Levi.

Levi was not bred by Sheeba. Levi's dad was not bred by Sheeba. I am truly sorry that I ever HEARD that word.

Levi's mom is a young unwed mother with a pedigree that I have not seen because I am too stupid to know how to buy a dog.

Levi has a pedigree so I am assuming that his mother has one.

I really don't care about Levi's pedigree. I do wish that Levi did not have SM and I would GLADLY exchange his pedigree for a good MRI and to have prevented Levi from having surgery.

I am getting VERY tired of getting s**t about mentioning ANY names when I introduced myself anywhere. I am even sorry I mentioned Levi at all. I am sorry I mentioned my own name. I am thinking of changing both names.

Levi is a little dog. His markings are irregular and he would never make a good show dog. Levi likes to snack in the cat litter box. Levi clearly has no class (nor a developed taste for good food items). I really love Levi and I even got a dog stroller for him and a Halloween costume. He was going to be a pony but now he will probably just have to be Frankendog. Nobody with an eye for Cavaliers with good markings would take a second look at him (except maybe to be thankful that he or she did not have a dog with Levi's markings). He is very cute (I think) and very funny.

I got a call today from LIVS and found out that Levi is doing well and, when I asked, he doesn't (yet) show any signs of MVD. He evidently is spending a lot of time sitting in people's laps. They must feel sorry for him because he does not have beautiful markings, he wants to eat cat poop, he has a Halloween costume, and a stroller.

If there is anybody out there who is irritated at me, will you PLEASE keep it to yourself until I can go and get my little dog back and try to get my life on track. Again. Please do not send me private email and tell me to get everybody on earth to stop saying certain names. If there is anybody out there who owns the Frankendog Kennel and you are mad that I used that name, please wait to send me mean email until I have a chance to heal a little and give Levi some lessons in gourmet eating.

Kathy

Nobody with an eye for Cavaliers with good markings would take a second look at him (except maybe to be thankful that he or she did not have a dog with Levi's markings). He is very cute (I think) and very funny.

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Kathy, I think you just described my two :-D I haven't seen pictures of Levi...but I'm betting he is adorable!!!

To be honest...I can hear your frustration in your post....but I also hear your sense of humor. You have been through so much with little Levi in such a short time.....but it hasn't changed your love for him one bit. That's the way it should be! You just keep being an advocate for Levi, and the heck with the rest of it!!

I too hear the frustration in your post, and I am so sorry for it. I have no idea what you're talking about in regard to people criticizing you for mentioning names, and I have a strong feeling I don't want to know!

Bottom line here -- you love your dog, you're doing everything within your human power to help him, and just a big phooeey on any political stuff (I've learned there's a lot of it in the dog world). Focus on Levi and helping him and other cavaliers suffering from this terrible disease.

Oh, and my Holly would take a snack from the litter box over her fancy raw diet anyday

Thank You!

Cathy T,

Okay! That is wonderful. I have ONE friend. That is WAY better than mean email. Maybe our Cavaliers can exchange interpreted email, huh? Thank you, Cathy T because, to be honest, I REALLY needed that right now. Your timing is really good (and that is NOT a joke).

Kathy (aka Antigone)

Snack Bar.

Holly,

I am sure that Levi would be thrilled to share. As far as he is concerned, the more the merrier! Levi LOVES to play with friends and he doesn't know that his Mommy (me) is unable to compose her own sentences without offending someone.

And please don't tell him about his markings. So far, all the other dogs at Camp Bow Wow (no, I'm not kidding about THAT name) have been too polite to mention his markings to him. None of them asked for his pedigree, either. It is probably a good thing, too. He might get lynched if he mentioned his pedigree.


Kathy

I have the feeling we are in the same boat! I, too, have a precious lil' Cavalier who could never be a show dog, and also has major issues, and will be the most expensive animal I have ever owned! She will soon catch up to what it cost to raise a child! (I have a 13 yr old son, so I have at least that much experience with that!) I haven't listed a breeders name, so I haven't had that issue! If I did list her name... it wouldn't matter... she's a backyard breeder that has no idea the multitude of her stupidity in breeding her "pets" to pay for school! I just keep praying that she will see the light! Just thought you needed some support! No matter what, there are some of us out here that could care less who your breeder is,or the fact that a name was mentioned, we just know you love your Cavalier! So if you need to talk... I'm here... no judging! Just a listener! PLEASE POST PICS of your sweet baby Levi! I bet his markings are beautiful!:-D

If Levi is registered, his parents are registered (assuming we are talking either CKCSC or AKC -- the majority of other registries outside the national registries are really only there to enable unscrupulous breeders to say they have puppies that are 'registered'. It is an area often full of deception, sadly).

Lots of us have unregistered dogs or rescues of no known background, or mixes, and all are precious and much loved. A pedigree should be one of the starting points when searching for a puppy from a reputable, health focused breeder (otherwise the breeder has no idea of the health history of his/her lineage, just for a start!) but for a dog someone already owns it is really not an issue unless a buyer pays a lot more for a dog on the basis of one when that shouldn't have happened-- but for dogs that do have them, this information can be useful, have some or a lot of meaning, have none at all, or be a deliberate deception. Buying a dog is a minefield! Most of us don't know that right away but learn over time.

Many of us have dogs with SM and many of those dogs have all sorts of well known lines in their background. The pedigree information is simply fact. If people have problems, still, with pedigrees being named for dogs with health problems, then this is definitely not a board they should be reading. Fortunately many such breeders have been public about breeding some dogs with this terrible affliction and some campaign courageously to raise awareness and raise funding to fight this problem.

If people are sending PMs and emails to a member that are critical of their posts, please go back and read the terms of use of the board in the Getting Started section. If anyone is receiving unpleasant private correspondence based on posts they made on the board you may always let me know privately.

In addition every board member has the ability to block the PMs from another member if they so choose, or to block viewing their posts. Both these options are in the User CP (upper left hand side of the top bar).

If a given affix is prominently in an affected dog's lineage, I would definitely notify that affix, as I stated before. Breeders need to be aware of this to help shape their breeding programmes.

Kathy

It doesn't matter about markings, pedigree ect ect. All that matters is that you love and care for your little boy. The people on this site love and adore their dogs, as its very clear you do. I consider this site my place to hang out with great mates and like minded people, and I hope that you find this to be the case too. As you get to know everyone you will get some fantastic advice,support and friendship. Welcome and enjoy this wonderful forum. Hope your little boy is home soon:hug:

Thank You to ALL You WONDERFUL People!

The mean email was NOT from members but viewers who got my email address, so at least there is THAT. It really was an innocent mistake to mention that kennel name (Not of the Frankendog Kennel! I haven't heard from their defenders..yet!). I honestly didn't know that it was a kennel/breeder name! I thought it was some particular kind of aristocratic Cavalier, maybe a little better or fluffier than regular Cavaliers. Like there are different breeds of cats. Or like when some people believe that they are better than others; not just part of the riff-raff.

As it is, Levi wouldn't even pass for a "middle class" Cavalier. Any fanatic breeder that saw him would probably have culled him at birth. That is ONE thing I have to say about his breeder. She was humane and she did try to get him a good home. She had no way of knowing that he was going to develop SM and was genuinely horrified when she found out.

Anyway, I hope it is over now. It is amazing that I got some private email saying that at last I had done the "right" thing in removing the slur from the kennel name. I haven't heard from everyone who was upset so I'm not entirely sure I did, though. Anybody that read all the posts would realize from which direction I got the private email and probably how truly distressing it was to me. I don't know that any one person even knew that they were not the only person sending irate email. Probably not. Since I tried several times to submit posts that would satisfy the defenders of a name I hadn't even realized was a trademark (of sorts..I guess) and had not been able to do that, I was getting a little frantic!

Thank you for your sympathy and encouragement. I do feel awfully alone now as, not only does nobody around here know about the illness, but everybody who I know thinks I must be nuts to spend all this money, time and love on "just a dog."

I do miss him dreadfully and can barely stand to look at his toys or pictures. I started to go through the process of opening a Photobucket account yesterday and couldn't finish because looking at his pictures was too sad on top of everything else. The only reason I decided that he could go for Halloween as Frankendog is that he will have screws in his head and a big seam in his skin. NOT because I think he will ever look like a monster!

As if all this weren't bad enough, it is October and here things just instantly turn grey. The sky is grey, the trees are grey, the yards and streets are grey. We don't usually have those cheery autumn days one sees in photos. Things go from HOT to cold, wet and almost uniformly grey. I always thought, when I was younger and before my life became infinitely more complicated, that I would end up being one of those persons who lived in a huge motor home so that I could escape the extremes of weather here. Ah, yes. I guess that I was under the illusion that many people seem to share that careful planning would allow me to (essentially) control the future!

Kathy

All that matters is that Levi has won the biggest prize of them all, your love and devotion, it can't get better than that!:xctly:

You and Levi are going to have the best reunion-what a terrific Mom you are. I have 3 who would never come close to a show ring-who cares! They are endless love and joy with wonderful snuggles. Give Levi a hug from all his well wishers when you get to hold him again :hug:.

I am pleased to know the trouble you were getting was not from people here -- that's great to hear. With a large membership it is very hard to know what might happen through PMs but it wouldn't have seemed to me that currently active members would take that particular route. But it may be useful to some to know they can block posts/PMs if they wish. The User CP allows people to do a lot of customising on their account.

Some folks really must not be able to read or think if they believed you were slurring a named kennel by anything in your posts. I will make clear here again that I didn't edit off names out of concern about discussing SM but simply because I didn't wish the breeder to be identified in a thread that mentioned unhappiness with how a specific breeder had responded and behaved. Again not out of disbelief but only because that is board policy and there can be legal implications for me and the poster. I run many such posts past lawyers so am quite confident of those that I do allow. If people are that overworked about your initial posts, then I truly believe there is no hope for ever addressing this problem in the breed. Thank goodness for the breeders who know that no kennel is immune. The only people I know who continuously trumpet that they have 'never seen SM in any dogs of my breeding' are all those who have never MRI'd or not mentioning that they have definitely been told of the issue in their lines.

As two well known breeders have noted on another list, when they went to screening programmes and spoke directly to their neurologists the neurologists said about 50% of all the cavaliers they were MRIing as part of club programmes *have syrinxes* and have SM. Given that those would primarily be breeder dogs of breeding age -- eg young dogs, under 5 -- that's a pretty sobering statistic. It also indicates it would be extraordinary for any line to MRI fully clear of the problem. So noting the breeding of a dog with SM is NOT 'branding a breeder' or any of the other quite pathetic things said.

I would hope there was greater knowledge and intelligence by now around such issues, but apparently some still expect others to be as backward as they are, and as willing to continue to damn the breed's future, by conspiring in a rule of silence. The ironic thing is that such an attitude only continues to maintain an environment of negative associations with SM that make it even more difficult for anyone to work together the limit the problem, makes it harder for breeders to discuss scans, and harder to fund fresh research.

Of course, maybe that is the point for these particular people.

Levi

Can I just say to Kathy, and her mention of Winter,

When Winter Comes .....can Spring be Far Behind.

Kathy, big hugs to you and Levi. You have enough on your plate without all this additional hassle. I hope that the nastiness has ended for you now. I admire your courage and resourcefulness to do what you have done for Levi. I bet you are counting down the days till he comes home again.
This board is really great for support and information and I hope you get as much out of it as I do. Lots of us here have dogs with SM and for me, it has been a great resource. I have to warn you though, its also addictive:grin:
Charli :flwr:

I haven't been on the forum much lately due to actually having to do some work instead....but Kathy WELCOME! icon_welcome I have been reading about Levi and his surgery and I hope he recovers quickly. I can tell you're a true gem of a person with a wonderful sense of humor!

Just wanted to say you obviously love your dog and that makes you a great person in my book, it is sickening that our dogs have to suffer in this way through no fault of their own, and if breeders would step up to the mark and embrace all the learning and knowledge that seems to be forthcoming be it rather slowly then the future would look much brighter for future generations. Im sure your breeder like my own, had no idea about sm and anyone can tell you didnt mean to slur anyones name.
I hope Levi makes a great recovery from his surgery and look forward to some pics of him, always remember you are never alone. Feel free to email me if you want, di