Pekingese enthusiasts are making progress
13 Aug 2009 08:02
PEKINGESE enthusiasts have responded to the challenge set by Kennel Club chairman Ronnie Irving when he told them to set aside personal animosities and start thinking about the future of the breed.
Writing in DOG WORLD two weeks ago, Mr Irving said that various wrangles appeared to be going on in the Pekingese world.
“The KC has repeatedly advised that it cannot and will not involve itself with the allegations and counter allegations about the political goings on in the breed,” he wrote. “Can I please ask all of those who purport to be Pekingese enthusiasts to start to think more about their dogs and less about their personal animosities?”
He said the KC’s decision last year to ‘unilaterally impose’ a new breed Standard for the Pekingese had been taken after ‘many years of effort to get Pekingese people to agree what was required’.
Enough problems
“The Pekingese as a breed already has enough problems on its hands in terms of health and declining popularity,” he wrote. “It is a charming breed and deserves to have a band of enthusiasts which is united in its interest. Pekingese enthusiasts are strongly urged to stop fighting among themselves and to start thinking of the future of their breed.”
At the time Pekingese Club secretary Brenda Oades welcomed Mr Irving’s remarks saying: “The (Pekingese) club has worked hard to try to unite the members by involving them in important decisions and will continue to work for the benefit of the breed.”
Now there appears to be a concerted effort to draw in enthusiasts of all the brachycephalic breeds.
A group called PROGRESS – Pekingese Review Open Group Responding with Evidence-based Science and Sensitivity – is holding an open meeting for the owners of all these breeds but particularly to ensure that the Pekingese survives and thrives ‘in the 21st century’.
One of the group’s co-ordinators, Dr Nicolas Small, said this was good news for the Pekingese breed.
“There is a large silent majority who agree completely with Mr Irving’s letter and want to rise to the challenge,” he said.
The meeting will take place at the Hatherton House Hotel, Stafford (formerly the Quality Inn) ST19 5QP, on Sunday starting at 11.30am and ending no later than 4pm. The first part of the meeting will concentrate on developments that PROGRESS is keen to take forward among them the possibility of gene testing for brachycephalic airways syndrome (BAS).
At 2pm the Pekingese people will be joined by representatives of other brachycephalic breeds – which include French Bulldogs, Pugs, Bulldogs, Boxers, Boston Terriers, Shih Tzus, Bullmastiffs and Griffons Bruxellois – in order to share experiences about their breed Standards.
Penny Rankine-Parsons, secretary of the French Bulldog Club of England, will be giving a keynote speech.
Dr Small explained that PROGRESS was formed in October after the imposition of the new Pekingese Standard by the KC.
“We are a group of Pekingese enthusiasts, breeders and owners who care passionately about the breed and want to develop ideas that are evidence based, in order to inform the next revision of our Standard,” he said.
“We accept that the Standard has to change but want it to be based on scientific evidence – sound genetics and not prejudice. We realise we have a lot to learn from other breeds.”
The aim of the meeting, he said, was to share experiences of dealing with the amended Standards.
“We would also like to see what areas we may have in common including ways we could co-operate collectively to address the concerns being expressed about the head profile in each specific breed Standard,” he said.
“PROGRESS is determined to take up Mr Irving’s challenge and work tirelessly to address the breed’s declining popularity,” he said.
“We are not a political group and are not representing the breed clubs; we are a group of individuals.
“As a breed, do we want to be in the same position as the German Shepherd Dogs who, at the time of writing, have not been allocated CCs for 2012?”
United
This meeting would also provide a chance for people to show how they were united in the interests of the Pekingese, he said.
“This meeting is about the survival of the breed,” continued Dr Small.
“We want people to make the decision to attend and we will demonstrate the ideas we have to ensure the breed can thrive in the 21st century.”
“Our name was chosen to reflect our aims which are to work towards ensuring that the next revision of the Standard is correct for the health of the breed, based on evidence not prejudice, acceptable to breed enthusiasts and in keeping with the history of the breed.
“We are unique within the Pekingese community in that we are not a club or a society and we have a very large database of not only breeders and Pekingese enthusiasts but also pet owners and friends of the breed.
At our last meeting, we decided to see whether we could learn from other breeds about their experiences. We realised that the other brachycephalic breeds have also received adverse attention and so we decided to organise a meeting at which we could celebrate the health of our dogs and share ways in which we can all actively improve it as well as educate others.
“So far we have had a very good response. Everybody in these breeds are welcome to attend. The meeting is free and open to all.
“At this stage we do not know what will happen but we are hoping that we can do some collaborative work as a result of our initial discussions. We are very excited about this prospect.
“An example of this work could be some specific genetic testing on the syndrome known as BAS which can, although only rarely, affect all those in these breeds.
“We would be very interested to hear of any other areas people feel could help different breeds.”
A letter has been sent to all brachycephalic breed clubs.