[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Live long and prosper

  • From: Gsdman2@xxxxxxx
  • To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 20:11:11 EST

In a message dated 12/5/2004 3:41:26 PM Central Standard Time, 
Santanagsd1954@xxxxxx writes:
To those who know the Shepherds and 
have traced their progeny down the line for years, like myself, the pedigree 
has proven to be  a definite advantage. 
Are you also tracing the pedigrees of the dogs that live long and healthy 
lives?  If so, then I gladly offer my thanks.  That is a control which would be 
necessary for a scientific study of breed health where bloodlines are the 
target.

If you were doing a study about crime rates and their causes, you could find 
the highest crime afflicted five square miles in the country, and the odds are 
good that you would also find at least one church within that five square 
miles area.  With that, one could draw the conclusion that a church in the area 
is a cause for a high crime rate, especially if the researcher's goal was to 
prove that unlikely point.

The reality is that most American lines do go to a relatively few number of 
dogs.  I don't intend to get deeper into that debate again except to say that I 
still disagree that a mathematical equation is of any use to determining how 
narrow a gene pool might be.  What it does guarantee is that if you trace any 
American pedigree back far enough, the odds are good that you will find one or 
more of that "relatively few number of dogs," and that is much the same as 
finding a church in a high crime area ... if logic is the guide.

I would also like to interject one observation that I feel is important to 
this sort of study.  It has been a little more than a year and a half since 
Peggy and I last entered or even took a dog to a dog show.  In that time, 
unless 
you count "one" loose stool, none of our six dogs have been sick in any way, 
shape, or form.  I cannot say the same for when we were out and showing 
regularly.  Our six dogs range in age from about a year and a half to nine 
years of 
age and their daily routine, including feeding, has not changed at all ... 
except for the elimination of stress from dog shows, traveling, and exposure to 
other dogs.  With that, I am not suggesting that genetics is not a factor in 
breed health.  Certainly it is a factor, but we should be careful to keep our 
minds open to all possibilities.

Tom Langlitz


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