Crufts - the GSD handler

Spudlet

Spudlet

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His story is on now - he was homeless and in a bad way, then his mum got him into showing and GSDs - the rest, as they say....

Another one saved by a dog:)
 
Not that me and my best friend ever used to stalk him around the shows when we were teenyboppers, or anything :o :o :o

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Don't know anything about the handler but seeing that poor dog with its hips so close to the ground and a roach back made me cry.

Why are we allowed to breed that into a dog.
 
It was a lovely story and his dog was gorgeous. To the person who cried about the GSD with it's sloping back, do the stumpy legs of the bassets, the abnormally long backs of the dachshunds, the weird wrinkles of the sharpei, the freaky amount of hair on the lhao apso which makes him look like a walking rug and the thick body of the bulldog not make you cry aswell? A lot of other breeds have got really extreme features that actually do cause problems and the dogs do suffer from it (have you ever wondered how the dachshunds get to scratch that itchy bit behind their ears that all dogs love to be rubbed?!) GSDs are working active dogs and I can't believe people make such a fuss about their backs when I feel sorry for a lot of the other breeds that can't actually function properly!
 
im glad he didnt win - was gutted when that dog went through to best in show


i dont understand why hips that bad/sloped back can be allowed through

yes they may be able to "work" now but lets face it. in a few years the dog is going to be crippled. its not right at all.

ets - many other breeds have their faults too - pugs/cavaliers etc.... but GSD's are the obvious one as you can see it - pugs (breathing) not sa obvious
 
He. Hasn't. Got. Bad. Hips.

Google 'A Normal, hips' if you don't believe me.

None of my GSDs have looked dissimilar to him and they have lived til 12, 14 (both CDRM, a neurological condition) and 10 (tumour on the spleen) respectively.

A friend's dog has just been PTS at 14, again, not too dissimilar in looks to Elmo and competed at world championship level on multiple occasions.

How many GSDs do you know? I've known literally hundreds and I can't recall too many who were crippled by the age of seven, guess I'm lucky, eh.
 
noodle_ said:
im glad he didnt win - was gutted when that dog went through to best in show


i dont understand why hips that bad/sloped back can be allowed through

yes they may be able to "work" now but lets face it. in a few years the dog is going to be crippled. its not right at all.

ets - many other breeds have their faults too - pugs/cavaliers etc.... but GSD's are the obvious one as you can see it - pugs (breathing) not sa obvious
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How can you possibly know whether the dog's got bad hips? Have you seen the x-rays? Have you got x-ray eyes?
 
Just to pop up in this debate as MM not around yet...

The last 2 GSD's we have lost have been 12 and 15. The 12yo was PTS following surgery for a pyo, the 15yo was PTS after having a bad vestibular episode and pretty much losing her last remaining marbles. Neither were remotely crippled at the end, and I am confident that both would have remained non-crippled for a considerable time.

And from the perspective of a soon-to-be-vet, I would say that cavi's, pugs, dachs, bullies etc have equally, if not more, noticeable problems. Just ask the shih tzu and EBT who had to have c-sections this week because their puppies heads were too big for their pelvises. Or the cavi I saw yesterday who is 3 and collapses because his palate is too long for his mouth, or the cavi's who die of heart failure age 8, or the numerous dach's that we get referred to my uni because their spines are buggered. I think Pugs are lovely little dogs, but the majority I have seen can be heard breathing from a mile away - bracycephalics as a whole are more of an issue than GSD's.

Yes, the GSD as a breed has problems - but I am more worried about my current young GSD dying of splenic haemangiosarcoma than I am that her perfect elbows and nearly perfect hips will suddenly dissolve in a few years and she will be crippled. Hind limb conformation does not cripple a dog - hip dysplasia and secondary osteoarthritis seen in dogs with bad hips is what cripples them, and as CC has already stated, Elmo and many other GSD's have good hips, and are therefore as likely to end up crippled as the labrador next to them who has the same hip score.
 
And from the perspective of a soon-to-be-vet, I would say that cavi's, pugs, dachs, bullies etc have equally, if not more, noticeable problems. Just ask the shih tzu and EBT who had to have c-sections this week because their puppies heads were too big for their pelvises. Or the cavi I saw yesterday who is 3 and collapses because his palate is too long for his mouth, or the cavi's who die of heart failure age 8, or the numerous dach's that we get referred to my uni because their spines are buggered. I think Pugs are lovely little dogs, but the majority I have seen can be heard breathing from a mile away - bracycephalics as a whole are more of an issue than GSD's.
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Completely agree with you.
 
Having seen your bassets I am sure they could reach all their parts, they are very fit dogs, but some of the show dogs are (or were, haven't seen any recently) very different.
 
I know MM (and thank you for that), some of the showing bassets are a disgrace and couldn't catch a cold let alone move properly; great shame as they could all be a lot better if allowed to be a lot more natural. Even Widget, our heavy bitch, could move well and hunt up with the rest of them.
 
PucciNPoni said:
How can you possibly know whether the dog's got bad hips? Have you seen the x-rays? Have you got x-ray eyes?
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i was refering in general how sloped GSD's backs have got.

I love GSD's but i would never ever buy the "show" type as they look disgraceful

im well aware other breeds have their faults... but the GSD is always the one that springs to mind first....

the whole KC needs an overhaul -with breed standards etc -

btw... i had 2 KC reg dogs and now i own a crossbreed. so nothing against purebreds or crosses
 
OK, whatever...and do you think we are all lying about our non-crippled dogs who reach old age with plenty of work on them?

Thanks for your opinion, but I don't think my dog looks disgraceful :) much :p

Also it's been the GSD fraternity calling for improvements for years, decades, indeed, the KC have been VERY slow to act IMO.
 
You obviously won't be swayed noodle, but you didn't seem to be referring in GSDs in general when you said

"i dont understand why hips that bad/sloped back can be allowed through" with reference to Elmo. Hopefully if nothing else you will now concede that he has not got bad hips.:rolleyes:
 
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