[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: The Revolving Door: State of the Union
- From: Pinehillgsds@xxxxxxx
- To: Ketchy@xxxxxxxxxx, showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 08:14:26 EST
In a message dated 12/17/2005 7:50:05 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
Ketchy@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
Heck, I love dog shows! BUT...
in the last 10 years, I have bought dogs with heart problems, temperament
problems, hip and elbow problems, one that died of toxic gut (when I didn't
know what toxic gut was), dogs that bloated. These dogs were all different
blood lines. When I started in shepherds in the 70s, this did not happen.
I'm, thinking back to the problems I saw when I first got in the
breed...remember that "drippy nose" thing? There are some lines known for
immune
issues, but that other thing was common and it was God awful. You never hear
of it
anymore. Today, we might know of a dog who doesn't get a number, but they
generally have hip sockets (!!!!). Overall, I'm on the side of the fence that
see's the glass more than 1/2 full. Temperament, for my money is 200% better.
Rears have cleaned up dramatically in the last 10-15 years too.
There is something in one of the articles in this month's Gazette. We (the
purebred dog "fancy"), may know of/focus on a limited # of issues, but
apparently, dogs carry more than 200 recessive genes for "problems". (Who
knew?????) To complicate things some "issues" are believed to be polygenic.
Now,
while many of these don't show up in our breed, it all illustrates the point
that whenever you are dealing w/ a concentrated gene pool, you run the risk of
doubling up, knowingly or unknowingly of a particular problem. It's how
someone handles the knowledge they DO have that determines how or if I'll do
business with them. I don't see the breed in trouble. Are there problems?
Sure. But I don't see them being any worse than in the past and, bottom line,
I
see them improving.
Kathy
three generations of Dual Titled Champions live here!
visit _Pine Hill German Shepherd Dogs_
(http://www.geocities.com/pinehillgsds/)
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