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DoodleDog's nose is permanently bent out of shape so keep your letter short or typical bully, he'll bury it! He likes letters signed but if he knows you (and you toss him a bone) he can withhold your name. NOTE: We embed your email to block spammers but will sometimes provide your URL as additional information for readers. See other great Letters at end of page.

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Raw Honey - Not sure where you got your "real honey" information but it's wrong in another wise great article. The color of honey is dependent on the nectar source and can be almost white to almost black. Temperature and time can impact the pour-ability of honey. Nearly all raw honey will form crystals eventually and still be perfectly good, one way to tell it's raw honey is that crystals have formed. Like with so many items we purchase CHECK THE SOURCE or any honey or honey by product. For allergies local raw is best. Bobbie and Howard Scott bee keepers, Bouvier and Pumi owners
ref link Bee Pollen, Apple Cider Vinegar and Raspberry Tea Leaves

Animal Rights Unmasked - I am a Board member of the ASSA (American Shetland Sheepdog Association) and I personally donate to, strongly support and belong to the NAIA (National Animal Interest Alliance). The ASSA also strongly supports and gives thousands of dollars to the NAIA each year. I am also the National Chair of a committee consisting of ASSA member club Legislative Liaisons from around the nation, which was formed in order to activate all our member clubs at a moment’s notice to oppose animal rights legislation. David K. Calderwood - ASSA Director at Large - Chair ASSA LAWS Committee

ref link Animal Rights Unmasked Editorial

Animal Rights Unmasked - Very often TheDogPress has run informative articles like this that I would like to share with friends, clients, and FB contacts to spread the information. Unfortunately your rules don't allow me to do so. Free up the info; let's spread this around. Pet owners don't belong to clubs, they often don't have more than sporadic contact with a vet. Vet's often don't tune in to political aspects of dog ownership. Breed clubs try to spread the word but often contact with pet owners of the non-training type are limited. Let us use your articles to combat this and get the word out as widely as possible. Stacey Gehrman

Editor's Note - Our articles are available to share but to protect the writers and our sites from plagiarism, we learned the hard way to limit it to PDF copies. Just click the "Reprint Request" at the end of any article, fill in the form so we know what you'd like, and our Media Dept. will get it right out to you.

Letters To Editor

Inform and promote positive change. All letters are deemed to be for publication but only the most interesting can be printed due to space limitations. In order to encourage open communication while maintaining privacy, names may be withheld upon request but only if the writer is known to us or is in the Judges' Book.

Open forum, any subject, just keep it short! Send your:: Letter To Editor

Muslim Beliefs vs. Dog Owners? - I was absolutely horrified to read the article by Stella Star entitled "Muslim Beliefs vs. Dog Owners, subtitled "If you love your dogs and country, you'll be outraged over traditional Islam that threatens dog ownership and our customs more than Animal Rights!"

For a publication that presents itself as being professional and objective, and uses a tagline that reads in part "The purpose is to illuminate, not to burn," it's strange that you would jump on the anti-Muslim bandwagon and publish such an obviously biased and inflammatory article in The Dog Press.

It's bad enough that so many ignorant people already paint all Muslims with a broad brush, accusing the entire religion of being nothing but evil terrorists. But to accuse every Muslim that lives in this country of hating dogs? That's about as fair as accusing every Christian of taking the entire Bible literally about such things as "giving birth to a daughter makes you unclean for 66 days." (Leviticus 12:5) Some people take their religion literally, others realize that there are things that may have applied thousands of years ago, but do not feel obligated to accept them now.

Instead of fanning the flames of hatred against all Muslims, why don't you spend some time reading about the many Muslims who love and own dogs as pets, companions, service dogs and guardians? There are a lot of them out there if you take the time to look.

I suggest you start with the Facebook group "Good Muslims Love Dogs," and "Love My Dog, Love Me," Sincerely, Jewel Waldrip

ref links Islam, Dogs, and Personal Rights and Culture of Pet Ownership

Integrity of AKC Stud Book - Interesting article. I recently learned about a foreign dog that came to the US a year or so ago that supposedly has an incorrect pedigree. The actual dam of this dog was supposedly spayed and sold as a pet so as to avoid a "puppy-back" to her breeder when and if she was ever bred. In reality, she was never spayed, never placed in a pet home but rather she was kept and whelped a litter. Another bitch's name was used on the pedigree. This dog has now sired over 15 litters here in the US. JM

ref links AKC Stud Book Exposed

Editor's Note - This is not unusual, sadly, and those who buy into other bloodlines need to know not to put too fine a point on genetics until they are in their own third generation. Thank you for reminding our newer readers.

AKC registered puppy by suspended breeder Just wanted to let you know that a person (i.e. a large high volume AKC breeder) bought a puppy from Mr. Bombliss who was recently suspended and fined from AKC for five years. The woman who bought the puppy was told by Mr. Bombliss that his dogs could not be registered with AKC and she purchased anyway with this knowledge.

She registered the puppy with her Kennel name with the UKC and was able to register the puppy with AKC. Wouldn't AKC be able to recognize that the puppy was bred by Mr. Bombliss because of the pedigree? I was wondering if this is what AKC should be doing? They suspended Mr. Bombliss and then registered a puppy bred by him? If you and your dogs are suspended; can they still be registered? Mary Holzer

Insiders ($39 /year) See Bombliss and all suspensions from 6 mos to 5 yrs and Visit the Tibetan Mastiff Section

Dog Club Survival - I live in the pricey San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose to be exact. I enjoyed the article about dog shows and costs. The only dog show around here that charges for spectators is the benched Golden Gate KC. All others are free to spectators so much of the article did not apply. Parking always costs. The only time I ever attend a conformation show is when it is combined with an obedience or rally trial. That being said, there are certain breeds that I will watch and it would be very helpful if a judging schedule and map were handed to spectators.

When I first joined our obedience club over 40 years ago there was a building fund. There still is but the land prices have gone up so much that to even think about it would insane.

Currently we have been kicked out of the place where we have had training classes since 1953. We have to find a new place to train by the end of the year. We have an excellent group of trainers and fairly consistent group of clientele. We are looking at warehouse space. Very expensive.

We have tried to increase entries at our events by having a cluster with two other clubs, adding things such as Rally, CGC, Barnhunt, Eye testing, etc. which all help. We sell ring sponsorships. We have obedience, agility and rally trials. Tracking is always a loss for us--not large but still a loss. We have done a bunch of things. It still is difficult. Barbara Adcock - AKC tracking judge

ref links Dog Club Survival

Canine Infertility Disease - I couldn't agree more! I have been doing semen evaluations every day for over 30 years. Purebred show dogs more often have poorer semen quality than hunting and working dogs! I didn't know about the fertility data from AKC. I know Greyhound Association keeps track of breeding data. Bet the Greyhounds have better fertility rates! Loved your article. Carol Scott Bardwick - President/Founder, Canine Cryobank (since 1981)

ref links Canine Infertility Disease

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