I don’t hate them more, they appear to be more inclined to turn a blind eye to how their idea of "correct’ creates problems than the AKC. Other countries, I don’t know.
You’re INcorrect.
The “horrible brian disease” referred to here is apparently syringomyelia, which is actually the development of fluid-filled cavities in the upper spinal cord due to a blockage of cerebrospinal fluid flow, inherent either in small skull size or according to recent research because of disproportionately large brains.
This has become a relatively common and serious health problem in the breed only recently, and not to my knowledge because breeders are selecting for dogs with small heads. It seems to be a genetic problem that is worsening over generations due to unknown causes.
Also while Cavaliers are prone to heart problems, it’s an exaggeration to say that nearly all have “serious” heart disease. Good breeders are working to delay breeding until the dogs are old enough to have been properly screened and to not breed dogs in which problems have manifested.
There’s certainly room to criticize dog show types for encouraging poor conformation and health problems in the name of looks. A good-sized share of blame has to go to indiscriminate breeding by casual breeders in it for the money and large-scale puppy mills. And of course there’s the public who don’t realize or care about what they may be getting themselves into by picking up the latest “hot” breed.
The same pit could be made about cats. They haven’t been molded like play-dough to the extent that dogs have, but you still get otherwise sane people promoting freaks. There’s the peke-faced Persians that have such flat noses they can barely breath, the champion Siameses that look like rack-stretched ferrets, the Munchkins with super-short legs, tailess Manxes that carry lethal genes unless they’re bred with tailed Manxes… these people just need to leave the poor kitties alone.
Just to get things straight: I hate dogs.
Working dogs (bombb sniffer, shepherd, seeing-eye-dog) are perfect, but pet-dogs are satan’s spawn.
Having said that, it breaks my heart to see the extent of the suffering many pets are intentionalyy put through by people who supposedly love them.
It is ironic that the guys who breed bulls for bullfights treat them like kings for four years and breed them for health and strength even though the result is that they will get killed by a guy with a sword. The cruelty in a bullfight pales to the intional and trans-generational suffering these dogs suffer.
Except that we don’t fill arenas to cheer on animals being put to death. Nice hijack though.
Bad cat breeders should be turned into mice. What possessed some idiot to create the sphinx?
It’s a pity because they crowd out the people who actually help enhance the breed. Applehead Siamese kitties look like normal healthy Siamese cats instead of bizarre freaks. We have a very beautiful Maine Coon who is only needs a twice weekly brushing and monthly bathing to be in good health.
You’re right, You fill arenas to watch them agonize endlessly and pass those defects to another generation.
They look really strange nowadays. They used to have a back that was pretty much parallel with the ground, now they look as if they’re practically dragging their backends around. It’s unattractive at best, and I’ve also heard it leads to issue with their hips and backs.
[hijack]
What is a GSD? Is that the new fancy name for German Shepherds or something? What does the “D” stand for?
Are you sure you’re ready for the shocking truth? The D stands for…
Dog.
The formal name for the breed is German Shepherd Dog, aka GSD. I almost never hear anyone refer to them as anything but “German Shepherd” outside of formal dog show circles, though. They were called “Alsatians” for a while during the WWI/II era due to unfortunate associations with the word “German”.
Uh, it’d take an odd perspective to view the dogs in a show ring as “agonizing endlessly”, not to mention that breeding is not an activity that occurs at dog shows.
As for bullfighting:
“Bullfighting pits a bull against men wielding barbed spikes, spears, swords and daggers. These weapons are designed to inflict intense pain and cause blood loss to weaken the animal.”
If you’re greatly concerned to improve animal welfare, good for you. Working in your country (Peru) to ban bullfighting would be a laudable goal.
OH! I was so confused by the other poster’s comment since I’ve never heard anyone refer to them as other than merely German Shepherds (and yes Alsatians for awhile).
D as in hound (hund), not to be confused with hound dog.
I prefer generic mutt cats, though I was once owned by a first generation himalayan [persian and siamese cross] with a nonflat face, and amazing personality. We get kittens from the vet typically. Our current owner is a black and white american shorthair generic cat type.
Actually, it’s funny you say that, because American show lines in, say, the German Shepherd are widely regarded as absolutely inferior dogs in other countries due to how their idea of ‘correct’ creates problems. For example here:
Also here:
Also, for example here and here you can see pictures of the different breed types which have emerged over the past ~50 years or so. From the breed descriptions accompanying each, it’s clear that the AKC show-line German Shepherd is not very highly regarded (granted one is a working-line breeder, so the descriptions will probably reflect that, but these are by no means the only sites criticizing the AKC-standard dogs).
This having been said, I agree that diverging a dog breed into show and working lines usually creates a vast disconnect between the two types and the working lines tend to be healthier and less extreme, whereas show lines often have the issue of “the breed standard says X so obviously THE MOST X POSSIBLE is best” until the resulting dogs find it very difficult to or are no longer able to carry out the original duties of the breed. Take the basset hound for example, whose AKC breed standard states:
and
As you can see, these show-line bassets are much more heavier in bone and loose-skinned than these working dogs and would probably have a much more difficult time “admirably following a trail over and through difficult terrain”.
My Dad used to raise English Bulldogs. They really do have a wonderful personality, but Jesus Christ on a fucking cracker are they messed up! Whoever started this, and whoever continues it, ought to be horse whipped.
Their heads have been bred so large that they can only be born by c-section. Their throats are so foreshortened that they have trouble swallowing. Their nasal passages have been so curled and curtailed that they have trouble breathing. Their bodies are so dense and over-muscled that in water - even though they have the right instincts and make the right movements to swim - they sink like a stone. And they love water, and want to swim, so you have to keep the pool/pond completely fenced or they’ll drown themselves.
Because of the shortened snout they can’t chew properly, and for the same reason their copious drool goes more out of the mouth than in. Combine that with some seriously squashed innards resulting form the narrow-hind body shape and you’ve got yourself a recipe for extreme indigestion. And gas, JC on a f’ing c the gas. Between the gas and the drool, Dad keeps wiping cloths and matches beside every chair in the house.
So, to sum up: English bulldogs can’t chew, swallow, breathe, breed, swim, or digest food. Somebody should be shot for this.
I must admit, although I knew that breeders were breeding unhealthy dogs simply because they looked nicer, I never realised the extent.
One of my grandfathers used to breed GSD to show (about 30 years ago IIRC). I remember one particular dog and my childhood memories tell me it was the most beautiful long haired GSD I’ve seen. I don’t remember if it had a sloped back.
For some reason whenever I think of a German Shepherd I imagine a dog with a flat back. Seeing some of those ‘champion’ GSD makes me sad.
WTF?
Shakes head
Yeah, well, the truth hurts sometimes.
My mom loved dachshunds, but every one she ever owned died of a back injury. So growing up the only dogs I knew were mutts. Lovely, healthy, affectionate mutts. Many of which lived healthy lives to 12 or 14 years of age. Oddly enough, all those mutts clearly had a lot of dachshund in them, even though they also had terrier, German shepherd, beagle, and a lot of other breeds all mixed up in them.
And you can get purebreds that aren’t all messed up - my sister has owned two labs. One was a black lab that lived until 13. Her current golden lab is over 14 - the dog has problems, mainly dementia (sort of a canine very daffy old lady) and neurological deterioration, but it’s not a heredity disorder, it’s more a “this dog is incredibly old for its species and things are breaking down” problem, and the dog isn’t in pain. Neither had hip or joint problems. On the other hand, neither was a descendant of “Champions”, either.
Me, I don’t own a dog right now, but if I were to choose one I’d go for a mutt. Not some “hybrid” but just a plain old random mutt. The odds of good health are just so much greater, and they’re still dogs with all the love and loyalty of any purebred.
Abnormal development of the spine can affect the skin and hair above it - the videos make reference to it being a mild form of spina bifida, which is entirely possible. Abnormal hair and skin above the spine is also seen in human beings with a closed-skin form of spina bifida as well, though it’s not as obvious because people don’t have dense coats of hair.
Now, it may be that the original dogs from which the breed were derived had back ridges for reasons other than spina bifida, or if it was SB, it was an extremely mild form that did not interfere with the dogs’ activities. It may well be that the ridges were less marked in those dogs. In any case, attempts to breed more distinctive ridges may have led to a high incidence of SB in these dogs which, coincidentally, makes for more common and more pronounced ridges.
I find it VERY hard to believe, as one breeder claimed, that the dogs with ridges were invariably better hunters if these ridges are caused by SB, which leads to all sorts of problems incompatible with being an effective hunter.