V16 & BRITISH SIEGER ASTANA ALFONS DIES - Page 6

I am not aware of what has or has not been shared by whom or with whom. Again, I think it presumptuous to assume anything as a cause of death, and if someone does not want to discuss it, so be it. If I owned a dog who died young, I might not feel like talking about it to complete strangers either.

As for who owned and co-owned, that is something that should be between them. If this is yet another co-ownership gone bad in that they cannot communicate on this issue, it highlights, once again, the inherent problems in co-ownership. To imply that something "strange" happened is, well, let me say not kosher. There are many reasons dogs die. I just had a rescue dog collapse several weeks ago, at about age 7-8. Up until that time he had been healthy. To make a long story short, after spending a lot of money years ago to replace his fractured hip, and after spending a lot of money this time trying to save him, we could not. So I spent money too for a necropsy because I could not imagine why he would so suddenly collapse except I knew he was bleeding somewhere.  It was determined he had a cardiac tamponade. Why? That will remain a mystery, and it is possible that he had a long latent infection from the hip replacement that ended up in his heart. But had it been a GSD and a sibling or progeny, for example, to one of my other GSDs, I would not be worrying, nor would I feel it necessary to tell every person who owned a dog from that bloodline. Creatures die, sometimes for reasons that we know about, and most of the time from reasons we don't know about or understand.

The breed is becoming more and more unhealthy because of a variety of factors. It started in Victorian England and the rest of Europe and spread like wildfire. Certain people thought it fun to breed, breed for specific characteristics, tried to breed in and out certain characteristics and, in general, put not only the GSD but most other breeds on a bottleneck pathway that has lead to a lack of genetic diversity in the dogs today. It is the same in other species. One need only have a little understanding of genetics to know where a lack of genetic diversity leads in any species, including dogs, and including the GSD, in particular.

And yes, the best idea is simply to enjoy each of your dogs every day. One never knows, just like with the rescue dog I had here and whom I loved very much, when they will leave us. The same is true for our human friends and significant others.

Alfons was a beautiful dog. I say let his memory serve you best and forget all the rest.....

Len,

I tried to stay out of this whole ordeal, neverless I had a litter sired by Astana and I was very pleased with it. If you would have ever seen Astana in person, interacted with this superb male, you most certainly would not shed out such a BS.

Neverless, I can relay that peopel having progeny of Astana want to know what the cause of Astana death was. I have not spoken to Ansgar about this sofar, but I most certainly will when I see him the next time. After all, my female did whelp a litter sired by him, and Ansgar is the Headbreedwarden of my LG. So, I am most certain that I will recieve an honest & truthfull answer.

The aspect of revealing the cause, may be in the aspect of mantaining health within our breed of great importance, but to reveal anything is solely at the discreation of their owners. Not the best option, but that is just the way it is right now.

Best Regards Ulli