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UK Cairn Symposium

 

 

At the World Cairn Seminar in Sweden in July 2008, it was unanimously recommended that the next such event, scheduled to take place in 2013, should be run by the UK, the country of origin of our lovely breed.

 

Consequently, in preparation for this, a UK only symposium, attended by 70 delegates, was held on July 16, at Shirland Village Hall with the aim of preparing for the World event in two years’ time. 

 

The symposium was opened by Ferelith Somerfield who then introduced each speaker, the first being Professor Steve Dean, now Chairman of the Kennel Club, who gave a most interesting and humorous talk on “Common Sense Breeding with a Genetic Flavour”. 

 

He introduced his talk by saying that there have been rapid advances in the field of genetics over the past few years, which have brought a huge impact to the world of breeding.  

 

In all our breeding we need to be aware that health of dogs is a big issue today.  The TV programme “Pedigree Dogs Exposed” caused a lot of problems but also gave us a reason to accelerate what  was already doing in the area of health. 

 

He went on to discuss how we could try to breed a dog which is healthy, and has the conformation and general appearance which we desire.

 

There is insufficient space here for detail, but a report will be produced of the Symposium which will cover  Professor Dean’s presentation which was most informative without being too technical and an excellent start to the proceedings.

 

He was followed by Maud Hawkes, our Breed Health Co-ordinator.  She spoke about two conditions which exist in the breed which give the main cause for concern  -  Liver Shunt and Ocular Melanosis.   With regard to the former, she referred to the difficulty in diagnosis at an early age, but stressed that the bile acid test was the only one available at this stage, and that breeders ought to use it in order to be able to say to prospective buyers that at the stage at which a puppy was sold, its liver function was satisfactory.  She expressed concern that out of 352 litters of Cairns born in 2010, only 5% of breeders contributed bile acid test results.

 

 

The usual questions and discussion about the efficacy of the test took up a lot of Maud’s time, with the result that she could only touch briefly on the subject of Ocular Melanosis, but she stressed the importance of the test for that which would be available at the show the next day, and for this to be repeated at 2 or 3 yearly intervals.

 

There then followed some  “Light Relief” in the form of a brief talk from Chris Roberts about the CTRF.  With background photographs of rescue Cairns presented on the screen behind her throughout her talk, she outlined the Fund’s history, referred to some cases, and talked of the problem with the number of older Cairns who came into rescue.  The dream was, she said, that one day there would be a sanctuary for such.  Although the bank balance was fairly healthy, vets’ bills took up a very large proportion of their income and more funds would be required before the “dream” could be fulfilled.

 

 

After a buffet lunch, there were two presentations on the Breed Standard.

 

Sybil Berrecloth gave a comprehensive history of the development of the Standard from the early origins of the breed to the present day, illustrating her talk with paintings and photographs to demonstrate the various points.  She talked of the probable reasons for the requirements eg the coat being suitable for the dog working in all weathers, and guided the audience  through the various changes which have been made over the years and their rationale.

The final presentation was again on the Standard but this time on the modern one.  Linda Firth and Jack Watson took the delegates through each of the clauses in turn, with illustrations in each case, and encouraged a discussion on whether this standard is still appropriate for today’s Cairn.  The conclusion seemed to be that there was little appetite for change.  The main points of interest which emerged seemed to be size, balance and exaggerations.

On of the aims which Linda hoped would be achieved after the session would be the preparation in due course of a publication to explain the Standard in further detail.

 

The day ended with a lively (sometimes chaotic!) discussion session on various aspects, including a major contribution from one or two delegates regarding discussion forums on the internet.

 

Did the day achieve the aim of preparing us for the World Symposium?  It certainly showed us that we have a lot of work to do to “get our act together”  before we appear before out international audience.  This is the country of origin of our lovely breed, and we want to show that we are taking a lead in securing its future.

 

Space here does not allow for detail of the presentations and discussion, but a full report on the day will be produced in due course.

 

With thanks to John Berrecloth for the photographs