My Response to BBC dog film.

Hello!

I have watched the program and was really interested in what I saw.
It highlighted some important issues and exposed the incredibly blinkered
attitude of some dog breeders, astonishing for people who claim to be dog
lovers. So, here are a few of my thoughts on the situation;

The gaits of the GSDs in the show ring were shocking, it was clear to me
that they were severely abnormal. Luckily I have seen few in my practice as
bad as this, German Shepherds get a lot of arthritic problems as they age (in common
with many breeds) but this severe is thankfully unusual. I think that
portion highlighted an important issue, the blinckeredness of the show
judges and breeders to faults. While not all are as obvious as this, why
not have an independent person in the ring, from the veterinary profession
perhaps, to observe alongside the judge? Whose role would be to pick up on
welfare and health issues such as this, without any knowledge of the ´breed
standard´. No vet or vet nurse would let a gait like that pass without
comment. The show judges comment that the show GSDs are more ´anatomically
correct´ with respect to the shape of their hips shows the extreme lack of
understanding and misuse of language amongst the show community.

Along the same lines, why not have all KC reg dogs vet examined before they
are registered to breed? This would soon weed out the worst examples of the
breeds. For example, that pug with all those problems would never be
advised as a breeding dog by a vet. Maybe they should all be checked from a
breeding health point of view? I would love to see animals which have had
surgery to correct genetic faults ( like the peke with the overlong soft
palate) banned from show or breeding, but my fear is people simply wouldn´t
have the surgery and thus the individual dog would suffer even more.

The comments for the Ridgeback breeder that dogs without ridges should be
destroyed is truly shocking and totally morally reprehensible. How anybody
can put down a healthy dog purely for cosmetic reasons is beyond me, and
clearly beyond the majority of ´young vets´ as she puts it. The fact she
has to find an ´old vet´, who will stem from an era when such practice was
common-place and acceptable, shows how modern thinking has moved on, and she
is now the one viewed in the wrong. Also, the acceptance of close family
breeding ( son to daughter etc) also shocked me, I would have thought this
would be banned. There is clear evidence that this will only lead to more
problems and the corrections of the ´faults´ the breeders see is likely to
lead to more problems for more dogs.

There are things being done to remove breed faults and we should also not
lose fact of the sight that many pedigree breeds are not badly affected with
problems. The hip and eye score schemes for breeds such as the Labrador
have been in place for some time and have improved things. However, these
are issues which are of clear detriment to the dog while having little
effect on the ´breed standards´. The KC should definitely do more to reduce
the more serious problems, like the shortness of the noses in the pugs and
pekes, or the excess skin folds in so many breeds.

I understand the KC is in a difficult position, the breeders are the ones
who have really driven the changes in the breeds and who are blind to their
faults. However, I feel more could be done. I think requiring all breeding
animals to pass a health check would be a great idea and would help some
breeds but not all. The other side of the coin is to educate the people who
go to buy these dogs. You should always ensure a pedigree animal comes from
a registered breeder. We have seen this is no guarantee of success but their
dogs should be better than those simply ´backyard´ bred, or worse, from
puppy farms. Always ensure that if there are any tests a pedigree dog
should pass, like the hip scoring, that they have done so and got a good
score. Educate yourself on the breed you wish to buy, find out about their
problems and if there is anything being done to help them. If the more
responsible breeders, the ones who put the health, not the looks of their
animals first, are encouraged, more will follow. Always insure a pedigree
animal as there is no doubt they suffer from problems, and if you are
concerned, buy a mongrel.

Thanks,

Cat.