Thank God for this video- it said everything that I've been saying for a long time in regards to pedigree dogs, show breeders, and their breeding practices.
It was hard for me to watch at first, watching Cavalier King Charles Spaniels writhing in pain, Boxers having seizures, German Shepherds walking on wobbly hocks... made me ill. For all the talk of how bad "backyard breeders" are, no one seemed to be pointing out the ill-practices of show breeders.
I have always been of the opinion that form follows function. Unfortunately these breed clubs and registries do not feel the same and have created a form for each breed that suits their tastes. This is why we now have the huge gap between show stock and working stock. Sometimes one doesn't even resemble the other enough to feel like you're looking at the same breed of dog! Of course, I would almost say you probably aren't. Who knows what is bred into these dogs to get these kind of cosmetic extremes. It's rather frightening. What's also frightening is that they sell these dogs to the general public with the sales pitch that show dogs are worth thousands.
So let me tell you my story before I go much further into this blog. I once bought a "show dog". I'd always bought backyard bred dogs... normally kept pets, that's all I needed. I didn't need a "show dog". But I fell into the group that truly believes that all backyard bred dogs are unhealthy and your best chance for a healthy dog is to buy out of lines that have been health tested.
Wrong.
I remember finding Sienna's breeder, found her online. She was advertising puppies at the time, but when I first contacted her, I wasn't interested in a puppy. I was trying to meet breeders who were local to me. So I could decide later on who I felt had the best dogs. So, we decided to go visit. Big mistake with adorable 8 week old puppies on the ground. I fell in love with the little red girl in the corner. The one that surveyed everything, and decided that nothing was better than crawling into my lap and cuddling. How could I not take her home? Her father was a Champion- hips x-rayed, from a long line of OFA Good dogs. Her mother double-bred off that same bloodline. I was told left and right the grandfather of both parents (who is a very well known dog and OFA good) threw tons of OFA Good dogs, healthy dogs, dogs with great temperaments. I was so excited. I paid the lady the money and took her home that next week.
Shortly thereafter, I began to see issues.
Sienna was scared of everything, especially men. She could not go anywhere with me without urinating or deficating. It was difficult. I was socializing her as much as I could, because it was especially crucial with her breed. Even all the socialization in the world wasn't breaking her of this habit. It took extensive obedience training to help her, and even then she was not the type of dog who would give strangers a warm welcome with me present. She lacked confidence and was still very aloof.
Then the patterned hair loss started, the skin scrapes always came back clear. No mites. Vet suggested food change. Started feeding holistic feed and the hair loss would subside- for awhile anyways.
She was always thin, and no matter how much we fed (8 cups a day on holistic foods, 10-12 cups a day on anything less expensive than that) she always looked super thin. A neighbor even called animal control on me claiming I wasn't feeding her!
Then, around 15 months of age, Sienna started going lame. I kept telling myself she injured her leg or hip. But I knew the truth deep inside. You know when something's wrong, and I didn't need an x-ray to tell me what I already knew. But I got that x-ray anyways, and this is what it looked like:
So much for generations of OFA good, huh?
First thing I did was contact her breeder, who pretty much told me to go to hell. The breeder who owned the stud dog would not take any responsibility stating that his stud had never produced an unhealthy puppy. Later that year, that same stud dropped dead from "unknown causes" at 3 years of age.
I invested thousands into this dog, to have to look in her eyes at 16 months old... on June 2, 2006.. and tell her I loved her and would miss her. No one should have to go through what I did. And I have never been attached to another dog since her. She was my heart and always will be.
So do I think my dog didn't come from healthy lines? Well, I'm sure most of the dogs in her pedigree were healthy per say. Then what's the problem? Inbreeding. Oh wait, it's LINEBREEDING if they turn out okay. ;)
Think of it this way: every person in the world carries a gene for some genetic disease/mutation etc.... you lower your chances of having children with that mutation by reproducing with someone not related to you (although this is not fail-proof since they could have the same genetic marker). Now if you would happen to have babies with your cousin, you have a MUCH greater risk of passing on that gene/problem, being as how there's a good chance your cousin carries it too.
It's pretty simple really.
So the argument of dogs coming from good healthy lines and inbreeding on those lines to produce healthy puppies is ridiculous. There is NO SUCH THING as a bloodline (be it people or dogs) that is free from recessive genes that carry genetic issues. Your best line of defense is breeding animals that are NOT related. If you do so choose to ignore that way of doing things, and do happen to breed relatives, you should be prepared to cull. Heavily.
I really felt this video was an eye-opener. It was not your stereotypical attack on BYBs but simply a bold look inside the world of competitive dog-showing. I personally urge everyone to check it out. I know it's being broadcasted on BBC-A.
So I will leave you with this. I could go on and on about this subject, but personally I'm wearing thin. Watch the documentary if you can and make your own decisions. I personally will never shell out thousands for a pet again. I might as well rescue one that someone didn't want in the first place.
