Dogs Today UK – Issue 376 2026

Summary

Dogs Today issue 376 (£5.99) hands a record 14 pages to the Innate Health Assessment, the Apgaw tool launched at the House of Lords that could stop licensed UK breeders producing 60-plus extreme breeds — from Corgis to French Bulldogs — within a decade, in an exclusive interview with its creator, RVC vet Dr Dan O'Neill.

The cover story interrogates O'Neill on his 10-point IHA checklist (no merle, no skin folds, functioning muzzle, wag-length tail and more), built on a decade of VetCompass data covering over 15 million dogs. He confirms a phased rollout — two extreme conformations permitted for five years, one for the next five, zero tolerance from year ten — and argues breed is 'an imaginary construct of the human mind'. Editor Beverley Cuddy pushes back in a follow-up 'Corgi countdown' essay, and the Kennel Club's distancing statement from chairman Ian Seath is reprinted in full.

Beyond the IHA, the news pages carry weight: readers savage the CMA's 'whitewash' provisional findings on corporate vet ownership in the Great Debate, and Mitch Hutchcraft — six months after a record 13,157km Everest ascent — runs 700km from Ramsey to the summit of Ben Nevis across 16 marathons for rescue dogs, against a backdrop of RSPCA abandonment reports up 23 per cent. Sculptor Beth Cullen-Kerridge explains why she backs Jack's Giant Journey.

The practical core holds up: Dr Ian Dunbar prescribes a 90-per-cent barking fix using stuffed Kongs, a Butternut Box vet nurse rates which dogs need winter coats at 10°C, and behaviourist Heidi Bergesen supplies a staff-to-dog ratio checklist (one per 10 dogs) for choosing daycare. A survey-based Parson Russell Terrier file flags the PLL, SCA and LOA DNA tests buyers should demand, and Cuddy's Confessions column recounts 35 years of Crufts scrapes.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story

p.6 · A new dawn or three minutes to midnight?

Beverley Cuddy questions Dan O'Neill, the RVC epidemiologist behind the Apgaw Innate Health Assessment, the app launched at the House of Lords that the New York Times reported could end many extreme UK breeds within a decade. O'Neill estimates 180-190 of the Kennel Club's 226 breeds are unaffected, and spells out the timeline: two permitted extremes until 2030, one until 2035, then zero. Cuddy's counterpoint 'Corgi countdown' essay, the full IHA FAQ pages and the KC's non-endorsement statement sit inside the same 14-page package. Check the 10-point list at innatehealthassessment.org before your next puppy purchase.

▸ Campaigns & News

p.32 · Great Debate: Who neutered the CMA review?

Nine readers deliver a unanimous verdict on the Competition and Markets Authority's provisional findings on vet services: disappointment. One reports £7-per-tablet medication versus £3 online; another cites a £40 admin fee added to insurance-paid bills. The corporates own 60 per cent of practices, and contributors demand an ombudsman with real teeth and a cap on prescription charges. If your vet bill doubled after a corporate takeover, this page supplies the arguments — and the address to send your own 100-word view.

p.38 · Patron saint

Niki Roe profiles sculptor Beth Cullen-Kerridge, Royal College of Art graduate, wife of chef Tom Kerridge and patron of rescue charity Jack's Giant Journey. The piece details her 2023 adoption of Scruffy, an abandoned puppy rehabilitated by the charity, alongside rescue dog Zee, an ex-breeding bitch. Beth now backs the charity's Egyptian feeder programme and its mobile veterinary clinic drive. The page ends with donation details for the charity's biggest bill: food.

p.40 · Marathon man

Mitch Hutchcraft, an ex-Royal Marine, set off on 3 December from Ramsey, Britain's lowest point, to run 700km and 16 back-to-back marathons to the summit of Ben Nevis. The inspiration is Teddy, who spent four years caged on a puppy farm without a name or a single walk. Mitch will stop at rescue centres nationwide urging families to adopt, with ex-England goalkeeper Joe Hart joining sections. Follow @mitchhutch to join a leg. A sidebar logs RSPCA abandonment reports up 23 per cent year on year — one every nine minutes.

▸ Features

p.34 · Artisan companions

Suze Hennett previews Artisans of Dartmoor (£40, dartmoor-artisan-trail.co.uk), her limited-edition book on moorland craftspeople and the dogs behind their output. Willow sculptor Katherine Miles tests pieces on her Dachshund Olive; potter Alison West credits Labradoodle Nina with breaking creative blocks; upholsterer Stuart Coote's Lurcher Eno forces Frisbee breaks in 12-hour days. A Konkuk University brain-scan study cited in the piece links dog interaction to heightened creativity. Border Collies Moss and Holly even quality-test the couple's dog toys before release.

▸ Training & Behaviour

p.22 · Dr Ian Dunbar: How do you teach a puppy/dog to bark less?

Dunbar's regular Quick question column attacks nuisance barking with 'representative observation and feedback': check your dog every five minutes, reward quiet with three or four treats, and praise even sleeping dogs. Feed all meals from stuffed Kongs — he claims barking and pacing drop 90 per cent within two days. The step-by-step 'shush on cue' and 'speak on cue' drills teach sniffing to interrupt barking, since the two are mutually exclusive. Free ebooks and courses sit at dunbar.info.

p.48 · Doggie daycare – do or don't?

Behaviourist Heidi Bergesen, who ran her own daycare, weighs when daycare helps (bite inhibition, social flexibility, energy burn for working-line dogs) and when it harms (overcrowding, bully dogs, learned helplessness, five-day-a-week adrenal exhaustion). Her visit checklist demands roughly one staff member per 10 dogs, zero unsupervised periods, body-language-literate staff, and playgroups split by size and personality. Attending every other day suffices for most dogs. Take the checklist on your tour before you hand over your dog.

▸ Health & Winter Care

p.22 · Quick question: Does my dog need a jumper in winter?

Rachel Garbutt, vet nurse at Butternut Box, names the dogs that need cover once temperatures near 10°C: lean and short-haired breeds (Greyhounds, Whippets, Boxers, Vizslas), toys (Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers) and arthritic seniors, for whom a coat counts as clinical management. Earlier signals than shivering include shortened stride, hesitation at the door, paw-lifting and a lowered tail. Measure neck, chest and back length before buying, choose merino or cotton blends, and remove the jumper indoors to prevent overheating.

p.22 · Quick question: What are the signs my pet is too cold?

Medivet's Dr Rhian Littlehales lists the warning signs owners miss in a cold snap: excessive sneezing, runny nose, constant watery eyes, dry or flaky skin, drowsiness and whimpering. Hypothermia red flags include shivering that suddenly stops, pale lips and gums, low energy and loss of coordination — the last two mean call the vet now. The five-point cold-weather safety plan advises short exercise bursts and checking for limping after icy outdoor time.

▸ Breed Focus

p.54 · My Dog Crush: meet the Parson Russell Terrier

The cover breed gets a full owner-survey file: 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' characters, terrier tenacity and near-zero recall when prey drive kicks in. Health screening leads the buying advice — insist on DNA tests for primary lens luxation, spinocerebellar ataxia and late-onset ataxia, plus BAER hearing tests for white puppies. An hour's daily exercise needs brainwork as well as legs; agility, flyball and scentwork all feature in respondents' routines. Owner Linda Shelton's 15-year account, and the breed's 1819 Trump-to-Kennel-Club history, fill out the picture.

▸ Reader Life

p.44 · Postbag

A Medical Detection Dogs volunteer reports the sharpest letter: at a fundraising event, a dog in a fake yellow 'Medical Alert Dog' jacket attacked a tested ambassador dog. The writer wants tighter law around internet-bought assistance-dog jackets, arguing the public cannot distinguish ADUK accreditation from costume, and proposes a mandatory course and test before anyone buys or rescues a dog. A Border Collie owner's Bluey lookalike, Moss, supplies the lighter counterweight.

p.66 · Confessions of a dogaholic: taking a stand

Prompted by a journalist's enquiry, Beverley Cuddy unspools her Crufts history: playing truant from a Chemistry mock O-level to show her Beardie Chi-Chi, five Kennel Club years chaperoning Best in Show winners (including Beardie Cassie), lunch with a newly outed Pam St Clement, and the ban that followed her 'all fur coat and no knickers' headline on Crufts' assistance-dog stance. Thirty-five years of memories remain, she warns.

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Editor's Take

The IHA investigation is the strongest thing Dogs Today has published in years: 14 pages, a genuinely adversarial interview with Dan O'Neill, the Kennel Club's evasive response printed where readers can judge it, and Cuddy's sceptical counterweight essay — exactly how a contested welfare story should be handled. Around it, the issue sags. The news well runs shallow beyond the CMA page, several Quick question advice pages double as soft advertorials (Butternut Box, Dignipets), and the charity back half is essentially paid-for listings. The Dunbar column and the daycare checklist earn their space; the Parson Russell file is solid but safe. Buy it for the cover story: breeders, campaigners and anyone choosing a puppy in 2026 needs this argument on paper. The rest is a pleasant supporting act, not a second feature.

Strengths
• 14-page IHA investigation with both O'Neill interview and Kennel Club response
• Dunbar and Bergesen columns deliver specific, testable training numbers
• Reader debate pages publish unfiltered, named criticism of the CMA

Weaknesses
• Advice pages blur into sponsor-linked advertorial content
• News coverage outside the cover story and CMA debate is thin

Verdict: Essential — The Innate Health Assessment investigation is a genuine documentary record of UK dog breeding's turning point.