CROUPS - Page 1

Question for breeders regarding improvement of the croup: how difficult is this trait to improve upon through breeding,i.e; a female with a short,flat croup(Larus v. Batu daughter)....what males on the scene currently are known for improving this trait and how many generations out can I expect to see an appreciable improvement? I have heard some people say that it is one of the easiest traits to fix and others say just the opposite. What's the real deal? Thanks!!! Regards

Whether it is easy or difficult will depend on your dog's ancestry. I assume you have an SV pedigree. Look at the breed survey reports (korbericht) and determine how many dogs in her prior generations have had imperfect croups. When you decide on a stud male to use, go through the same exercise and try and find as many correct croups as possible. Please don't be disheartened if I tell you that very few dogs have perfect croups - it's all in the grooming!

There is an interesting article in The GSD National Magazine produced by Breed council of great Britain. The article was written by Guther Pfeffer S.V. According to the Breed survey book in 1974 the length and angle of the croup were criticised in 39.8% of newly surveyed dogs. 30yrs later in 2004 the criticism had risen to 62.3% of newly surveyed dogs. The assessment of males in the open class at the 2005 Seiger show including dogs in the top group showed 51.7% of croups were faulty including those of 9 VA dogs. The rest of the article makes very interesting reading a back copy would be well worth ordering. Reasons for inability to improve this fault seem to range from inability to recognise a faulty croup. Breeders not implementing suitable measures to correct the fault. The coat hiding the angulation and muscles of the hind quarters making the GSD difficult to assess than short coated breeds. All in all it would appear that it a much more complex and difficult problem to eradicate than it may appear at first and as mentioned above by pzdc the importance of checking the breed survey reports for the stud dog and the female is vital when trying to improve on this fault.