DogWellNet – international cooperation to promote canine health and well-being

DogWellNet collects data on one website

The aim of DogWellNet is to facilitate sharing information, skills, experiences and resources among the kennel clubs, veterinary organisations and other stakeholders in different countries. The principle is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel if someone has already done it. Finland and other Nordic countries play a key role in this as we are recognised top countries in health breeding and promoting canine well-being.

New information and summaries are produced for DogWellNet on the research results about canine breeding. The ambitious goal is to collect breed-specific health programmes on the website and, in this way, facilitate the prioritising of breeding objectives using research data and health data collected by enthusiasts of a certain breed.

The website also contains blogs and discussion forums. On the website, the Finnish Kennel Club has its own blog in English that shares information on Finnish breeding.

Behind DogWellNet: International Partnership For Dogs

International Partnership For Dogs (IPFD), established in 2014, is the force behind DogWellNet. The purpose of the organisation is to promote canine health and well-being. IPFD is a non-profit organisation registered in Sweden. IPFD works for the benefit of all dogs in the world and is not limited to pedigree dogs.

The purpose is for IPFD’s operations and structure to be as open, extensive and transparent as possible. Current members include many national kennel clubs, such as Swedish, Norwegian, German, French, English, Irish and American Kennel Clubs in addition to the Finnish Kennel Club. Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) and the Swedish Kennel Club’s Agria Pet Insurance fund are also included.

The World Canine Organization FCI has initiated the work by funding the establishment of IPFD, and in May 2015, FCI also became a member of the IPFD. Through FCI, its 87 kennel club members from all over the world are also indirectly included in the operations. All the members and partners have committed to keeping IPDF and DogWellNet an impartial and non-political cooperation platform with the sole purpose of promoting canine health and well-being.

The Chairperson of IPFD’s board is Pekka Olson, the Chairperson of the Swedish Kennel Club. Board members include Caroline Kisko from England, Eddie Dziuk from the United States, Peter Friedrich from Germany, Jean-Pierre Genevois from France, Patricia Olson from the United States and member of the Board of the Finnish Kennel Club and Chairperson of the Finnish Kennel Club’s Scientific Committee Kirsi Sainio from Finland. Brenda Bonnett from Canada is the CEO of the organisation and Swedish Ulf Uddman the CFO. Brenda Bonnett has extensive experience on canine health: she has analysed the morbidity and mortality rates of dog breeds in cooperation with Agria animal insurances and participated in developing Agria’s dog breed profiles, among other things.

Read the presentation on IPFD and DogWellNet Brenda Bonnett gave in the Dog Health Workshop in February 2015 here.

DogWellNet

Further information
Katariina Mäki
Breeding Expert
katariina.maki@kennelliitto.fi

Canine knowledge from Finland

The Finnish Kennel Club has contributed with information that includes:

•    Finnish Kennel Club General Breeding Strategy
•    Finnish dog breed populations improving their health - hip dysplasia
•    Studies the Finnish Kennel Club has been involved in, the latest on the subject Estimate of heritability and genetic trend of intervertebral disc calcification in Dachshunds in Finland
•    Crossbreeding in Finland
•    Breed-specific Breeding Strategies. Breed Clubs are translating parts of their breeding strategies to English