Jump to content
REGISTER NOW! IPFD Virtual Dog Health Forum: 3rd – 4th June 2025
JUST PUBLISHED ‒ Moving from information and collaboration to action: Report from the 5th International Dog Health Workshop in Helsinki, June 2024

IPFD Student Blog: Kelly Arthur

A group blog by in General

  • Entries

    12

  • Comments

    25

  • Views

    21,731

Contributors to this blog

About this blog

Blog by Kelly Arthur, Colorado State University veterinary student. Her summer 2016 IPFD project, "A Veterinarian’s Role in the Ethics and Welfare of Breeding Dogs" was generously supported by the Skippy Frank Fund. Kelly continues to provide thought-provoking blogs for the DogWellNet.com community as she competes her veterinary degree.  

 

 

Entries in this blog

AKC National Parent Club Conference

Hello all!   Brenda’s blog gave a great overview of the American Kennel Club National Parent Club Canine Health Conference we attended earlier this month in St. Louis, Missouri. I am grateful for the sponsorship from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals provided to myself and the 31 other veterinary students in attendance.   This conference, like the 3rd International Dog Health Workshop, was an opportunity to learn more about cutting edge research that is improving dog heal
Kelly Arthur

Many Thanks to the IDHW Attendees!

The 2017 International Dog Health Workshop in Paris was the culmination of my summer 2016 project entitled, "A Veterinarian's Role in the Ethics and Welfare of Breeding Dogs." I'm very grateful to have attended this workshop that featured ways we can work collaboratively to improve dog health and welfare. My project poster was displayed among many other interesting research projects. I was impressed by the diversity of attendees including dog owners, veterinarians, kennel club members, researche
Kelly Arthur

How Can We Improve End-of-Life Care?

For those of us working the animal care field, do we know how most people want their pets to die? This was the topic of conversation when speaking with Dr. Kathleen Cooney, DVM, MS, CHPV earlier this month.    Dr. Cooney is an expert in end-of-life care and founder of Home to Heaven, P.C. in Loveland, Colorado, one of the world’s first, and largest, animal hospice services. In addition, she is founder of Cooney Animal Hospice Consulting and past President of the International Associati
Kelly Arthur

International Animal Welfare Competition Win for Colorado State University!

I'm very proud to report that the Colorado State University Veterinary Animal Welfare Judging Team took first-place in the veterinary division at the international Animal Welfare Judging and Assessment Contest (AWJAC) in November. Colorado State University (CSU) began competing with an undergraduate and graduate team in 2012. For the past three years, CSU's Veterinary School has also participated. This year, I coached the veterinary team with a fellow veterinary student, Angela Varnum.   
Kelly Arthur

Welfare Consultations to Improve Pet Wellbeing and Generate Revenue

Improving animal welfare is the basis of veterinary medicine. However, improving animal welfare can oftentimes be costly. A new consultation structure, PetWise MOTs, created by the UK’s leading veterinary charity, PDSA, is a step to overcoming these obstacles. PetWise MOTs can be used to improve pet welfare and generate additional revenue for practices.    A review of the UK’s Animal Welfare Act in 2010 placed additional emphasis on veterinary involvement in promoting better pet welfar
Kelly Arthur

Breed Standards-Part or All of the Problem?

Veterinary school has started back up again but my interest in tough questions pertaining to the health and welfare of breeding dogs still remain...   Deleterious traits exist in mixed breed, purebred, pedigree, and unknown origin dogs. Often with pedigree dogs, breed standards are frequently blamed for the existence of deleterious traits in breeding dogs.   As this Wall Street Journal video states, there are traits of certain breeds, such as the bulldog, that lead to p
Kelly Arthur

Resources for Finding the Right Canine Match

People often are enamored and proud of the close relationship they share with their pet. The video below features interviews with pet owners and shows the close bond humans have with various animals.    However, pet ownership comes with responsibility and people should thoughtfully consider their options before getting a pet. B4UGETAPET, created by the University of Guelph, encourages people to do research before acquiring a cat or dog to find a best fit.    Initial questions
Kelly Arthur

Dr. Paul McGreevy and the Complexities of Animal Welfare

On July 14th, 2016, I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Paul McGreevy, BVSc, PhD, University of Sydney professor, researcher, veterinary specialist in behavioral medicine and expert in companion animal welfare. The complex issues affecting the welfare and behavior of purebred dogs is one area in which Dr. McGreevy focuses his research. Below are some of the topics that we discussed and an example is provided to illustrate each point.   1.    The benefits of health practices differ
Kelly Arthur

Head Shape and Hair Whorls—Can They Influence Behavior?

In reading more about dog behavior for my project, characteristics such as head shape of dogs and how it can relate to behavior has made me think—are there other physical characteristics that we could look at to make inferences about an animal’s behavior?    Dr. Paul McGreevy and others have published articles on how skull characteristics may be related to behavior. In a recently published article, researchers looked at various physical characteristics, including head shape, and correl
Kelly Arthur

Veterinary Welfare Education in the United States

Welfare education is on the rise and there is a growing number of veterinary students with an interest in animal welfare. Some schools have taken notice and have either integrated animal welfare throughout their curriculum or have individual classes to educate students on the topic.    In the United States there are opportunities to get involved with animal welfare but they are few and far between. Specific to breeding dog welfare, Purdue University has a project focused on the welfare
Kelly Arthur

Introductory Blog and Questions to Ponder

Hello IPFD Community,    My name is Kelly Arthur and I am a third-year veterinary student at Colorado State University (for more background see my introduction page). I’m very excited to announce my participation in IPFD through the newly created veterinary student projects. Projects are being initiated in various countries to educate students on the need for an international perspective and multidisciplinary approach to the issues facing pedigree dogs. Projects involve gathering, eval
Kelly Arthur

Adorable Hazel and Why One Welfare Can Help Address Breeding Dog Challenges

Starting this project made me ponder:  There always seems to be another perspective related to welfare and ethics that I had not thought of before.  There appear to be two camps online—those for breeding and those against (and there is little in between).  Veterinarians seem to be under-represented in the breeding dog public debate.  This provides further validation for an aspect of my project – to create educational resources for veterinarians/veterinary students. 
Kelly Arthur

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.

I accept