I have a degree in Veterinary Medicine, to graduate I wrote an experimental dissertation on gundogs welfare. As you might guess, I am interested in behavioural medicine and in everything that falls within “preventive medicine” such as nutrition, complementary medicine (I studied veterinary acupuncture) and anything related to working and sport dogs.
I got my first Engish Setter in 1999 and my hunting licence in 2003 when I also started to follow dogs during hunting days and fieldt trials.
I have a regular column in a few Italian hunting/shooting magazines and I also collaborated with some foreign ones. In 2004 I was asked by an Italian publisher to write a book on Setters.
I trained my dog personally and I handle her a trials by myself.
I chose Gregor for many reasons. First of all, Gregor is a real hunting (rough shooting) dog who hunts regularly in a difficult environment (Italian Alps). Hunting (rough shooting) is essential to verify througlythe qualities of a pointing dog. Things like endurance and natural connection with the handler cannot be evaluated during a trial.
Furthermore, dogs who hunt in difficult conditions, such as public grounds, need a an extremely high drive to continue searching for birds without seeing one for ours. Gregor awards in mountain trials certify his qualities. Gregor has been trained and is handled by his owner, which is fairly unusual for an Italian top winning English Setter: most of them are given to professional handlers.
I also like his conformation (I think he as an excellent topline) and his temperament.
I chose this dam and this stud to obtain excellent hunters with a good conformation and size. I think English Setters should be beautiful and smart hunting dog with a sound conformation. I want the puppies to be strong hunters, healthy and have a nice temperament. Hopefully they would also have enough qualities to be trialed and/or showed. A female puppy will be kept by me. I carefully planned this litter and the pups will be reared inside the house (not in a kennel) to be properly socialized and housetrained. Pups will be fed Carnilove puppy first and Carnilove large breed puppies later.
My ideal owner is someone who can understand and appreciate the care I put in this litter. These pups should become family members, not hunting tools.
(Pr.Ch/S.R. Gion di Crocedomini x Ansa del Simano)
HD A ED 0 PRA (rcd4) Clear NCL Clear 58 Cm.
Briony is out of Producer Champion and Selected Producer Gion di Croocedomini (HD/A ED 0) x Ansa del Simano (HD/B), a bitch belonging to a Swiss hunter who hunts with her on the Alps.
Briony was purchased as a personal hunting (rough shooting) dog. Thanks her correct conformation, which is very special considering she is out of working bloodlines, she later became Italian Full Champion (owner handled), gaining also 2 BOB and 3 BOS. She is an Italian KC selected Producer and she is 58 cms tall and she has a full and correct dentition (certified).
I later started to train her for field trials where I always handled her competing in Italian trials and in British trials (grouse and partridge). In 2017, she won Novice Stake at Pointer Club Field Trial on partridge held in Sandrigham (England). Thanks to this award she was admitted to the Kennel Club Stud book and was granted perpetual access to Crufts (Field Trial Class). Briony is the first Italian (and Continental) dog to win a Partridge trial in the UK.
She is a versatile hunting dog who normally hunts on the hills and in the plains where she can handle snipe nicely. She was used for grouse counting in Northern England, grey partridge counting in Italy and to push pheasant back into an estate in Kent.
She is smart, well connected to the handler and gifted with an exceptional endurance.
In spring/summer she enjoys practicing basic and advanced obedience. She is a pleasurable dog to live with: she lives indoors and loves coming everywhere with me.
Gregor was breed by Ademaro Scipioni and is now owned by Domenico Pensa, who hunts with him on the Alps. He also trained him and handles him in mountain trials. Thanks to these trials, Gregor became Italian FT Ch., International FT. Ch. and European FT.Ch. 2014 (mountain trials). Beside this, Gregor has a very nice conformation and has already gained 2CC and 2 RCC at shows. Gregor is an Italian KC Selected Producer.
Black dogs sometimes turn rusty brown. People tend to attribute this to “too much sun” but, indeed, some black dogs never turn brown, while some others are brownish all year round, winters included. I owned a black dog only for a couple of months: he was a rescued Greyhound and he was, indeed, brown but this was caused by severe anemia and leishmaniasis. We all known systemic diseases can affect coat colour, but nutrition can as well.
Yesterday, my friend Lucia Casini, who is professor of Veterinary Nutrition at the University of Pisa, shared this study with me “Tyrosine supplementation and hair coat pigmentation in puppies with black coats – A pilot study.”The study, as you can read in the abstract, suggests that dogs with darker coats need twice the amount of tyrosine the average dogs needs – according to the NRC guidelines. Furthermore, the longer the coat, the higher the requirements for tyrosine. She also explained that the role of tyrosine and coat colour has been studied more in cats, but added that some commercial foods, especially those poor in proteins of animal origins, do not contain enough tyrosine for black dogs. Phenylalanine seems to play a role too and they are both essential aminoacids, hence they must be introduced through the diet.
Some biochemistry…
Meat, especially pork and poultry, is a good source of tyrosine. The National Research Council (USA) recommends: 2g of tyrosine each 1000 kcal for adult dogs and 3,5 g for puppies, but darker coated dogs requirements seem to be double.
Dr. Schoen and Yin Chiao
When I started this blog I promised myself I was not going to write about veterinary medicine because I already have too much veterinary medicine in my mind but, there is always an exception to the rule!
The exception, today, is Dr. Allen M.Schoen, an amazing American holistic veterinary. The first veterinary acupuncture book I purchased was written by him. It might not be the best written book on the topic (I prefer Xie’s Veterinary Acupuncture) but it is still a valuable textbook to refer to. Dr.Schoen, however, is much more than a mere acupuncturist and his books shall be read by pet owners, and by evterinarians, seriously interested in exploring the emotional and spiritual bond between animals and people.
Yin Chiao Plus & Dr.Schoen book
Last year, while reading Love, Miracles and Animal Healing, I discovered Yin Chiao. Dr.Schoen introduces this Chinese herbal remedy explaining that, before using it on animals, he tried it on himself. I am doing the same and I must admit it seems to be working, together with liters of ginger infusions: the power of ancient Chinese wisdom! I am still sneezing, but fever has gone in less than two days and I am no longer voiceless. Schoen used Yin Chiao successfully on cats with upper respiratory airways infections: cats are very sensitive to drugs so it is nice to find something safe and efficacious. I would also consider Yin Chiao for dogs (kennel cough and more) and horses.
I clearly remember one of my first year veterinary school anatomy lessons: Prof. Lauria, who was quite a character, told us that “the cow is built on rumen” and “the horse is built on lung”, an assumption meant to become crystal clear in the following years. The horse is indeed built on its lungs and many of its diseases are related to this organ, large intestine comes second. Traditional Chinese medicine states the same. According to the ancient Chinese doctors, every living being belongs to one of the five elements. The five elements are: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. They are related to the four seasons (in spite of being five), to different life periods and to much more. Each animal species has its own element: cows have earth which relates to gastrointestinal tract and horses have metal which relates to lung and large intestine, not a coincidence in my opinion. We must them remember that each animal, and each person as well, has its own element (usually people are a mixture of more than one) and this can easily determined by any Chinese medicine expert, I am water element, my dog is axis water/ fire, hers is a combination often find in Arab horses.
Five Elements & Marketing :-)
Cats, another species which tends to suffer from respiratory diseases, have water as an element and kidney as weak organ (western medicine agrees on this) but the lung is believed to support the kidney, this could, according to Eastern medicine logic, explain everything. Going back to Yin Chiao, Schoen mentioned tablets, I could not find them and had to order drops from Holland, but it was worth. He also suggests being careful as some products bearing the same name contain aspirin and antihistamines, do not purchase them. Yin Chiao is believed to be safe for children, but it is not recommended for pregnant women. Google around to discover more, I hope I have provided some interesting hints.
P.S. The books mentioned in the article are listed below.
The study, as you can read in the abstract, suggests that dogs with darker coats need twice the amount of tyrosine the average dogs needs – according to the NRC guidelines. Furthermore, the longer the coat, the higher the requirements for tyrosine. She also explained that the role of tyrosine and coat colour has been studied more in cats, but added that some commercial foods, especially those poor in proteins of animal origins, do not contain enough tyrosine for black dogs. Phenylalanine seems to play a role too and they are both essential aminoacids, hence they must be introduced through the diet.
