Sadly a dampener was put on things on Monday, well locally anyway. When an exhibitor never seen at an open show in this area before travels over 200 miles it kind of gives you a sick feeling, especially when you kind of knew before hand that it was a done deal! (but of course naming no names I thought it would be the Strange one!) Being honest I didn't go because I simply wasn't well enough to go, I would have liked to have seen it all come together. I would also have like to support the hard working committee as this is none of their doing. Well the plan came together, it went BOB, Group 1 and BIS .. and yes obviously I have a problem with that.
The fact that it's not my type of dog is really only part of the issue here. For the life of me I can't see how a dog that is long in body, with a dippy back and over angulated can do a days work. The character of this breeding line is also called to question, nervous, windy, jumpy, call it what you like it's not what the breed should be. But my main issue is this man's unethical breeding practices, he does not health test his breeding stock. He continues to line breed onto epileptic lines, and he doesn't see the problem with that? To me and others on both sides of this breed .. this is a fecking disaster!!!
Well of course it all kicked off on social media with a tongue in cheek comment escalating to unnecessary remarks and a huge row. To be fair the referance to the dog being an "Alsatian" and not a GSD was simply honest. The owners calls his own dogs Alsatians so that could not in anyway be offensive but some of the remarks that followed maybe should have been kept to private messages or at least personal pages, and not posted on a club page .. after all, everyone has friends and his friends fought fire with fire and one was equally offensive in her defense of him. Maybe when things cool down a discussion about health tests with these people could be the way forward.
This breed is struggling in and outside the ring, so how can the KC be seen to be promoting/registering puppies from parents that have not been health tested? Hip and elbow dysplasia in some severity are chronically painful conditions, but usually are manageable with care and pain relief. Epilepsy is far more difficult to manage and Haemophilia A is a disaster, but with males blood tested with a cost of about £50 all the progeny he produces should theoretically by clear. But this man breeds regularly and does nothing to safe guard the pups, no health tests at all .. Oh sorry I forget, his Alsatians must free from any hereditary defects .. I think not!
I hasten to add .. this is NOT the dog in question, this is my photo so I can use it without any hassle!
