NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
I always like to write about the different things that owners do with their Buhunds, I don’t think though I have ever written about a food trail before. Some weeks ago, a vet friend of mine sent me details of a food trial; it was near Peterborough, so I messaged Lisa who lives only a 25minute drive away from Cambridge, where the trial was taking place. Lisa put forward Loki and this is the reply she had “Thanks for your interest. Yes, we are still looking for volunteers and we don’t have any Buhunds (what is the plural of Buhund? Buhunde?) so it would be great to include your dog. In the following I outline what the food choice trail involves. The experiment is part of a study to investigate food preferences in dogs. We would like to offer your dog two kinds of tinned dog food and measure how much he will eat of each. The experiment will take place at the Vet School in Cambridge. On the day of the trail I will come and meet you and take you and your dog through to our room, where your dog will be allowed to investigate the room for a few minutes, while we sort out some paper work and weigh your dog. If you agree we would also like to take a DNA sample using a cheek swab. We will then offer your dog two diets of a well-known dog food company, which will consist mostly of chicken and rice. I will ask you to sit on a chair while your dog is busy with the tasting and it would be helpful if you would not speak to him during the trail. Your dog will be offered approximately one can of each diet and he can choose how much he eats of it. This might seem a lot, but it will be in line with his daily food requirements. Both diets have been designed to be easily digestible, but there is possibility of mild gastric upset after the trail. Some dogs don’t know their limits and eat too fast, which can cause them to be sick. Please note that your dog cannot take part if he has any digestive issues, food allergies or is on a raw diet, or has regularly had a sensitivity or low fat pancreatic diet during the past 6months. The experiment should take around 30minutes.Your dog should have his normal breakfast 4-5hours before the trial”
Lisa said “it was one off session. Loki was measured to be 43.5cm and weighed 15.5kg and his body condition scored 4-5. For the DNA test they are looking for genes that stops the ‘I am full’ signal from working properly. Lisa said a small amount of 2 types of food were placed in 2 different bowls and she held onto him while he was allowed to sniff them. When she released him, he went straight to one of the bowls and ate it all ignoring the other bowl. In the end he would not touch 2 types of food, licked 1 type and ate one mouthful of another, loving the other, which we discovered was a low fat Pancreatitis food. Finally, Lisa said the person running the trail put an entire tin of the food Loki liked in a bowl and weighed it, and then put a tin of yet and type of food in a another bowl and weighed that. The bowls were then put on the floor and a 10minute timer was started. Loki ate about 1/3 of the food he liked and after giving the other one a quick lick he went for some water and a wander round the room. We called him back to the food; he took one sniff and went off exploring again before coming back to me for a cuddle. Once the 10minutes were up the person running the trial weighed both bowls to determine how much Loki had consumed of each. The trail was then compete”. Lisa said she can safely say that Loki does not have the gene that stops the ‘I am full’ signal from working properly. She has also asked for a copy of Loki’s gene sequence as she and her husband are both scientists and her husband works in the genetics field. Thank you so much Lisa absolutely fascinating now we know how they do it.
Caroline Russell Catt has sent me news from Australia where she has the Delarouche Kennel of Norwegian Buhunds, living 25 minutes from the city of Adelaide Hills. She is rightly proud of her first litter of Buhund puppies. The sire of the puppies is Ch Kimura’s Viking (Imp Nor), who many of you will remember spent some months in the UK before flying south, only a few days after being BDP at Crufts in 2016.Caroline writes “Delaroche Fjotunn (Yogi) has amassed 7 Best Baby puppy in group awards. Delaroche Floki & Fane both 1. They have just reached an age where they are playing with the big kids now. Yogi on the weekend gained 2 Best Minors in Group awards and a BOB against her dad. (We haven’t had any shows in SA for a month.) Floki competing in the Puppy class was also awarded BP in Group this weekend. Fane has amassed 3 Best minor puppies in group awards since turning 6months.Delarouche Freyja of the Vinar has also taken a Best minor puppy in group award. The judges in Australia are starting to embrace the breed which is lovely. ”What a fantastic litter thank you Caroline. The judging for BOB is much the same as ours, the baby puppies although having classes to not compete for BOB. The making of a Ch is quite different which I will tell you about at a later date.
Margaret Deuchar margaretdeuchar@gmail.com
The views expressed in Margaret’s Breed Notes are hers and hers alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Norwegian Buhund Club of the UK
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