A Special Note To Breeders

Every dog entered in the Comprehensive Rhodesian Ridgeback Health Survey – whether healthy or ill, living or deceased – is an important contribution in our quest to understand Ridgeback health worldwide.

Breeders play a special part in the health survey. Because they can enter information on entire litters, they can encourage those puppy owners to import their puppy’s record and continue to document his health status throughout his life.

Breeders also have a wealth of reproductive information that can help illuminate trends in fertility, whelping, puppy viability and congenital disorders.

If you are a breeder, here is how you can enter your brood bitches and any litters they have produced:

1.     Log on to the survey at lkhopkins.com/ridgeback. (Or go to RhodesianRidgebackHealth.org and click on “Take the Survey.”)

2.     Click on “Add a Dog,” fill in your brood bitch’s information, and hit “Submit.”

3.     On the Kennel Page that follows, click on your bitch’s name. That will bring you to her Individual Dog Information page.

4.     From the lefthand menu, select “Record Reproductive Information.” Fill out the breeding information (or as much of it as you can!) and hit “Submit.”

5.     A Breeding Summary box will now appear on your bitch’s Individual Dog Information page. Click on “Whelp Info” in the righthand column of the breeding you just entered.

6.     This will bring you to the Litter Information page. Click on “Add/Edit whelping information” to add information about the whelping and click on “Add/Edit litter information” to add information about the overall litter.

7.     Add details on each individual puppy in the litter by selecting “Record individual puppy data.”

8.     On the “Record individual puppy data” form, you will see a field that asks for a Release Code. This code, which you select, is required for a puppy owner to import this information to their own record in the survey. Puppy owners will also need the Puppy ID #, which is automatically generated after you hit “Submit.”

9.     Using the “Record Individual puppy data” form, add each puppy in the litter (including stillborns and culls). As you add them, they will be listed in birth order on the Litter Information page, under “Puppies in this litter.”

10.   To have puppy owners create a record for their puppy, send them the survey address, ask them to register and log on, then have them click on “Import a puppy” and enter the Puppy ID # and Release Code you created.

The following information will be automatically transferred: Both call and registered names, gender, ridge and dewclaw information and nose color. Please note that other than ridgelessness, other congenital conditions (such as dermoids, cryptorchidism, etc) will NOT be transferred. Instruct your puppy people to add this information after they have submitted their dogs’ initial information by clicking on “Record Disease or Health Problem” on the lefthand menu of their puppy’s Individual Dog information page.

Whenever a new owner imports one of your puppies, the field behind its name on the “Litter Information” page will turn pink.

Breeders can download and customize a letter to puppy buyers explaining how to import a puppy by clicking on the link under “Puppies in this litter” on the “Litter Information” page.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact the RRCUS Health & Genetics senior chair, Susan Ralston.