Who are we?
Geographically we are spread throughout Scotland and our backgrounds are as diverse as they come, ranging from Graphic Design, Photography, Accountancy and an Automotive Business Director, with education at BSc & MA Hons University level . What binds us together is that we all love dogs!
We all have relevant 'dog' experience in areas such as rescue dogs, assistance dogs, dog behaviour & more. We attend professional conferences and spend much of our spare time involved with dogs. It is our sheer love & passion for the health and welfare of our dogs that drives our motivation for this project. A desire to find a way to bring positive changes that will help secure the future of pedigree dogs.
We are not breeders, we are not "animal rights" campaigners, we are not veterinarians..... we are a group of dog-enthusaists & pedigree pet-dog owners who want to do something to help the dogs that do so much for us.
What is our motivation?
Over the years we have become increasingly concerned about the growing number of Boxers we have come into contact with suffering various health issues. Between the four of us we have 5 Boxers, all of which suffer heredity & other health issues. Sometimes our dogs suffer pain, sometimes they cannot exercise properly and have fun because of their conditions. As owners who love their dogs immensely, these issues also have a great emotional (& financial) toll on us.
We wanted to find out more, but discovered there is no central database where we can investigate how many Boxers are affected by the same conditions. Information from the breeders and breed clubs was sketchy and there was frequent denial about many of the problems affecting our breed.
During our research we also discovered that many breeders - from pet dog breeders to champion show breeders - do not follow up on their puppies. If breeders don't follow up on their puppies, how can their information be truly reflective of Boxer dog health?
How do we plan to get a "better picture" of Boxer dog health?
We decided to try and form a picture of "Boxer Dog Health" in Scotland using our questionnaire. This is where we hope you can help us. We are aiming for 1000 responses to give us a good overview of health, temperament and buying experience. We need to hear from all Boxers born or living in Scotland - even if your Boxer is healthy, if you have no pedigree information, or if your Boxer has recently died, you're information is still important to us.
What are our aims?
Our main aim is simply to show the Kennel Club the benefits of collecting such data from all sources (vets, owners, breeders). We would like the Kennel Club to provide and maintain this type of database, with information accepted from the public, vets, breeders, rescues etc. Not just for Boxers in Scotland, but for all breeds across the UK.
Any patterns suggesting new health concerns will be shared with the British Veterinary Association, Animal Health Trust and The Kennel Club (potentially other relevant official bodies too).
We hope we can use your Boxer health information to demonstrate how useful a central database can be. We believe it could allow earlier identification of a health problem, pinpoint areas for research and allow intervention that could help limit (or even stop) the number of dogs being affected.
We also believe that a central database would make it easier to research a breeder, thus making it easier to be a responsible buyer. Imagine a database where you could put in the Sire & Dam names to see how many pups those dogs have produced; any health reports about their puppies; all health certificates for the parents; the Coefficient of Inbreeding Information.
We believe that pedigree dogs can have a healthier, happier and more secure future. With your help and a collaborative effort from vets, breeders, The Kennel Club and everyone in the world of dogs, we really believe that change is possible.
Latest Tweets
Loading tweets 
