Martha Tubman
1. I have been an emergency and critical care veterinarian for 20 years now and that takes up most of my time and energy! I have always had shelter dogs, but decided purebred dogs would be my “midlife crisis” about 10 years ago. I was lucky enough to be welcomed by some wonderful Greater Swiss Mountain Dog breeders/mentors and have been breeding them for about eight years, and Danish-Swedish Farm dogs for about four years. I like beautiful dogs with easy coat care that make good pets. We live near Lynchburg, Virginia, and use the kennel name Swallowfield. The Swissies take up a bit more space, but they do pair well together and love to run and play as a pack.
2. The Danish-Swedish Farmdogs are a very healthy small breed. There is a low coefficient of inbreeding, so the type is not as well set, but this allows for good versatility and longevity. Obviously the new six-month import rules are drastically going to decrease importation of dogs—it is very hard for European breeders to not get attached if they keep a puppy for six months!
3. My thoughts on Conformation are multi-faceted. I enjoy it as a sport to meet and see other dogs and people, but I have not had a good enough dog or put enough effort into it to really succeed. I appreciate the handlers who have helped me get championships on the Swissies. I think most of the judges are kind and thoughtful and really try to do their best, and I appreciate when they ask questions and show interest with the rare breeds. I am always looking for a bit more feedback, but I realize this is easier said than done.
4. The Farmdogs are excited to be part of the Working Group this January! We have a wonderful breed club that has been helped by some fabulous Danish and Swedish mentors, and many people have stepped up to help the breed get to this point! AKC set forth good processes and was helpful. I would say, breeding challenges would be access to quality, typey dogs in other countries. Exhibitor challenges are just finding random people to help handle dogs for you in the ring! Open Show folks are lovely, kind, and supportive of each other.
5. I think that as long as people are able to view others with kindness and grace, it is good.
6. I worry about access to affordable, quality healthcare. I am passionate about veterinary care and the interaction between breeders and veterinarians. It is so rare that we see well-bred dogs in the emergency clinic that veterinarians are not well prepared for them. I hear stories so often from breeders about how they were not well treated in emergency clinics, but I also have complaints from clients about how I should have done things differently. Veterinary emergency medicine is a very stressful job, and it is important to treat clinicians with kindness.
If I could offer one tip to purebred dog owners, it would be to tell the emergency clinician about breed-related health concerns as “family history.” Only about one percent of my patients come from breeders who have done any health testing or tracking. It can be easy for the few clients who do know the health history of their pet to not talk down to the clinician who is not taking their concerns seriously, but this does not help.
I would like for pet owners to be aware of any breed-specific health issues (such as splenic torsion in Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs) and to present it to the emergency clinician as: “My dog’s sire had similar symptoms and ended up having a twisted spleen and almost dying.” Family history is important in human medicine and we have the advantage of being able to use it in our dogs if we can. It is okay to lie and say it is your dog’s father even if it was some more distantly related dog. Pet owners need to say this without passing judgement and they need to be brief. Listening to each other is the most important part of the veterinary-client-patient relationship, but we also all need to accept that we will not have all the answers.
7. I appreciate the wide range of other sports people can do with their dogs, and I love seeing dogs with letters on both ends of their name. I do get a bit distracted figuring out which sports to focus on, but it is all fun! I appreciate that with the performance sports it is more clearly my fault if we don’t succeed.
