Pedigree dogs exposed

MM did you hear about P.E (Starkstrom) being asked to leave the show because her five month old puppy was loose?
Absolutely disgusting way to treat a pensioner, especially one who's dogs have been actively involved in agility and working trials.
 
Spudlet said:
It's ridiculous, isn't it? It shouldn't be so hard just to find a healthy puppy!
Click to expand...

A lot of the Working Labs are really well tested, if you go through the back of times Shooting Times there are no end of Lab Studs on offer with clear Eyes, Fucosidosis and 0:0 for Elbows and Hips. Add to that a lot of them are FTW at least and you've got yourself a pretty good dog!
Some of the Spangles are the same, the only problem is the Spaniel FT lines tend to be ridiculously hot for the average handler!!
Shipden Kennels in Norwich are breeding some really nice dual purpose Springers, testing for eyes, Fucosidosis and Hips, still a bit ear-y for my tastes but cracking dogs nonetheless!

The biggest problems IMO come from the real working community, not the breeding for FTW/FTCh, but breeding the average beating/picking up dog that is going to be a nice easy dog to work and a member of the family. They don't want a fast, flashy dog that is going to be a pain in the backside to train, nor a dog that is going to win any prizes for it's looks, so they go to their Mate who has a lovely bitch whom they have admired all season and has just had a litter of pups by the Gamekeeper's cracking dog to get their pup. They end up with a fab dog, however no health tests have been done so who knows what the history of hips etc is in that line. Although in fairness the ones with problems don't usually last a hard seasons working and therefore wouldn't be bred from, but the problems are never eradicated from the lines.
 
Spudlet, your next dog will just have to be a vizsla then :D A dog that can work and show and be good at both :)
 
Well, as someone who is actively involved in showing and breeding dogs i can honestly say that in my opinion PDE was a GOOD thing for dog welfare in general. Yes it was very heavily biased and yes it did conveniently leave out the fact that there are many, many GOOD pedigree dog breeders, but i honestly think it took a real wake up call like this to get the KC and breed clubs to think more sensibly about breeding.

I own 3 different breeds that vary greatly in how they have developed. One of them is labradors which although not too greatly changed, it is sad there is such a separation between the show and working type. My aim when breeding my labs is to try to produce my ideal labrador, which is something between the working and show type. I dont like the very heavy, short legged show labs, but equally i am not a fan of the very slender "snipey" working type. I breed mine to be substantial but not heavy and with a good length of leg to be able to do a days work - which they can! I also have pugs which have changed drastically over the last few centuries. Thankfully the pug club has sat up and taken notice of the problems in the breed and the standard now calls for smaller eyes, a decent length of leg and a small muzzle is acceptable. People do have to realise however, that it will take generations of careful breeding to produce these changes, they dont happen overnight. Sadly, many breeders are still refusing to acknowledge the health problems in the breed. I have three 8 month old puppies who i will breed from at least one of them in a year, and already I am having to start the search for a stud dog (here and overseas) as there is such a limited choice of compatible conformation and pedigree that is also health tested. My final breed, that i have not bred yet, is a basenji. One of only a couple of breeds that have not changed at all. They look the same now as they did 3000 years ago because they are a comparitively recent discovery as pets.


I enjoyed watching the Good Dog, Bad Dog program after the Crufts coverage. It gave a different perspective, and a more balanced one, of the dog breeding and showing world than PDE. But as a breed of one of the breeds mentioned in PDE i do acknowledge that it has helped my breed clubs to acknowledge what a minority of us breeders have been saying all along...!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top