BBC: Pedigree Dogs Exposed

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Two years in the making, Pedigree Dogs Exposed lifts the lid on the true extent of health and welfare problems in pedigree dogs in the UK.

Seventy-five per cent of the seven million dogs in the UK are pedigrees, and they cost their owners over £10m in vet fees every week.

This in-depth investigation suggests they are in serious trouble, plagued by genetic disease due to decades of inbreeding.

They are also suffering acute problems because of the showring's emphasis on looks over and above function and health.

Some physical traits required by the Kennel Club's breed standards have inherent health problems (short faces, wrinkling, screw-tails, dwarfism) while other problems occur because of exaggerations bred into dogs by breeders trying to win rosettes.

Deliberate mating of dogs that are close relatives is common practice and the Kennel Club continues to register dogs bred from mother-to-son and brother-to-sister matings.

Scientists at Imperial College, London, recently found that pugs in the UK are so inbred that, although there are 10,000 of them, it is the equivalent of just 50 distinct individuals – making them more genetically compromised than the giant panda. 

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I'm on part 2 so far.

2 comments.

I don't think I would keep my dog if he needed medication for the rest of his life.

Dog shows are alot like bodybuilding shows. 

[knny187]

From my short experience so far doing shows....I would say it's alot like a bodybuilding show but with more politics in dog shows.

I know it's hard to believe it....but it is.  The best dog doesn't always win the day of a show.  So far, we've entered our dog in a half a dozen to a dozen shows so far.  He's lost some & won some.  I can think of 1 or 2 shows where he clearly should have won or placed higher.  The others he lost because he wasn't the best dog that day & I stand by his placing. 
I usually find out later that the judge knows this person or is friends with that person.  Personally, I like the competition so if he loses...I try to avoid any small talk with people afterwords because I would rather know he lost because he wasn't his best that day than to lose because the Judge & the other person were buds. 
One judge that chose my dog winner on one occasion, was an out of town judge.  I also looked up his credentials afterwords & he's a highly regarded exotic Vet & only comes out to judge a dog show a few times a year.  So, his win that day was probably because this guy wasn't a 'regular' judge that could be paid off.  I found it the most rewarding win because the Judge walked up & wanted to talk to me how amazing he is.  He said said some words that I was blown away with coming from a judge.  Usually they say 'congrats', hand you a ribbon, & thats it. 
Then let's not get in the whole politics of breeding & drugs.  Thats a whole another thing.

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good ol' politics, they're everywhere. interesting write-up knny

See what has happened to german shepherd show dogs? It's terrible what they are doing to them. Same with the beagle and bulldog.

Most of the show was about smaller dogs, I actually watched the whole thing. I could careless about small dogs. They're useless, for education purposes I watched it.

I would like to see a more detailed comparo between dog breeds from today to 100-150 years ago. People are ruining dog breeds and standards. Most dogs are looked at as pets, they have poor obedience and owners. Pacifying our dogs. 

[knny187]

good ol' politics, they're everywhere. interesting write-up knny

See what has happened to german shepherd show dogs? It's terrible what they are doing to them. Same with the beagle and bulldog.

Most of the show was about smaller dogs, I actually watched the whole thing. I could careless about small dogs. They're useless, for education purposes I watched it.

I would like to see a more detailed comparo between dog breeds from today to 100-150 years ago. People are ruining dog breeds and standards. Most dogs are looked at as pets, they have poor obedience and owners. Pacifying our dogs. 

Well, I don't know.  I think the different breeds, hell even humans can be bred to the point of bringing out deficiencies & not the strengths.

Our dog is one of the biggest Rottweilers being entered in a show.  Every person I've ever run into always say they own a big Rottie until our little moose stands next to theirs.  Then they can't believe how big he really is.  I think the funniest thing is the exaggerated weight claims.  Seems like everyone owns a 130-140 lb. Rottie.  Then when they see mine, they always ask "how much does he weigh ".  When I say 135....they look at me confused because he's dwarfing their 135-140 lb. so called behemoth.  Personally....I DON'T SEE WHY EVERYONE WANTS A BIG DAMN DOG FOR THAT INDIVIDUAL BREED.  It has not helped our Dog win anymore shows.  The only thing it does is make it more difficult to show him.  Every breed has a standard & if the dog is too big, he doesn't get the nod.  Now our dog wasn't intended to get this big.  His father is a large male, but his mother is a very small female.  They were hoping to have some good males in the 110-115 lb range.  If you ever go to a show, you'll see the medium size of the standard usually gets the nod.  We initially used a handler that was 6'4" to help offset his height in the ring.  Now I'm doing it myself & I'm not exactly tall, but I'm a bigger guy which helps offset him.  So as you can see, there's no clear advantage.

When I was a kid, we raised Labradors.  We had a big male & everyone wanted his puppies.  The theory for the working dog is that he would be stronger & could go through more brush easier.  In fact, my little 50-55 lb. female Lab was better in the woods than the big males.  She could get in the underbrush & had the agility to jump over things better than him.  So in this circumstance...the big males almost seemed worthless.

I think for guard & protection, a Big dog can scare away people just by physical presence over a little dog.  But in all my years...I always keep one eye on a smaller dog than a larger dog.  The smaller ones are more likely to snip or bite than the large dog.  Usually large dogs want to eat, sleep, & shit.  They don't really care about much anything else.....except maybe when it's time to hump something.