American Kennel Club introduces new dog breed: Meet the Lancashire Heeler

January 5, 2024

The American Kennel Club is welcoming a small, but mighty, addition to the Herding Group with its 201st recognized breed, the Lancashire Heeler, reports ABC News.

The AKC announced that the “can-do spirited breed” would be moving forward with full recognition on Tuesday, January 2—sharing details about the long road to its classification.

“These small-but-sturdy dogs aren’t ones to lounge around all the time. They are energetic, and just as adept in Performance sports as they are in Conformation. You can find them competing in Herding, Agility, Obedience, Rally, Fast CAT, Barn Hunt, Dock Diving, Disc Dog, Tracking, and Therapy endeavors,” the AKC stated. “It’s a breed that will work hard all day and is happy to curl up at your side and watch the TV news at night.”

According to the AKC, Lancashire heelers have apparently raised questions from fellow breeders, dog show attendees, and even judges who con

Sheryl Bradbury, president of the United States Lancashire Heeler Club, “helped shepherd the breed to recognition since its entry in the AKC Foundation Stock Service” in 2001, the AKC stated.

The Lancashire heeler was first processed to join the “Miscellaneous Class” in 2017, but went on to find a home with the Herding Group in April 2023, with its eligibility to compete officially beginning this year.

The small breed first earned full recognition from The Kennel Club, United Kingdom, in 1981. Later, after joining the AKC’s Foundation Stock Service, The United States Lancashire Heeler Club was formed in 2007.

Jeff Kestner, one of the USLHC member-breeders who has been questioned about the dogs, said that Lancashire Heelers “have also been called [mini] Dobermans, Manchester Terrier mixes, and [even] some sort of Corgi.”

Despite some unknowingly misidentifying the breed, the Lancashire Heeler will become easier to recognize as education grows, and the more it’s seen in public.

Kestner has been adamant that the club refer to it as the “Heeler” when nicknaming it—the same name fanciers use in the U.K., where the dog originally was bred.

While the breed looks cute and sweet, and seems to be the perfect sized lap dog, Bradbury said that’s a misconception. “I always caution buyers to not let a puppy’s cuteness fool you,” she said. “The minute it is off your lap it may be chewing your shoes or nipping at your heels. Conversely, it will be your loyal best friend.”

And although it’s a highly loyal dog, she said loyalty is often directed at one household member,—adding that the breed is “great with children as long as the children understand how to respect the dog.”

The club breeders describe Lancashire Heelers as “smart, fast, sweet, loving, clever, mischievous, intelligent, energetic, loyal, attached, versatile, tenacious, robust, affectionate, and alert.”

According to the club, Bradbury “estimates there are about 400 Lancashire heelers nationwide.”

Research contact: @abcnews

Sepember 12, 2024

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in back in September 2016 that one in four Medicare participants age 65 or older—that’s 5 million people—do not take their blood pressure medicine as directed. In fact, 20% to 30% of prescriptions for chronic health conditions are never filled, and about half are not taken as prescribed, reports the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Patients’ failure to follow their medical treatment regimens is a common and costly problem with potentially dire consequences. A 2012 study by the American College of Preventive Medicine found that nonadherence accounted for an estimated 125,000 deaths annually and at least 10% of hospitalizations. The repercussions also cost the U.S. health system as much as $300 billion a year, according to a 2014 study by Johns Hopkins University researchers.

Depending on the patient, provider, and situation, contributing factors may include the patient’s social and economic status or education level, the complexity of the treatment and instructions, health system variables, poor provider communication, patient depression or stress, or physical or financial obstacles to drug access.

Patients may also stop taking a medication if they experience unpleasant side effects, are not seeing any immediate benefit from the therapy, or if they simply grow tired of taking pills.

medicine we have a blind spot,” said Victor Montori, M.D., an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic. “Being a patient—especially being a patient with a chronic condition—is a lot of work.” And there’s no curriculum about the work of being a patient, he noted.

Adherence rates haven’t changed significantly in the past three decades, despite efforts by the World Health Organization and the Institute of Medicine to address the problem, according to the American College of Preventive Medicine.

In addition to poorer patient outcomes, hospitals now also suffer the costs of readmission penalties for Medicare patients who return to the hospital because they haven’t followed a doctor’s instructions.

There’s no one-size-fits-all remedy for this problem: physicians and health systems can support adherence in a combination of ways.

At Mayo’s Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit, Montori focuses on “minimally disruptive medicine” that is designed not to overburden patients. He said clinicians often are unaware of the cumulative effects of what they ask patients to do. Montori noted, for example, that patients may have to go through several bureaucratic steps and pharmacy trips to refill each maintenance prescription.

Montori suggests that healthcare systems focus treatment on the goals patients and clinicians agree to achieve, “and then make sure in the process that we don’t overwhelm [the patients].” In some cases, it’s virtually impossible for patients to do all that their providers ask, Montori says. “Are the treatments, tests, appointments, that we’re asking people to go through, are they really necessary?” he asked. “If we medicalize every moment of their lives, patients will struggle.”

In addition to being more judicious about how many appointments are necessary, the healthcare team can make it easier for patients by trying to bundle appointments or procedures on the same day, he suggests. Or clinicians can help mobilize social resources for patients who need help with housing, food, or addictions—factors that can affect their ability to maintain a treatment regimen, Montori said.

Prescribing more affordable generic drugs, simplifying dosages, synchronizing refills, and finding ways to reduce pharmacy trips may reduce the burden on patients as well, Montori adds. Or, if the patient has stopped taking a medication because of unpleasant side effects, the physician can work with the pharmacist to find an alternative.

At NYU School of Medicine, Adina Kalet, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and surgery and codirector of the Program on Medical Education Innovation and Research, is exploring the use of a Patient Empowerment Program to help patients become more active partners in their care. In a current study, she and colleagues are training patients with diabetes to better communicate with physicians during two two-hour sessions.

So far, said Kalet, “it does what we are hoping it [would do]…. It changes the dynamic in the doctor’s office. We’ve had nothing but positive responses from physicians about how much more satisfying it is to be able to engage as partners with patients.”

For Steven Feldman, MD, PhD, professor of Dermatology, Pathology, and Public Health Sciences at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, close follow-up and establishing trust with patients are the keys to patient adherence. Prescribing a drug and then following up in 8 weeks to 12 weeks is not enough to ensure compliance, he says.

“Doctors are the only people on the planet who have the idea that you can tell people, ‘Here, work on this every day and I’ll see you in two or three months.’”

Feldman has found that being a caring provider leads to better patient accountability. When prescribing a new treatment, for example, he writes his mobile phone number on a business card and tells his patient to call in three days to report on progress. “That adds to their trust in me, which adds to their trust in the medicine,” Feldman says.

Wake Forest has spun off a company based on Feldman’s adherence-improvement methods, asking patients to report their treatment status through online surveys. Using that approach, acne patients doubled their adherence to treatments.

Providers may do well to remember that the intangible can be invaluable. “It is the relationship between the doctor and patient that drives the compliance,” says Helen Shields, MD, associate chief of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Division of Medical Communications.

“I believe strongly that patients are more compliant if they trust you, believe you, and if they can understand what you’re saying.”

Research contact: @AAMCtoday