An epiphany...... - Page 2

"they don't want crappy dog messing up their sports".

Sick, sick, sick way of thinking -- as if dog Sport is so damn important.   Humans sure do make a mess of things and ruin so much in life.    I would like to see the people who think like this have an Electronic Choke Collar placed around their neck and have the SH _ _  zapped out of them !!

Im in dogs for over 20 years and in contact with americans  and other countries for about the same time

my view is that americans IN GENERAL are a little too fond of titles , achievements and succes out of the past
if a certain kennel bred good dogs 15 years ago , the name is still good to sell pups today , even if they have total different lines today

ive seen americans shipping their bitches to the worldchampion , without seeing or knowing anything of that dog


how it also can be
A breeder from england called me for a male to use on his female , I asked him for the bad points in his lines , he said mainly fronts and bites
I sold him a dog that never achieved nothing but was healthy and strong both himself and geneticly on fronts and bites

he bred the dog several times and this nonwinner became topproducer and a son of his became topwinning dog in england



breeding is about dogs , not about ribbons

just my 2c of positive criticism

PS  I said in general

That original post would be a perfect mindset if we were trying to breed robot dogs. I for one want my dog to be more than just a Schutzhund machine. 

 


Duke1965

This could really open up into a good debate on breeding.

Are there no good small breeders then? No hobby breeders who are vigilent & uphold breed standards? No minor kennel who has brought good dogs to the breed? Can anyone give an example of a small kennel in the past (don't want to put anyone current on the spot) whose dogs were well respected? And how did they accomplish this? Thanks, jackie harris

There are good small and big breeders. And there are also bad small and big breeders.
Not all small breeders are dumb back yard breeders and not all profesional breeders are unethical bastards only breeding any crap for the money.
Prager Hans
http://www.AlpineK9.com

It's true that a large scale breeder can make the greatest difference in the breed, not only because they are contributing more dogs into the breed, but because they CAN be much, much, more selective about which to breed and which not to... not that they all are.  They also have more experience (usually knowledge too) and that is golden.  Unfortunately, those who rely on puppy income as their profession/business/source of income often seem to slip into exceptions.  Business comes first, not the dogs or breed.

(Added: It would be great if large-scale breeders spayed and placed all unsuitable stock instead of reselling them and possibly have them end up contributing to the breed anyway although not through their program.  )

Just being a dog lover isn't enough to be a good breeder either.  Obviously Stephanitz wouldn't have wanted just any pet owner to breed their dogs.  I believe he would have wanted any serious dog lover, and hopeful GSD breeder, to read his book and follow his advice.  He warns against breeding for sport, exhibition, conformation, color, etc.  He says that the breeding dogs should be part of the breeder's life so they really know what they are, and that they should be working... not just pet or kennel dogs.  I believe he never intended for the GSD to be extreme in any way, just  good, well-rounded working type dogs.  I don't believe he EVER would have wanted them to become as popular as they are now! 

Simple stating my take on his views and what I see going on with the GS breed.  My comments are not directed at anyone, and I understand that we will never all agree on these subjects.

Just my opinion here,I think no matter small or large breeder ,dogs should be bred based on their qualities.The two dogs in the breeding should compliment each other,one should bring to the table what the other is lacking.A breeding should be planned with much deliberation and thought about what the breeder is trying to accomplish.You hear people say all the time only breed ofa dogs with titles, this alone does not guarantee anything in the offspring.You have to know what the dogs in the breeding will contribute  and what  traits you hope to improove by breeding these particular dogs,without this knowdlege your just breeding with luck as your goal,it does't matter if your big or small. I think small breeding kennels or even hobby breeders strive harder to accomplish their goals. Often times as a breeder becomes more succesfull and the kennel gets larger the goal changes from accomplished breeder to successful businessman.If breeding ofa titled dogs  based on that criteria alone produced excellent pups,then the world would surely be overun with excellent dogs by now.Fortunately there are owners that are happy with a less then perfect german shepherd dog,otherwise the landfills would be strown with the bodys of culled puppies and dogs.All breeders large and small have contributed to this population of less then perfect , there is no magic formula for succesful breeding no matter how well planned and thought out mother nature is always present.So I guess the question at hand is this whos more responsible for the destruction of the breed, the small breeder producing a few litters of puppies or the large kennels that produce dozens of litters. Without knowdlege,planning,and much deliberation on what your trying to accomplish you are a producer of puppies,not a breeder in the true sense of the word.