Working lines: Longer lived and healthier? - Page 3

QUOTE :  he indicated that on both counts show lines seemed to have the edge.

The edge of woos cliff.

Hi Jeff, not for me.  My Tara - an allergic mess, never mind other problems - was an allergic mess from day 1.  Well, at least since I got her at 9wks.  She was scratching like crazy from the get-go.  Although, some dogs do have food allergies.  Tara has animal-protein allergies as well as atopic dermatitis (airborne).  BTW, she is completey outcrossed, and of German lines - but I don't know if they qualify as working and/or showing lines.  (I'm ignorant.  I'm just generally topically interested in the GS; I'm not deeply involved.)

But I hear you on the BS about food, generally.  There's alot of hysteria these days about "health", and we're including our dogs in it.

Jeff - while I don't think that food quality and health being linked are BS, I can see your viewpoint. It reminds me of all the admonsihments we see and hear about smoking, yet George Burns lived to be damn near 170 or something, some dogs and people defy the odds, but think how much more healthful those long lives could have been if given proper care, nutritian, etc..

Because of the dramatic improvment I've witnessed feeding raw instead of kibble, I'm a die hard believer that a proper diet can help a dog have a longer healthy life. Obviously good food alone will in most cases not improve lifespan, but in tandom with genetics and exercise, it can be a powerful proponent in that trio.

Well they say "you are what you eat"..makes sense to me. I too feed mostly RAW. One female, the 10 year old with the djd elbow, also has/had alergies. I tried alot of different foods, some low protein,  but the thing that helped her most was RAW! After being on it for awhile (she did detox) her itching stopped and her coat got alot softer. Now she can tolerate a little dog food like Canidae chicken & rice. Currently she is doing OK on some Orijen too. I personaly think there are alot of additives in commercial dog food that do not have to be listed as ingredients that is shortening our dogs life span. Maybe I am wrong but it makes me feel better knowing what they are eating versus this little round ball called dog food, that someone is telling me has all this wonderful stuff in it. JMO

OMG Trailrider, I don't know how many heads I have tried to get that through. Who really knows what is in that ball of dog food? They can tell us whatever and how would we know the difference?  Not a whole lotta people taking food in for testing to find out and every batch is different I'm sure.

some of you think a lot has to do with genetics..... maybe you make a point! . ??.?just maybe.   how many times have we seen street dogs eating out of garbage cans .. huh .. and they seem to thrive .. ? rhetorically speaking ..and perhaps with irony ...  figure that one out. maybe one might really consider from whence the GSD came .. where it is now.. and where it is going? NAW .. gnetics doesn't matter at all .. let's all keep up that heavy ,intensified linebreeding .. yup .. we can all just breed out all these maladies .. yup food / protein allergies too . seeing as the show lines do better .. ok .. lets concentrate on them first

Well what I find is really weird is that Yette can eat all the ingredients listed in dog food.... like chicken, rice, corn, wheat, fish, beef you name it, BUT only if its human grade food. So really in her case I am not sure its the protein but the other garbage in it they don't tell you about! I like to call it toxic waste!  

I know what you mean 4pack. I have to admit making the switch was a bit scary, "Balanced" meals had been shoved down my throat for years. But when you take the plunge it sort of becomes really clear as you see your dogs health improve in so many ways!

Alaphapup you hit the nail on the head...mix breeds are ten times hardier than purebred dogs...go back to my post...all the things wrong with the shepherds today nerves, allgeries, intelligence, hips you name it comes directly from close breeding same common ancestors  small gene pool this is why most mixed mutts have so much better health...back to the show lines which are so heavy in breed...some of the working too they should not be left out...I had a guy call me from Georgia and he is a show-breeder asking about Zidane etc anyway during the conversation he told me he breeds two dog with the same sire different mothers together and was bragging about how nice his show lines were made me cringe..and he was serious.  This is why a lot of Belgium dogs are bred with Czech/German etc to break this up bring new blood in to a pedigree is a refreshing thing it shows in the offspring...I think one reason why Zidane is able to produce so well is that he is a total outcross which was one reason among others that I choose him. Marlene

What's the differential here about longevity?  1 year , 2 years. is that the meaning of life span? statistically a GSD lives .. i think this is accurate..12.5 years . so if one dog lives 12 another 13  or 14 is that a valid stitical difference consider the breed and the average? i think what is statically rfelevent is not just the number but the quality of those years lived ! ok .. i had a show line male .. at 6 years died from a genetic malady ..ok come across a Whiskey son  8 weeks old had two heart defects.. i did an ultrasound on him ... so his life was 1 to 2 years max .. he is now 6 years old.  .. so should i compare thjust these two examples to a working GSD ..?? .. [ these are only but two of many ,many others ] .no need to rehash the other points in previuos posts.. but one more.. please .. a year or two difference .. show vs working ... does it matter ?? tell me about the quality of life these GSDs have . some people never live past 40 .. others live to 90.. Ohhh maybe it's because some of us parade aroung .. gee the others must be the workers