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Activities for dogs: Heelwork to Music
Canine Epilepsy
Dogslife would like to meet some of our members!
Prize winners!
Activities for dogs: Heelwork to Music
Heelwork to Music is a comparatively recent sport that has originated from the heelwork exercises performed in Obedience. Competitors must create, choreograph and perform a routine of skilled movements of up to four minutes that interprets the selected music and shows interaction and team work between dog and handler.
Contests are split into two categories: Freestyle and Heelwork to Music (HTM). In HTM, dogs must stay by their handler’s heel as the handler moves to the music. Freestyle routines have a third or less heelwork within the performance so allow much greater freedom and dogs carry out a variety of movements or tricks away from the handler’s heel.
Any dog can take part, regardless of breed (or indeed cross-breed), but to compete dogs must be 12 months of age or over for HTM classes (or 18 months of age or over for Freestyle classes) and registered on the Kennel Club Breed Register or Activity Register.
There are four levels of HTM and Freestyle: Starters, Novice, Intermediate and Advanced. Points are awarded for first (10 points), second (6 points), third (4 points), and fourth (2 points) places. On accumulating a certain number of points, competitors can move to the next level (then points are re-set to zero). For example, to progress from Starters to Novice, 14 points are required. To progress from Novice to Intermediate, 16 points are required. To progress from Intermediate to Advanced, 20 points are required including a first place at Intermediate level. If a first place is achieved on progression to the next level, an Excellent Award is given.
HTM and Freestyle classes each have three judges (one of whom is a head judge). Judges look for dog and handler teams that use their allotted time well, and show that effort and training has gone into the performance.
Heelwork to Music is a fun sport which combines the performance of a variety of skilful movements with an opportunity for creative flair, and displays the special relationship between dog and handler. It is very popular with spectators and the finals to HTM and Freestyle competitions can be seen at Crufts each year (as you may have seen recently!).
When beginning training for Heelwork to Music, it helps to have some experience in obedience as dogs must be under control, focused and attentive to their handler. There are training clubs nationwide which cater for HTM and Freestyle classes. To find out more, please click here.
Many thanks to The Kennel Club Picture Library (c) for the image in this article
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Canine Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of neurological disorders which cause seizures in both man and dogs. The seizures develop because of abnormal activity in the brain. It is estimated that roughly 3% of humans develop epilepsy at some point in their life, and similar estimates have been made for dogs (although some breeds appear to be affected more or less commonly). The precise frequency of the disease in Labrador Retrievers in the UK is unknown.
Seizures can take many forms, but most commonly the signs are of the affected dog becoming still, falling onto their side, and making running or paddling motions with their legs. The affected dog is unconscious throughout the seizure (which means they cannot respond to you). Seizures can last differing lengths of time and occur at widely differing frequencies in affected dogs, and usually occur when the dog is relaxed. If your dog has a seizure, do not interfere with him or her (you may be injured unintentionally as your dog is not aware of what they are doing). If your dog has never had a seizure before, you should contact your vet for advice. If your dog has a seizure that lasts longer than five minutes, or has multiple seizures within a short space of time, then you should call your veterinary surgeon immediately as they will want to see your dog.
There are many causes of epilepsy, such as trauma or tumours, but the most common form of epilepsy is called idiopathic epilepsy which has no identifiable cause. Idiopathic epilepsy has been shown to be hereditary in some breeds of dogs, although again it is not known if this is the case in the Labrador Retriever population in the UK. For some breeds the genetic mutation causing the epilepsy has been identified. Medical treatments for idiopathic epilepsy aim to reduce the frequency of seizures, and can be very effective at controlling the disease meaning that affected dogs can live normal lifestyles.
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Dogslife would like to meet some of our members!
Thanks to the efforts of everyone who has contributed, Dogslife has been collecting information on the health of the UK's Labradors for 21 months. The next step in our project is to analyse different aspects of the data and determine how we can further improve the project. As part of this process, we would like to meet some of our members to say thank you and ask some questions. A random selection of Dogslife members will be contacted by email or phone to ask if it would be convenient to pay them and their dog a visit.
Dogslife’s PhD student, Ms Carys Pugh, hopes to travel to these members’ homes to ask questions similar to those in the website questionnaire and take measurements of their dogs’ height and weight. We are aware that measuring the height and weight of a dog can be challenging in the home so Carys will bring along some dog-friendly equipment to make it easier! The questionnaire element should take no longer than 20 minutes.
Dogslife know that people live very busy lives, and the prospective visit is completely voluntary, but if you are contacted and think you could spare the time, you would be helping the study enormously. Thanks to everyone who continues to participate in the project and helps us to find out what keeps dogs healthy!
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Prize winners!
Congratulations to our latest prize winners!
Mrs C from Lanarkshire has won £50 of Pets at Home vouchers, and Mrs M from Perthshire and Ms P from Liverpool have both won £25 of Pets at Home vouchers. The following 10 members have each won £10 of Pets at Home vouchers: Mr R from Kent, Mrs C from Worcestershire, Miss C from Leeds, Mr H from Surrey, Ms G from East Sussex, Mrs D from Staffordshire, Mr M from Ayrshire, Mrs H from Manchester, Mr H from Cleveland, and Miss H from Lincolnshire.
We hope all the winners enjoy spending the vouchers on their pet! Don’t worry if you haven’t won this time, by keeping your dog’s record up to date you will be automatically entered into the next prize draw which takes place in June, so good luck for next time!
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Don't forget to come back to Dogslife to update your dog's record www.dogslife.ac.uk
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