[ SHOWGSD-L ] bulletin . news from Cornell.......
- From: Peggy <pmick12@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Showgsd-l <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:53:40 -0400
Just in...
> ...Latest Alert from Cornell University
>
>
> We have identified a new disease, probably caused by a virus among
> dog-owning people. It apparently has been in existence for a
> considerable time, but only recently has anyone identified this
> disease and begun to study it. We call it Acquired Canine Obsessive
> Syndrome (ACOS). <>At first, ACOS was considered to by psychological
> in nature, but after two young researchers here suddenly decided to
> become show breeders, we realized that we are dealing with an
> infectious agent. Epidemiologists have identified three stages of this
> disease and typical symptoms, listed below:
>
> Stage 1 - You have early symptoms if:
>
> - You think that any show within 300 miles in nearby
>
> * You begin to enjoy getting up at 5 AM to walk and feed dogs
> * It is fun for you to spend several hours a day grooming dogs
> * You think you're being frugal if you spend less that $3,000 a year
> on shows
> * You can't remember what it was like to have just one dog
>
> Stage 2 - You definitely have the disease if:
>
> * Your most important factor when buying a car is how many crates
> you can fit in it
> * When looking for a new home, the first thing you consider is how
> many dogs you can kennel on the property
> * Your dog food bill is higher than your family's grocery bill
> * You spend as much on veterinarians as you do on doctors
> * You have no money because of showing dogs
> * You have to buy more than one vehicle a year, because you keep
> burning out the 7-year or 70,000 mile warranty going to shows
> * You have more pictures of your dogs than of your family
> * Your idea of a fun vacation is to hit the show circuit
> * Most of your conversations revolve around dogs
>
> <>Stage 3 - You have a terminal case if: - You wake up in the
> morning to find out that you put the kids in the crates and the dogs
> in the beds last night
>
> * You know each dog's name and pedigree, but can't figure out who
> that stranger in the house is; it turns out to be your spouse
> * Your neighbors keep insisting that those kids running around your
> house bothering the dogs are yours
> * You keep telling the kids to "heel" and can't understand why they
> won't, and why they keep objecting to the choke chain
> * You cash in the kid's college trust fund to campaign the dogs
> * You've been on the road showing dogs so long you can't remember
> where you live
> * Your family tells you "It's either the dogs or us" and you choose
> the dogs
>
> Do you have this dreaded disease? Well, there is hope. In the course
> of our research, we have found that most cases seem to stop at Stage
> 2, and remain chronic. We have, with great difficulty, managed to
> acquire several Stage 3 ACOS patients. They are currently in our
> isolation wards, where we are studying them to gain a better
> understanding of this disease. It is a sad sight, seeing these
> formerly vibrant people as they shuffle around their rooms in endless
> triangle or L-patterns, making odd hand motions as if holding a lead
> and baiting a dog, and making chirping noises. Merely saying the word
> "Westminster" can send them into an uncontrollable frenzy.
>
> Unfortunately, there isn't much hope for these cases, but with time
> and research to further understand this disease; we hope to come up
> with a cure. We are no attempting to isolate the causative agent and
> may be able to develop a vaccine in the future. An interesting
> sidelight of this disease seems to be that exposure at an early age
> has an immunizing effect. Several people afflicted with ACOS at Stage
> 1 and Stage 2 have close family members (children/spouses) who have
> absolutely no disease. It is thought by some of our researchers that
> this may be due to environmental effects, to an age-related immune
> function, or to the fact that those with the disease tend not to
> associate with their close family members, possibly due to the memory
> deficit induced by the disease - that is, they don't remember they
> have close family members!
>
>
> What can you do to prevent this disease?
> Until a cure is found, prevention is the best measure. Avoid kennels
> advertising "show stock," since it may be the dogs that are the
> carriers of the disease. Leave town when there is a local show. If
> you inadvertently come into contact with an ACOS-afflicted person,
> leave as soon as possible (they do tend to cling) and thoroughly
> shower, preferably with a germicidal soap. If you are living with an
> ACOS sufferer, take comfort that if you haven't succumbed yet, you are
> probably safe.
>
>
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