Pekingese Health Committee
Of The Pekingese Club of America
Introduction and Mission
On January 18, 2008 the PCA Board of Directors formed the Pekingese Health
Committee to study and address growing global concerns over health conditions in
the breed. These conditions stem from insufficient education of breeders and the
public regarding genetic defects in the Pekingese gene pool, in addition to
other factors that threaten the health, fitness and future of Pekingese
throughout the world.
Chief among the concerns are the following factors:
1)
The urgency for education of breeders as to the real issues causing a shrinking
Pekingese gene pool among show dogs world-wide.
2)
Growing pressure to radically alter the Pekingese standard in the UK and FCI
countries, and/or ban the breeding of Pekingese in Europe and possibly the UK
due to a powerful lobby against breeds with difficulty breathing and impaired
locomotion.
3)
Many decades of acceptance of closed or narrow nostrils, small noses, embedded
(deep-set) noses, compressed nasal area and nasal folds covering the nose, which
has necessarily conditioned the thinking of modern breeders and judges toward
tolerance of these defects, as subtle changes in the breed evolved and became
widespread.
4)
A shift in the 1970s toward tolerance of lack of free movement, combined with a
century of very little to no education for Pekingese breeders with respect to
understanding basic canine anatomy and locomotion.
5)
A growing incidence of a variety of genetic defects that spread throughout the
gene pool opportunistically due to an acceptance or unawareness of the defects,
a fear of disclosure of the defects, or fear of even discussion about them.
6)
The need to make recommendations to warn and educate breeders on how to
gradually make shifts in their breeding programs over time to improve their
breeding stock and sift out the genes that threaten the breed.
7)
The need to perceive the Pekingese breeding community as unit world-wide to work
together to eradicate threats to the vibrant health, vitality and longevity of
Pekingese.
There has been a long-term education deficit in the breed which has left today’s
breeders at a disadvantage in being prepared to deal with, or even accept, the
problems and growing crisis in the breed. One
obstacle that breeders must overcome is the fear of loss of investment of time,
money and breeding stock vs. the long-term benefits to the breed and their
associates in the dog community, as well as themselves, in helping the breed
evolve in a healthy way.
The Pekingese community is not the first to have to deal with such a crisis on a
broad scale. In the 1980s the Chow Chow
community faced similar pressures of extinction with an extraordinarily high
incidence of breeding and show dogs that could not see, breathe or walk without
serious difficulty, not to mention bad temperaments. Who would want a Chow as a
family pet with these issues? The parent club of the breed began a comprehensive
campaign to re-educate breeders and help them make hard choices in their
breeding programs. The result was, twenty-five years down the road to the
present time, the breed has nearly eliminated the high incidence of the problems
seen so readily throughout the country so many years ago. The reason being, the
parent club did its job, the breeders took the crisis seriously, and they all
worked together to save their breed. Today it is commonplace to see healthy,
agile Chows in the ring that can breathe normally and move without lumbering.
Breeders in the UK and The Pekingese Club in England, the parent club for the
breed, are several years ahead of North Americans in addressing these issues.
It
is widely accepted that the Pekingese gene pool in America is, and has always
been, dependent and heavily influenced by the breed’s gene pool in the UK.
Therefore, the extent to which the breed could be adversely affected in North
America should the UK Standard be radically changed or if there be a ban on
Pekingese in England and Europe cannot be underestimated. North American
Pekingese breeders need to become fully aware that the threat is real and the
responsibility to make changes is collectively ours worldwide.
The Board of The Pekingese Club of America has responded to these global
concerns and how it will affect the future of the breed in US and Canada.
Dr. Terill S. Udenberg of British Columbia has joined the PCA Health
committee as has Gabriel A. Covo, M.D. who taught medicine at Columbia
University and conducted medical research. Dr.
Udenberg is breeder/exhibitor of Poodles, CKC judge, researcher, author and
university professor who has performed numerous corrective surgeries on
Pekingese to improve breathing. His
article “The
Breath of Life”
is published in the April 2008 edition of The Pekingese Club of America Bulletin
and is printed in its entirety on the PCA web site.
Dr. Udenberg and Dr. Covo are presently working on a project with DNA research
scientists at the National Institute of Health to identify the genes for
specific structural anomalies in Pekingese that affect normal breathing, vision
and locomotion.