[ SHOWGSD-L ] The Whole Animal, Genetics and Serious Health Issues
- From: "Kathy Tank" <rbuffdogs@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: freelist <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Ken Tank" <tanksr@xxxxxxxxx>, "Barbara Lee WILLIAMS" <Santanagsd1954@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 12:44:52 -0700
i have not dealt with the myriad of other disasters afflicting this breed.
it gets back to throwing the babies out with the bathwater - not a smart
move.>>>>
Babies and bathwater a perfect analogy......
We as a breed fancy have made HUGE strides in our Orthopedic improvements,
we were at one time in the top ten for most dysplastic
and now are what 34, 36? HUGE. This has been done by breeders paying
attention and choosing mated pairs carefully. It was not
done only by Code signers, because many do not sign the "Code". I am proud
of us as a fancy for that.
While we are so worried about having a "code" that mandates OFA for breeding
dogs, lets remember, genetics is a crap shoot.
Also the predisposition for hips and elbows with various degrees of problems
have not been established as ONLY genetic...ah wouldn't that be nice? There
are environmental and nutritional factors that weigh heavily on it. How do
we then demand in a code an "all or nothing " requirement like OFA , when
that is only part of the issue? What if a dog has a FCP due to an injury,
what about DJD, which in many cases may be a DIRECT RESULT of an OFA
misread, a shadow, a bad xray...NOT a problem with said dog....what then?
Babies and Bathwater.....so you have an orthopedically perfect animal, that
routinely sires or produces mega, bloat, spinal problem, temperament issues,
autoimmune problems or gastric or mesenteric torsion........so you go ahead
and sign because the dog OFA'd/?
How about a dog with say a DJD of an elbow or hip male or female, that has
produced NONE of the above named serious problems facing the breed, but you
aren't allowed to breed it according to the "code" because it wouldn't pass
an OFA? Makes no sense.
What about puppies from OFA'd parents and generations before that that are
OFA aok, that are dysplastic, even in one hip, but everything else is
outstanding....do you NOT breed one outstanding , healthy individual because
of it?
Nonesense.
Look up Dr Jerold Bell,, DVM/ Geneticist, and Exhibitor......he makes total
sense if you have had the pleasure of watching or listening to him on his
tapes.....you MAY infact breed an individual with an off hip .....to
continue your line...you then use the NORMAL progeny from that dog to breed
away from the original problem...but maintaining your bloodline .
Since he is addressing the issue of show dogs in his lectures, we are also
talking about BREED TYPE AND BEAUTY....he as a vet and geneticist would NOT
breed an ugly , OFA normal bitch, but would instead rather breed a beautiful
sister of said bitch that maybe had
an off orthopedic report, take HER normal offspring who are also beautiful
and standard for type...and come away from the orthopedic issue that way.
There are SO many LIFE THREATENING problems in our breed, that need to be
addressed, when we are hearing of baby puppies being put down for mega (and
yet breeder continue to use the dogs) when we see DEAD tails bouncing off
hocks on young puppies, when we lose yet ANOTHER outstanding individual
before even five years to torsion........and these animals producing these
problems CONTINUE TO BE USED???? What's wrong with this picture?
Babies and Bathwater is right Folks.....we need to put our priorties into
prospective .
JMO
Kathy
--
http://www.victorygermanshepherds.com
Ch. Elvaston's Nations Cup, TC, OFA
26 BOB/BISS to Date
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