# More proof that dog show people are crazy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521 "2012-02-11T15:25:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/41 "2012-02-15T03:48:33Z")
**PapSett** – I have removed your two calls to action, which are against our rules. From the [registration agreement](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=423183): > [@](#): > > This message board is intended as a medium for public discussion. Do not post spam, including but not limited to advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, solicitations, offers to trade or barter, charitable appeals, or other messages primarily intended to promote a cause, venture, organization, event (except Straight Dope-related events), website, or other entity or activity, whether or not money is involved. And, more specifically, from [our rules on forbidden topics](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7696990&postcount=5): > [@](#): > > Calls to Action: Threads calling for folks to take actions (political, charitable, personal, etc) are prohibited unless there is prior approval from a moderator or administrator. Do not instigate members to take action for or against any issue or entity. Do not post phone numbers, email addresses or any other personally identifiable information of any entity in this regard. Exceptions for valid and noble causes may be made with the advance permission of a moderator or administrator. Please don’t do this again. **twickster** , for the SDMB ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/42 "2012-02-15T06:20:10Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > When I went back to take the satellite receiver back to Dish Network, my Evile Ex sicced her DSG on me. She ran up and licked my hand. > > The DSG, not the Evile Ex. DSG? ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/43 "2012-02-15T12:12:53Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > DSG? Most like they meant GSD German Shepheard Dog ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/44 "2012-02-15T12:16:29Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > Most like they meant GSD German Shepheard Dog Yep. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/45 "2012-02-15T12:45:12Z")
A dyslexic German Shepherd. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/46 "2012-02-15T13:55:17Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > A dyslexic German Shepherd. Huh, I’d heard about hip problems, but that’s a new one. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/47 "2012-02-15T14:06:30Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Huh, I’d heard about hip problems, but that’s a new one. Yes, it’s quite tragic. Fortunately the dog is not required to read anything at shows. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/48 "2012-02-15T14:16:38Z")
If you pray to a dyslexic German Shepherd, are you a god-botherer? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/49 "2012-02-15T14:23:36Z")
I’ll have to get back to you on taht. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/50 "2012-02-15T16:59:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by PapSett > Oh,that ridiculous BBC video rears its ugly head again. Yes, there ARE unscrupulous breeders but that video is nothing but propaganda, skewed to show ONLY the dark side. It totally ignores the breeders that are doing it RIGHT, the breeders who do health testing, putting thousands of dollars and countless hours into breeding dogs. > > People that let their mutts get knocked up sure ain’t doing that. > > I am not against mutts/mixes. But I _am_ against those that breed them, either on purpose (designer dogs) or irresponsibility. > > Again… there are two sides to the story, and that idiotic video PURPOSELY shows only one side. > If it is only the unscrupulous breeders who make the frog-legged German Shepherds, then why do the froggy German Shepherds keep winning? The entire “sport” needs to take a long look at itself. PapSett, I understand where you’re coming from. I have spoken to three breeders, all three of which would say the same thing. I researched them thoroughly (or so I thought) and they absolutely believed they were the “good guys” who were trying to improve the breed and not just breeding for “looks”. All three dogs I got had congenital problems. One has seizures; the other one simply deteriorated to where he couldn’t walk because all of his muscles went away leg by leg, one inherited EPI. So maybe you can understand where I’m coming from. I’m getting a mutt rescue next time. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/51 "2012-02-15T18:42:26Z")
> [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](#): > > If it is only the unscrupulous breeders who make the frog-legged German Shepherds, then why do the froggy German Shepherds keep winning? The entire “sport” needs to take a long look at itself. I caught part of the Westminster last night and saw the GSD win, and thought of this thread. That dog looked messed right the fuck up. Watching his gait, and comparing it to the gait of, say, the wiszla or the Irish setter, was just … sad. Not everything about dog shows and dog breeders is “crazy” as the OP titled the thread. There’s a lot that’s true in what **PapSett** is saying. With that, though, I have an enormous problem with how Germans are bred to have fucked-up back legs, or Bostons and pugs are bred to have popped-out bug eyes that don’t even point the right direction, or, well, pretty much everything about how English bulldogs are bred. (Except their personality. For such a physically unfit animal, English bulldogs are very _whozzagooddog_.) ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/52 "2012-02-15T19:44:31Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > I am not against mutts/mixes. But I _am_ against those that breed them, either on purpose (designer dogs) or irresponsibility. Please clarify. This seems to say that you are against the deliberate or accidental of different breeds of dog, ie. mating a poodle with a lab. If this is a correct understanding of your statements, it follows that you believe that dogs should only be allowed to reproduce within their breed. Do I grok you properly? ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/53 "2012-02-16T00:10:19Z")
Yes, you grok me properly. Responsible breeders have spent hundreds of years developing breeds to do specific jobs. There is no reason to undo all that hard work to create a designer dog. I agree that some breeds such as the GSD have vallen victim to poor breeding practices. But there are still WORKING lines out there that do not have the genetic infirmaties. Both of my breeds of choice, Papillons and Gordon Setters, are fairly natural breeds, with no bred-in defomrities. The Gordons are still able to leave the show ring and go out and hunt in the field. I _am_ a bit unhappy with the amount of coat they are encouraging in the ring now- a Gordon Setter with excessive coat cannot do the job they were bred for in the field. Breeding mutts purposely does nothing but put more dogs in shelters to die at the business end of a needle. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/54 "2012-02-16T00:26:05Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > Breeding mutts purposely does nothing but put more dogs in shelters to die at the business end of a needle. People who breed Labradoodles do it for sale like any other breeder, ISTM. People accidentally letting their dog hump the neighbor’s is where I think more shelter dogs come from. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/55 "2012-02-16T00:45:26Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > Yes, you grok me properly. Responsible breeders have spent hundreds of years developing breeds to do specific jobs. There is no reason to undo all that hard work to create a designer dog. > … > Breeding mutts purposely does nothing but put more dogs in shelters to die at the business end of a needle. I don’t have any pets, so I’m a bit lost with the jargon. What is a designer dog? It sounds like it means any purposely created non-purebred dog. So, if my friend and I both have mutt dogs that are great pets and we let them breed because we both want some puppies that would also be great pets, we are creating a litter of designer dogs? How is this different from some guys a thousand years ago pairing up their best herding or rat-catching dogs? Isn’t that how we got all these different breeds to begin with? ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/56 "2012-02-16T01:41:27Z")
With the “designer dog” thing, she’s talking about the trend where people will market a mixed-breed mutt as if it were a new breed, like the “labradoodle” (lab x poodle ) , “cockapoo” (cocker spaniel x poodle) , “schnoodle” (schnauzer x poodle), “puggle” (pug x beagle). I do agree with her that it is really dumb how people are paying premium prices for backyard breeder’s mixed breed mutts just because the mutts are named something that sounds like a real breed. Now, I love mutts. I have a “cockapoo” myself (adopted from a shelter - we strongly suspect she came from a puppy mill or some other unhappy situation since when we got her she behaved as if she had never lived in a normal family before). However, I would never pretend she’s anything other than a mutt, and I do think that it’s irresponsible for people to breed more mutts when there are enough mutts in the shelters (though many purebreds also end up in shelters too unfortunately). ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/57 "2012-02-16T12:38:43Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > I do think that it’s irresponsible for people to breed more mutts when there are enough mutts in the shelters (though many purebreds also end up in shelters too unfortunately). So then you would extend the censure to ALL breeders? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/58 "2012-02-16T13:20:46Z")
It seems heterosis is a dirty word. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/59 "2012-02-16T13:41:39Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It seems heterosis is a dirty word. Yeah, it seems pretty silly to pretend that you are producing “working dogs” but still require them to end up looking a certain way. Usually, a breeder doesn’t cross a Gordon Setter with an Irish or an Icelandic Sheepdog with an Old English because he can’t charge as much and he would be limiting his sales to actual hunters and farmers. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521/60 "2012-02-16T14:01:40Z")
> [@Furious\_Marmot](#): > > I don’t have any pets, so I’m a bit lost with the jargon. What is a designer dog? It sounds like it means any purposely created non-purebred dog. So, if my friend and I both have mutt dogs that are great pets and we let them breed because we both want some puppies that would also be great pets, we are creating a litter of designer dogs? “Designer dog” is typically used to refer to crossing two (or more) purebred strains to produce a marketable dog. Sometimes it seems to me people cross specific breeds just because they come up with a cute name for the result (for example, “Bodacion,” a Border Collie/Dalmatian mix) or perhaps a not-so-cute name…we have acquaintances who have a Shih-Tzu/Poodle mix they affectionately call a “Shit-Poo.”) People “breeding” their non-papered dogs just because they want puppies is usually called “backyard breeding.” Backyard breeding [has a bad reputation for a variety of reasons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backyard_breeder), largely well-earned. Regardless, there’s _entirely too much_ breeding of dogs going on; tens of thousands of “surplus” dogs are put to death every year. Since the breeding doesn’t stop, it’s effectively “to make room for more to be bred.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-proof-that-dog-show-people-are-crazy/612521.md?page=4)