Now I would like to point out that neither party is ideal imho as show breeders breed for looks and often ignore the original functionality of the dog entirely; while work breeders often loose sight of long term use of a dog for high drives. Now not every show dog lacks the working drive and many more breeders are becoming interested in breeding dogs to be BETTER at what they are supposed to do BUT are also keeping within the original confirmation standards of the breed. Likewise not every working dog has had conformation ignored so they all look nothing like the original breed.
Unfortunately there are far more breeders who don't care and just want a cute/pretty dog to make puppies so they can sell them.
Here are some examples of what i mean in the discrepancies between work and show bred dogs:
Dachsund
Old Style:
AKC CH today:
Border Collie
Work:
Show:
Labrador retriever
Work:
Show:
Springer Spaniel
Work:
Show:
English Setter
Work:
Show:
And of course the German Shepherd one of the most popular dogs in this debate:
Work:
Show:
Of course MANY other breeds have been hit with the show bred stick and others like the Australian Shepherd have been hit with the "can I have that dog in a smaller size please?" stick.
And then we wonder when we have these dogs that are just miniature working dogs or prettier versions why they have all these problems behaviour wise. And differences aren't always between work and show bred, some examples are purely what the dog breed has become and it isn't necessarily an improvement on the original, take the dachsund and the english bulldog.
Of course bulldogs and bully breeds in general have suffered the most and any google search will show you that most of the time the dogs have to be bred by artificial insemination and puppies delivered by c-section because of the large head. We have gone so far as to make it that this breed could barely survive on it's own. There are those though that are trying to bring back the old look by creating such breeds as the olde english bulldogge
Olde English Bulldogge
vs
English Bulldog
Other places to read on this issue: (i am not endorsing the information on these sites just presenting them as additional reading)
http://www.workingpitbull.com/amstaffpit3.html
http://www.terrierman.com/rosettestoruin.htm
http://www.greys-holt-kennels.co.uk/pugarticle.htm
http://realgsd.ca/GSDinfo/Care/Jeanm/balance.htm
http://realgsd.ca/GSDinfo/WSblood/work_show.htm
http://www.bordercollie.org/akc.html
3 comments:
Oh, the GSD differences...the Terrierman has a post that shows some impressive changes throughout the decades with both American and German lines.
I can't stand the smooshy-nosed breeds...I admit they can be sweet-tempered and fun to be around, but I feel so SORRY for them! They have so many breathing problems and their eyes almost pop out of their heads. In fact, last summer, a friend of ours with a Shih-Tzu mix had to put the dog under for extensive (and expensive!) eye surgery because of its placement. She's doing well, but dogs just shouldn't have problems like that. She still sounds like a pig when she breathes too, and man can she clear a house when she snores!
I find it interesting that the "working" labs have a bit more jaw with a narrower muzzle than the ones I've seen with joe-shmoe owners. Have to say, I like the looks of them better (could be because they look far less obese than most I see which is, perhaps, related to them actually working).
I really dislike the way people are continuing breeds which are physically deformed (the worst of the brach breeds, the dwarfed breeds, etc.) but I think there's a huge difference between this and the divide between conformation and performance 'lines' of the same basically normal breeds.
Personally, while I originally liked seeing more healthy versions of breeds like the English Bulldog, I'm soured on the whole situation by the fact that nobody seems to have taken into account it is NOT still 1940, when it was acceptable for your athletic, powerful, dog-aggressive bullterrier dog to kill any dog who came into range and throw its weight around as a guard dog. Way, way too many people who 're-create' breeds are utterly lost in a romanticized notion of an 'old' breed and a world where burglars had the good grace to run away with the seat of their pants missing and didn't sue homeowners for being bitten while holding your silverware. If you re-create a large dog from another era, you have to either righteously act to prevent puppies from landing in MOST homes (ie, cull the ones who have mental issues, breed sparingly, and choose euthanization over rehoming unless you 110% believe the home is a super-fantastic and prepared one. Of you can tinker with the breed so it fits in with modern society. Or you can just release it into suburbia and claim that every time it starts WWIII, it's because the media is mean, people are ignorant, and the small dog started it by looking dirty at GatorLord.
I know this is a bit hard on the people who have big dogs, but it drives me crazy that so many people on dog forums and blogs seem to prefer to focus on problems with small dogs, and dismiss so much of big dog issues as 'media bias' and ignorance.
This is just as crazy and creates just as many doomed puppies as the people who are carelessly breeding Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. You know, those toy dogs with 100% rate of heart disease?
Post a Comment