Cuban

I know there is an active pedigree dog breeding 'hobby' within Thailand with a few magazines and The TKC etc, but the only proper breeder I know personally is unaware of the more European movement towards gene testing Sire and Dam prior to a mating. He is aware of CHD and ED points scoring of prospective parents but that is all.

In my opinion he is a step above the back yard breeders that churn out litters quickly, and his pups are TKC registered with pedigree certificates. A know another yard breeder who just carries our random matings of pugs with zero testing or TKC contact of any sort.


I am thinking about a future mating of two particular dogs, they are from completely different lines and I wish to avoid any genetic mistakes in the potential progeny. Some of the dog's in question parents bloodline is known and well documented, but both side have "mixed" in their ancestry.


I seek experiences within Thailand of getting canine gene testing carried out, and what are they able to reliably test for ? I know there are various well defined gene tests for specific-pedigree-breeds that are affected by particular inherited diseases caused by in-breeding resulting in breed-specific illnesses, but there is little point in having two dogs tested for some 30 of 40 different genetic affected/carrier markers when they are not in any way cousins. List of tests1, List of tests 2 and List of tests 3 for example.  

Is there any more generic profile testing that offer a potential health result?

I don't need the "What breed in my dog?" tests that many on-line gene testers seem to promote - I know that already.

Having already read up on some mail-order canine DNA tests (cheek swab) that only seem able to conclusively prove that the sample might have come from a dog, of some type, I know that the value of the test results are only as good as the data-base that the laboratory have access to for comparison and the skill of the person carrying out the test. I understand the most complete database in in the USA.


I have zero interest in those readers that are about to suggest I adopt someone else's stray or the dog of a departing expat, etc etc.

This thread is about gene testing not re-homing or canine population control, go start your own thread.

The situation seems obvious to me but I'm currently some thousands of miles away from Thailand and my wife's understanding on things financial is not brilliant nor her ability to communicate the finer points of short-term life cover and policy details.


My Mother In Law is a typical elderly Thai lady (73-74yrs) and really not too bad considering some of the horror stories I have heard and read about in these pages.

Last year she was treated for stomach cancer, mostly chemo, and despite some touch and go moments she seems to have recovered quite well.


My wife has been offered a life policy on her mother under these terms:

Premium: 29,600 Baht per year.

Payout year one: ?

Payout after one year to 18 months: "20% of 200,000" **

Payout after 18 months: 200,000 Baht


** I have tried to use the exact wording from her notes, so this figure should be 40,000 Baht.

I have no idea about the finer points of the contract nor it's provisions nor terms in various eventualities nor if there is any pre-existing condition clauses which I assume there is.

But this really seems like a bad deal to me.


Not knowing about pay-out in year one is an issue, I would assume there is none.

So there is a expectation to pay two years premiums of 59,200 Baht in return for 40,000 Baht with the gamble being 200,000 Baht after two more years. I have no idea if the policy continues under the same terms after year two or if there is accumulation of pay-out.  

Given life expectancy at birth in 1939 Thailand was 55-60 Years she is already pushing the actuality charts for rural Thai women.

In the village where she has spent all her life there are few people (if any) in their late 70s-80s.


Personally I am having trouble convincing my wife that that this is not a good deal and that insurance companies are not magic money trees that will pay out big returns without there being some less well explained clause within the contract that takes away the big money that the sweet talking sales man/lady "promises".

As a POI there is already a fully paid-up Life Term Policy on the MIL that will pay 70% of the total premiums paid when she finally dies.


Any thoughts or comments are welcome.

Our most recent addition to the family is a beautiful Golden Retriever pup.

He came to us as a mis-placed gift to the head of a local Wat, the monk accepted the gift from a well meaning person seeking to make merit (the person in question lives in a different part of the country), the monk is a regular visitor at our house and knew that we would both take the dog in, take good care of him and he would be close so the monk could see him every day - the monk does have a soft spot for him.

So, three months have passed since สิงโต (Lion) joined us, we think he is about 6 months old now, and we are getting many comments about how beautiful he is. Which has rung so many alarm bells in my head about potential dog-napping.

I've 'discussed' issues about doggie security with my darling wife who does not consider that anyone would steal a dog. My cynical experience suggests that if it's not nailed down and worth more that ½ a Satang there is a fair chance that it might get 'lost'.

  

Goldens are notoriously friendly and our Little Lion is no exception, a guard dog he is not. Luckily our other dog is a big black Rottie cross who does look the part and is responsive to anyone that wanders too close, the house is on a quiet soi in a rural village. So the scenario I fear is a planned attack by someone who knows of the dog (the pick-up the that drives around with plastic baskets) that uses poisoned bait to take out our guard dog then non-poisoned bait to entice Lion away for sale to puppy farm breeding etc.

Sorry for the long build up.


Clearly microchipping and tattooing is one solution (?).

Can anyone offer their thoughts and experiences please, costs etc. (We would probably travel to Khon Kaen University to get this done)


The other thought I have is getting Lion castrated and making a notice in Thai to that effect on the dog house (their dog house is a small shed - not an insignificant structure), I have no intention to breed from him although he is very beautiful (he has no TKC papers so there would be no sire fees) but that is not the point, our rottie cross in intact (I'm happy to keep him that way) and with the normal unspayed lady dogs in the village having two intact males together is not wise IMHO.

Surprisingly in these situations it is normally the man that seeks to keep their dog's intact, my wife has expressed that Lion keep his little eggs (both descended )  even though she has no desire to breed puppies or enter him into the show-ring either.    


I can only see the up side in castration as a solution (as mentioned by some previous GFs)  zero risk of testicular cancer, no testosterone fuelled fights over the local ladies and hopefully less risk of theft.


I have read about canine iris scans being developed in America - I will assume this is a long way from Thailand at the moment.


So please offer any thoughts, experiences or ideas for this situation - am I worrying unduly  

When calling a Thai mobile via international IP service (that is the international leg of the call is routed via one of the discount telcos and appears on the Thai telephone network as one of the odd numbers or a Bangkok number) I occasionally get a Thai computer/recorded message that then offer (I assume) the English translation; "The call has been barred as you requested."

When I redial I get through.

I know that I am not mis-dialing.

I know that the person I'm calling has no blocking or redirection in place.

Does that wording co-inside with a standard message associated with a particular AIS service for example?

Just another glitch in Thai-Telecoms?

I got this link a few weeks ago and keep on watching it.

Maybe there are just a few people left that have not seen it yet, perhaps living under an over-pass in Issan.



"...you know that bacon, the maple kind..."