Posted on 07/28/2017 3:17:50 AM PDT by C19fan
German Shepherds are living and dying in misery due to intensive breeding for cosmetic reasons, a major new report by the Royal Veterinary College has found. A survey of data collected from 430 clinics across the UK reveals arthritis, cancer, aggression and sloping backs are afflicting the breed at higher rates than others due to aggressive selection. Nearly one in two German Shepherds is being put down because they are unable to walk, experts said.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I knew a Boxer breeder who would breed parent to offspring. It’s a common practice amoung people who show dogs.
Yep, totally agree. I love my Shepherd to be as active, fast, strong and agile as they can be.
These are action dogs, IMO, not runway models, even though they are quite beautiful.
AWESOME!
That girl up there is my best friend in the world too.
Better than any human I know, except perhaps for my mom.
My greatest concern is that I also outlive my Shepherd, because she adores me foe some reason that I cannot divine.
I will suffer her death, but I do not want to have her suffer mine.
I take one of my dogs to a holistic vet, and I mostly see German Shepherds and Labs. Mine are Cavaliers, a breed that similarly suffers from inbred conditions but not nearly as severe as what happens to German Shepherds.
My adult Cavs (ages 7 & 8) have mild mitral-valve disease, from which they will likely die eventually. One, though, has “chiari malformation” (skull smaller than the brain), but regular acupuncture has kept her from having full blown Syringomyelia (see http://cavalierhealth.org/syringomyelia.htm) and keeps her comfortable and active. It worked so well I started going to an acupuncturist myself, and he saved me from having to get elbow surgery.
My dogs are comfortable and happy, and we buy from a small, fully accredited breeder, so I don’t feel as if we are the problem, although I recognize that buying one of these dogs inherently contributes to it. Our dogs enrich our lives immeasurably, and I can only hope that we do the same for them.
Need to get rid of backyard breeders in the southern California area. What they are doing is pitiful.
German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County has over 80 available, most originating from backyard breeders.
http://www.gsroc.org/available-dogs/
Coastal and Westside German Shepherd Rescues have similar amount of dogs available. And there are probably another 100 who are adoptable in the area animal shelters.
The good news is that we are seeing fewer dogs with hip dysplasia. The bad news there are a lot of dogs needing care due to owner neglect.
Actually, some of the best dogs in the world are inbred (called linebreeding), the same goes for horses. It makes it easier to breed for good characteristics, just have to be sure there isn’t something bad lurking underground.
Most of the working dogs are now Czech or East/West German old stock. The angular back thing makes them look crippled when they run, and eventually they are.
That’s why I have a Malinois now, after my last Czech German Shepherd passed.
Explain this European bred dog, then. There is sin and crime, but in no way is it all at the hands of our breeders. American bred GSD's do not look like this. This malformation is from European breeders.
We have a Sheppard mix who is only 45 lbs. she looks like a Sheppard but does not have the weak rear hips. Health and trouble free at 10. Can’t stand to see the America Sheppard freaks. The AKC is to blame.
There is no normal “respectable” GS line anymore. It is German show lines which created roach backs claiming they make the gait better. BS. Roachbacks are for GALLOPING dogs, greyhounds. Not trotting dogs like shepherds.
American show are overangulated and long-legged, dragging hocks on the ground. But Germans have done alot wrong, too. They are overbuilt, with bear heads, while American have long wimpy noses. They also have massive allergy problems, the Germans. Trust me, I know.
The “working” lines look good but may be overaggressive. My last dog, gorgeous in type but poor in temperament and TERRIBLE in allergies and hips, was 100% German, part show and work. The greatest dog ever? Half of American and German type, probably not the “best” American, either.
I’m looking for BYB farm dogs next time.
GERMAN SHEPHERDS DO NOT HAVE WOLF BLOOD. NEVER DID. MAYBE 5000 years ago.
That is typical of German show types, and would not be surprised if English adopted mostly that. It is not American.
Handsome pair
Thank you. I’m sick of Amer getting all the heat.
German show lines stink. Crappiest conformation I’ve ever seen.
Thank you!
How did you fix that? I hate having to size down a photo, because I don’t want to put up a giant photo, but then when you adjust it, it never looks right.
I really appreciate your work though, that’s about my favorite photo of all time!
The British are inbreeding too......
http://www.shrinkpictures.com/
I use this site all the time to resize pictures...It gives width choices and automatically does height properly.
I love your dogs!
OHHH!! Awesome! Thank you!
In that picture, only Isis is mine. The older girl with the big, pink bow on.
Spirit, the pup, belongs to a good friend. She was just recently acquired, and is hopefully going to be the mate of her other magnificent male Shepherd, Gunner, who is about 9 months old now.
If all goes well, I will be able to adopt one of those pups when that occurs.
That sets image width, browser sets appropriate height for original aspect ratio. Sometimes view image doesn't indicate size (Android phone) then just paste in reply, preview to see how big image will appear. Too big, make width a smaller std dimension i.e. 640, 720, or what you will. In the same manner you can increase size, but be aware that pixelation can become apparent if increase too large.
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