Fit for Purpose what does this mean to you - Page 1

I have started this thread to see what you think Fit for Purpose means to you
for me Fit for Purpose means that if the litter of pups you are selling is from parents who have all current health tests done and passed(within the limits set by the BC ie hips/elbows breeding age) the parents are sound and of excellent temperament then the puppies from this litter will be fit for purpose whether that be show work or pet, What are your thoughts   this is just my opinion.
jim h

    In the perfect scheme of things, that sounds good. If it were that simple, EVERY pup out of titled and VA dogs, would all qualify, as the best of the best. They 'should' all be fit for whatever you want to use them for, but realisticly, that is not always the case.
     You will never get only the best, although that is what IMO, we all thrive to achieve. It's called life. Things happen that you don't anticipate. There are just way too many varibles with any breeding. You see many of the most experienced, knowlegable breeders that will tell you, they have high titles on their dogs, dogs that can work their asses off,but "You do, and will" get pups that are sold, as pet quality,because the honest breeder does not feel will excel in one area or another.
     Every pup should be fit for show, work or pet. Not necessarily ALL THREE!    That of course is just my thought on the subject

Hi Jim,
My thoughts exactly, I breed for myself when I want to add another puppy to my family, therefor I want the best I can get.
Any female I use for breeding needs to have been hip scored below 20 and DNA profiled be of sound temprement and as close to the breed standard as possible, I have a young puppy now that I will be looking to breed from in the future which will have to have all the above also I will be elbow scoring her and I will  put her through to  Good citizen award as I am unable to have her compete in any working qualifications due to my ill health.
Any puppies that are sold to the public need to be fit for the purpose they have in mind for the puppy ie: as a pet that they can walk without fear of it being aggressive, trainable, good with young children, not being fearful,the list could go on, But the main reason the public buy a dog is for a FAMILY PET, and as most of the dogs bred today go to pet owners that should be what is meant as 'fit for purpose' .
I know this will upset a lot of breeders that have working and show dogs BUT as breeders to the public we must look at the wider picture.

i would change that to FOUR:  show, work, sport & pet.  not necessarily all four.  :)
pjp

Hi Joyce how i see this is if you have bred a litter using parents that have passed all health checks they are sound and of correct temperament then you have done all that can be asked to give your puppies a long and hopefully pain free life what happens to them after wards is out of your control it is up to the new owners to train their puppy for whatever purpose they have bought it for you have done your bit in trying to breed healthy happy pups.
jim h

a top working dog may not be fit to lead the blind..........a therapy dog may not be suited for protection.

GSD's do many types of work. they need to be able to do some type of useful work.

fit for purpose is a dog that is well suited for the task at hand.





OLI - love the spell checker..........

Fit for purpose means nothing to me....
Just words.

This thread has developed from another thread “The GSD Improvement Plan(GSDIP) UK Report a very worthwhile cause to ensure the health and welfare of the breed by complying with criteria to be set out at a future date.

In this thread a contributor said in their suggestion that the Breed Council Database should contain lists among which it should include “German Shepherds Fit for Purpose”. In my post on the suggestions I said that “Fit for Purpose” needs some explaining. I reminded people that we are involved with a Working Breed and with this in mind what would be the criteria to fulfil this. I went on to say that strength of character would need to be a high priority together with working ability. I was then accused of being negative and putting obstacles in the way. I also invited the contributor’s comments on “fit for purpose” which was ignored. However, eventually the contributor clarified their “fit for purpose” as suitable for breeding. This, is of course, a selected area for show breeders and only a part of the overall description of “Fit for Purpose” which encompasses many other attributes in it’s meaning. The contributor also accused me of trying to turn that thread into another Show v Working thread, which is not what I was doing at all.

In my opinion “Fit for Purpose” covers a broad spectrum. We have to remember that the animals must be bred to the specific principles as set out in the breed standard. This applies to all breeders show, working, sport and specific areas like SAR, Dogs for the Blind etc. The Breed Standard sets out the parameters for construction and anatomy, however, very little is written on character and workability. The survey should include better assessment procedure to cover the character and workability aspect within the “Fit for Purpose” spectrum. Our dogs should not be over submissive or anxious animals and over aggressive dogs should not be tolerated. The animals should be relaxed and comfortable in a family atmosphere, with visitors, in a crowd and especially with children. They can and should be all of these things and include the willingness and ability to work at whatever task they are set. If the animals display these qualities then their use as breeding material to be used in furtherance of these traits should also be included in the description “Fit for Purpose”.

I am not trying to develop a situation of one area of involvement against another. My interest is in the furtherance and betterment of the breed. There is only one German Shepherd and although over, say, the last 20 years breeders have selected animals on the basis of their “priorities” we should all contribute over a period of time to close the gaps in our differences.

I would like to make a brief comment on JimH opening remarks when starting this thread. The puppies he mentioned cannot be considered as fit for purpose because they will be too young, however, if the parents satisfy the criteria set down they can be said to be “fit for purpose“

Regards

Mackenzie.