BIG UPDATE for everyone today! We’re implementing the pound, new genetic mutations and a new marking, bank customization items, V2 lines with some minor lineart updates, base layer touchups, a new page for customs and lost dogs, the new health genetics & health testing, and a new coat type - Crested!
The PoundFolks may freely drop off unwanted dogs and take dogs from the pound. There are no limits to how many dogs you can drop off, however you are limited to taking home one dog a week. You get up to three entries a week though in case there’s more than one dog that catches your eye and/or the dog you want goes home with someone else! You also can get SAR points from dropping an undesigned lost dog off at the pound (to lighten artist workload a bit), however once a lost dog has been designed you will not get SAR points for dropping them off at the pound.
This first week from 10/7-10/14 we will be
closed for adoptions to give folks time to drop off dogs they don’t want, however we will be opening adoptions on the 10/14!
New Mutations & MarkingWe are adding melanism and leucism to Carolina Shepherds! These inherited mutations change the pigment of the dog’s coat in some interesting ways with melanism darkening everything to a near-black color, and leucism lightening everything to a cream color! We are also adding extended urajiro as a new marking, which increases the range of the light color on the dog's body. Existing dogs are assumed to not carry melanism or leucism.
Bank Customization ItemsAllows you to add a little bit more personality to your dogs, however these are done at the artists’ discretion -
reach out and ask the artist of your dog if they are comfortable making your intended changes before buying these items!V2 LinesThere were a lot of small inconsistencies (funky lines, missing some base coat color in areas, etc) that have been bothering me with the lineart so I fixed them. The V2 lines will propagate these updates to the
nursery as well. We also split out
Customs and Lost Dogs onto their own page so they won’t be hiding with the adopts any more, plus it will be easier for you to keep an eye out for your custom dogs once they’ve been designed! You can go ahead and mark the new posts
I've also put together a new coat for you, Crested (fefh), based off of chinese crested dogs! Moving forward all fefh dogs will be Crested instead of Shorthaired.
New Genetics and Health TestingAs Carolina Shepherds have grown into a more popular breed over the past few years, the Blue Ridge Club has started seeing some health issues pop up. We’ve noticed a few cases of Degenerative Myelopathy, Dwarfism, Elbow Dysplasia, Hereditary Deafness, Hip Dysplasia, and Progressive Retinal Atrophy in the breed, so we are now offering genetic testing to help owners and breeders make informed breeding decisions. Existing dogs with the ID#s A-0001-A-0441, B-0001-B-0318, and C-0001-C-0267
can receive free health testing! Additionally, each Carolina Dog owner gets
10 free health tests. These may be used on new dogs AND new litters moving forward. The Blue Ridge Club is working closely with the local university genetics lab to keep costs down (and student happiness up), so each health test only costs
1 SAR point to test
one adult dog OR one entire litter of puppies. As existing dogs are healthy and have been shown in competitions and participate in SAR,
they cannot express any health issues that would restrict their ability to participate in competitions and SAR. Existing dogs may carry up to a maximum of two of these health conditions, however we’re rolling for them at 85% unaffected and 15% carrier so it’s unlikely a dog will get more than one. Additionally, existing dogs will not receive poor elbow or hip scores.
Moving forward
dogs must be health tested prior to being entered into competitions and SAR. Remember, existing dogs with ID#s A-0001-A-0441, B-0001-B-0318, and C-0001-C-0267 get free health tests, AND you get 10 free health tests to use on new dogs and litters. There is going to be a grace period of a couple of rounds to get your dogs health tested!
You are
not required to health test dogs prior to breeding, however it is STRONGLY encouraged.
On the dog’s page we will be adding a health section. If a dog does not express any health conditions, this will be labeled simply as healthy, ie: Health: Healthy. If a dog has an expressed health condition, this text will change based on the condition and whether or not it has been health tested. For example, a blind dog that has not been health tested may read like this:
Health: This dog seems to bump into things often and might have vision problems. A blind dog that has been health tested may read like this: Health: This dog is bilaterally blind due to merle. OR Health: This dog is bilaterally blind due to Progressive Retinal Atrophy. The health genetics will be listed below these notes.
We know this is a lot of new things to throw at you, so please reach out on our discord or send me a message if you have any questions! We’re more than happy to clarify things and answer any questions you may have
We’re still working on revamping the achievements to make them a bit more worthwhile, but didn’t want to delay everything else just for those. Keep an eye out for our Halloween event which will be starting soon! This year's Halloween themes will be:
Angel
Anubis
Candycorn
Dia de los Muertos / Sugar Skull
'Haunted' Dog
Hellhound
Nighttime
Werewolf
Witches