Why Breed Dogs? - Page 1

http://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/reason-to-breed/

What a thoughtful and sensible essay; a pleasure to read !
TY Blitzen. Maybe ought to be 'required reading' for all PDB
posters, especially those who rigidly take one side or the other
on work v. show.

I enjoyed that read, thanks for posting. Well said Hundmutter,

I read it twice - I can not get what the author was saying, seemingly nothing in my read.

can someone put what they think is the main points conveyed by the author.

it seems to me he was saying breeders have to be breed preservers and not be breed preservers??

and above all else breeders should guard against the negative impacts of public perception as exposed by the BBC doco on purebred dogs.

allowing for the whoosh of the point I completely missed this article says nothing???

Try reading it a third time, more slowly.  You must have skimmed the paragraph that

points out we can do BOTH - i.e.  breeding for the original work or function for which

the breed was first developed ( or its current equivalent / substitute )  AND breed dogs

to continue to look as typical of that breed as possible (and therefore Show them),

as BOTH are equally valuable to maintaining that breed - as distinct from another type

or breed, or mongrel.  That breeders with BOTH aims are useful to a breed in their

own right;  and that the variables of this actually help the breed, e.g. by widening its

gene pool.   Provided due care & attention is paid to health / genetic matters, of course.

That is what she is making the case for ;  and I believe she does a good job of it.

Its basically a rather 'old-fashioned' idea of dog breeding, with money having little to do

with it.

The article reads very well!

are most of us preserving or improving the GSD breed?

good question.

Unfortunately I reckon 'most of us' - if we are talking sheer numbers of
people breeding GSDs - are managing to do neither ! I think that, of
that minority who try to breed good / better dogs without worrying about
it making them a nice profit, some are succeeding in improving the breed
and some are intent on preserving the breed for 'fitness for function'.
Sadly too few 'get it' that to do either conformation OR working breeding
without ensuring they all do as much as possible (A) to understand
the aims and values of breeding to continue 'type', and (B) to try to eliminate
from their breeding practices the most they can of e.g. hip & elbow problems,
blood diseases, epilepsy and so on, will actually be against the long-term
interests of the breed. Too many 'playing at it' without researching what is to
be watched for / excluded if necessary, too many who resist the idea that
others breeding different lines may still be making a useful contribution; too many
who cannot stand the fact that they may make a net loss financially if they do it
properly.
There are many posters on PDB who have the right attitudes and practises;
unfortunately it is clear there are also people who feel they should breed just
because they can, and sod the consequences.

Good post Hundmutter, I miss the like button