Dog Breeding

[orange-gnome]

As a vet nurse who has seen loads of cases of people who don't know what they are doing or who don't want to pay vet bills, start their own little breeding program.
I have to say that most of these people seem to do it either for bit of fun or see it as a good way of earning money.
This is how so many hereditary problems are bred into dogs for example hip dysplasia in german shepherds, malamutes, labradors. All the health problems with bulldogs like over sized heads and narrow hips (and so the inability to give birth on their own), noses that are soo squashed that they have breathing problems and can't handle much exercise. I could go on for ages! These problems are all caused by neglectful and irresponsible breeding. It takes generations and generations to breed out these defects.
It makes me so mad that people would be so careless. It also gives reputable breeders a hard time. I am sure that you can tell it is a subject that I feel very strongly about and its because I have seen so many dogs suffer and have to have extensive vet treatment because of these problems.

So please anyone thinking of breeding don't enter into it lightly, do lots and lots of research into the breed you are interested in and also into breeding itself, including the laws involved. You alo have to be prepared to pay out for vet treatment for things like regular checks, regular worming, de flea-ing and vaccinations and thats just as long as everything goes well. You also have to consider the possiblity of having to pay for ultra sound scans, caesarians, and for anything else that could go wrong.
Making sure you know the signs of things like uterus infections (which can be very serious indeed if left), mammary tumours, testicular tumours etc.

Sorry, I realise this isn't a question!

[orange-gnome]

Sorry to rant but I just feel very strongly about this as I am sure a lot of people do!

[woofgang]

og you are both right and wrong.

Point 1. Those big heads, narrow hips and squashed noses were bred ON PURPOSE (can you tell how I feel about that!!!)

Point 2 You don't have to be prepared to pay out for all the routine stuff because you JUST DON'T DO IT (can you tell how I feel about that??)

I have a weimaraner, she comes from good stock, bred by a lady who used to both show and work her dogs.  At their best they are un extreme, intelligent, sensible, fun loving and physically sound; badly bred and raised, they have hip problems, are at risk of torsion and can be neurotic dangerous nightmares. I pity any dog breed that becomes "popular"!!

Yes, some of the questions posed on here worry me too!

[orange-gnome]

Woof gang- to be honest I don't know what you are getting at!
Referring to point 1 - The breeds that are made to look how people want them to look sticking with the breed we have been, the bulldog, they have been bred to such an extent that it causes health problems, thats my problem with it. The dogs are made to suffer because man ahs made them this way. To look at a picture of a bulldog just 50 years ago they don't have such squashed noses, big heads, short legs or have the tail deformities they have now.
And point 2- The routine things such as vaccinations and worming are important treatments especially if you are breeding. Puppies with bad cases of worms get very sick just because the owners haven't taken precautions.
Maybe you could re-iterate for me?

I am glad that you have a well bred dog (weimaraners are a lovely breed) who comes from a responsible breeder, there are plenty of them. But oh too many irresponsible ones too.
I have chosen to stick with dogs which are less inclined to have problems, I have a jack russell cross and a boxer cross german shepherd. Cross breeds tend to be much stronger (healthwise) dogs. Although the boxer and shepherds have their own problems the crosses tend to miss these. Mine has a long nose, no hip probs and a good strong heart (can be a boxer prob). I have nothing against pure bred dogs and would love to have an alaskan malamute but when that day comes to look for a puppy I will be careful to make sure that all the relevant checks have been done on the parents and am doing lots of research into it already. My issues are with careless breeders and new owners who don't do their homework on their chosen breed.
I am waffling again, would love to hear your opinions as I can't tell how you feel, sorry maybe its the time of day!! : )

[woofgang]

The problems that I describe weren't caused by people being neglectful, they were done deliberately which to my mind makes it worse, much worse. They took generations to breed these defects into their dogs, they are not careless, its plain cruelty

People who breed quite often do know about the maintenance stuff, they just decide not to do it, again way worse than ignorance.

I guess what I want to say is yes there is ignorance out there, but what is worse is the people who know this stuff and still don't do it. And that's not careless, its criminal

[orange-gnome]

I agree totally woof gang and never said that bulldog problems werent bred on purpose. When I was talking about people breeding carelessly or irresponsibly I was talking more of people breeding from say German shepherds without hip scoring them or knowingly breeding dogs with poor hip scores making the problem worse.
I think we just got our wires crossed we seem to be arguing the same point!

[delilahcat]

I think just to clarify the points here,

Orange-gnome you are right that there are many irresponsible breeders who (for example), don't check the hip scores on German Shepherds or who ignore the possible problems just to make a quick few bob. Unfortunately, there will always be people who are prepared to flout all the rules and who are happy to make money out of animals' suffering.

Woofgang's point, I believe, is even more serious. The Kennel Club has encouraged the breeding of what normal people would think of as defects - the low-slung hips of the GSD, the squashed nose and consequent breathing problems of the bulldog being prime examples. The fact that these morons also think that amputating a dog's tail (though of course they prefer to refer to it as 'docking', it doesn't sound as drastic) should tell you everything you need to know. What makes people think they it's ok to cut bits of an animal off to make them look they way they think they should?

The same thing happens with cats - if you look at Persians from 50 years ago they don't have the ridiculously short noses and squashed in faces that they do now, along with breathing problems and eye infections.

Sorry to rant, it just makes my blood boil!