUT... there is a ever larger growing new pool of people who are willing to say no to forcing dogs to live that way especially when the breed is suppose to be a companion animal. 

I also think the toy breeders are also starting to come to terms in some districts with such thing as being an owner of too many dogs and the innate tradeoffs that come with that.


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## Jenna Lea (Jul 25, 2010)

It's not the first time AKC has done something like this, they let the Basenji folks bring back some bush dogs from Africa and infuse them into the gene pool in what the 1990s?


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## Christopher Smith (Jun 20, 2008)

Joby Becker said:


> are you shitting me???
> 
> I thought most breeds that open up a stud book consider 3-5 generations back to pure, as pure..


I think that AKC accepts FCI foreign pedigrees if the breeding is registered for 3 generations. I remember a lot of Malinois in the 80's and 90's that could not get AKC pedigrees because they had a NVBK dog in the pedigree that was less than 3 generations back.


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