Last weekend I was honored to participate in the 2017 National Parent Club Canine Health Conference presented by the AKC Canine Health Foundation and Nestlé Purina PetCare, in St. Louis, Missouri.  It is always great to interact with breeders and club reps that are so committed to the health and welfare of their dogs and their breeds.

This meeting is a mix of breeders (106 parent clubs represented!), vets, and researchers and includes Board members from some of the collaborating organizations who sponsor research, including IPFD Partners and Sponsors: the AKC, the AKC-CHF and the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA). The OFA sponsored 32 veterinary students to attend the meeting.  Our IPFD 2016 Student Kelly Arthur was among the participants!

The research covered a wide array of key topics - from ticks and infectious disease - epilepsy - latest developments in cancer - to issues of reproduction (see list of speakers and topics, below).  What an impressive panel of speakers and internationally renowned researchers.  It was great to see two of our speakers from the 3^rd International Dog Health Workshop, Jason Stull and Rowena Packer, as well as numerous others who participated in that meeting.  It certainly feels like the international community of those committed to dog health, well-being and welfare is going strong!

Thanks to the many people who stopped by the IPFD table to talk to us about our organization, DogWellNet.com and especially the Harmonization of Genetic Testing for Dogs initiative (and to grab some chocolate to keep their energy up!).  Special thanks to CA Sharpe, from our IPFD Collaborating Partner Australian Shepherd Health & Genetics Institute (ASHGI) for helping me out at the table.  It was very gratifying for me to hear someone else talking so enthusiastically about our efforts.

Congrats to AKC-CHF for their continued strength and leadership; for promoting multi-disciplinary interaction; and for an exciting conference.

Attached is the PDF of the slides of my talk (slightly altered, of course)  and the abstract.

• BONNETT - AKC-CHF Presentation - Harmonization of Genetic Testing for Dogs

• BONNETT Abstract - CHF June 2017

The 2017 AKC-CHF Conference Program included presentations on the following topics...                   

• Lymphoma & Epigenetics - Jeffrey Bryan, DVM, PhD, DACVIM-Oncology
• Lymphoma & Flow Cytometry - Anne Avery, VMD, PhD
• Chemotherapy & FortiFlora® - Korinn Saker DVM, PhD, DACVN 
• Genetics of Cancer/Lymphoma - Matthew Breen, PhD
• Diet & Rehabilitation - Wendy Baltzer DVM, PhD, DACVS
• Genetic Predisposition to Infections - Urs Giger, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DECVCP
•  Lyme Disease - Jason Stull, VMD, PhD, DACVPM
• Tick-Borne Disease - Ed Breitschwerdt, DVM, DACVIM (*Keynote)
• Ehrlichia & Lymphocytosis - Anne Avery, VMD, PhD
• Canine Cognition - Bill Milgram, PhD
• Genetics of Epilepsy - Gary Johnson, DVM, PhD
• Epilepsy & the Microbiome - Karen Munana, DVM, PhD, DACVIM-Neurology
• Epilepsy & Nutrition - Rowena Packer, PhD
• IPFD: Harmonization of Laboratory Genetic Testing for Dogs - Brenda Bonnett, DVM, PhD
• Semen Evaluation, Quality, and Effects of Aging - Stuart Meyers, DVM, PhD, DACT
• Brucella Update - Angela Arenas, DVM, PhD, DACVP
• Pyometra - Marco Coutinho da Silva, DVM, PhD, DACT
   

New for 2017! Panel discussions with our speakers on:

• Canine Lymphoma
• Tick-Borne Diseases
• Epilepsy
• Reproductive Diseases

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