It has become commonplace for dogs to be bred haphazardly without the people involved ever placing much thought or consideration as to the sizeable investment of time, effort, energy, and money that will be necessary in order to become a successful breeder. In addition to all of this, the potential breeder must begin at an early point in their program to address the proper education that is essential to not only their success, but to producing healthy, thriving dogs as well.
I can recall a time when breeders were more responsible. Preserving a breed’s particular drives, traits, and characteristics was of highest priority, with profit being secondary. The resulting specimens from their breeding programs were dogs to be proud of, and could readily perform the type of tasking that was typical of what that particular breed had come to be associated with.
Now, we have backyard breeders who have chosen to participate in this particular venue of the animal industry only so that their children may witness the actual whelping process and experience raising puppies. This decision is made after putting the least amount of energy possible forth to not only know the particular breeds specific drives, traits, and characteristics that should be present and bred for, but they also do not put forth the effort to learn how to achieve these desired drives, traits, and characteristics in the offspring through complementary breeding. This is one of the poorest and most irresponsible excuses available for intentionally breeding dogs, yet one of the most frequently used.
There are breeders who keep their dogs in kennels for the balance of the dog’s life, never providing the dog with essential nutrition, socialization, and exercise. There are also those who are involved in dog breeding solely for what they believe will be great monetary profit, and while in some cases this may be true, these breeders still exhibit little to no concern for the wellbeing of the breed in general, or for any particular dog. Irresponsible breeders are on every street corner or hanging out in parking lots trying to get rid of the problem they have created.
We received a ten-month old female German Shepherd that the owner had brought to use for training after having purchased the dog from what most would consider a professional breeding facility. Upon her arrival, we began the conditioning process immediately by socializing her with other people and other dogs, and this is when I began to notice some issues with this dog. When we would turn her out to “empty”, she would go to the concrete to relieve herself instead of going on the grass. Upon turning her out with other dogs, she would run to find a corner and try to seclude herself.
This dog definitely did not understand normal canine play behavior, nor did she want to participate in any activity with other dogs. After a few of these introductions, she began to come out of her shell and began to interact more. It became evident that this young dog possessed the potential to be a very nice companion, and quite possibly would excel in advanced work the owner wanted to participate in. This elevated level of activity fueled by her newly found confidence also allowed me to see her body movement in a much different light.
I noticed her right hip seem to snap quite often, and she had the ever so noticeable bunny hop, a clear sign of hip dysplasia. After contacting our client we took the dog to our Veterinarian for x-rays.
Below are the results.
From this picture, the dysplasia in this dog’s hips is very evident. Just as striking is that this radiograph is of a ten month old puppy, not a much older dog that had endured the progression of dysplasia over a number of years.
For comparison, this is an x-ray of a solid hip structure. This particular radiograph was taken of a sixteen-month-old female German Shepherd of approximately the same size.
From this x-ray, the well formed hip joints are evident. Nice, symmetrical formation, with deep, uniform sockets.
From the behavior this particular dog exhibited while being here, it was very apparent to me that the breeders she came from are either in this business for the wrong reasons, or clearly have no idea what they are doing. With such a lacking of core social skills, it is evident that this dog was separated from the litter at way too early of age. It is also apparent she was placed in a concrete kennel to grow until she was close to the age of one year old. Ironically, this particular kennel, as do many, guarantees hip until the age of one year old as well.
This dog was born with this disease, and with every breath she took she was experiencing pain. The level of the severity of her hips proved this. No dog progresses to this stage overnight, yet it seems the breeders simply turned a blind eye to her, never acknowledging she had an issue. How one, especially the breeder, could not see this is beyond reason, yet this happens all of the time.
People, have clearly lost respect for the dog. I clearly understand and acknowledge that it is possible to breed two OFA Certified Excellent dogs with the best of intentions and possibly still whelp a puppy that will have hip dysplasia, although this, too, can be prevented through proper education and research. However, the issue is that this very nice dog was allowed to live a life enduring excruciating pain, while her condition went unaddressed due to the negligence of irresponsible breeders, as well as the initial trainers who had begun the conditioning process with her.
That very same week, we recommended another client take their nine moth old Rottweiler in for x-rays after noticing issues with the dog’s mobility. This dog was diagnosed with hip dysplasia as well, but his case is a moderate one, not nearly as severe as the earlier discussed case. This dog will endure increasing levels of pain and lesser levels of mobility as he matures and his condition worsens. He will be able to go to a home where he will be cared for, and his level of activity will be kept at mild to moderate. He will never be able to work or perform any of the duties that the Rottweiler was originally bred for. Specifically, he will never be suitable for work as a personal protection dog, and definitely has no future as a potential stud dog, which were the two primary purposes this particular dog was originally purchased for.
Hip dysplasia has become so common in most working breeds that one must ask themselves how the dog being bred today could ever begin to meet the same criteria that was once not only required of them, but respected with significant loyalty and gratitude for the resulting services that the dog provided.
Just as we have breeders who turn a blind eye to the dog every day, there are also registry organizations that have actually promoted the destruction of many breeds in our society today. I have little to no respect for any of these organizations. Some require that you only provide a picture of the dog, and state the breed, gender, and date of birth to receive registration papers. They continue to register litters that are most likely carrying bad genes, and are quite obviously opening the door to registering dogs that are not a purebred, accurate representation of their respective breed.
Professional breeders, registry organizations, and backyard breeders alike all need to be held both responsible and accountable of their actions, or lack thereof, that have contributed to the overall demise of the dog, specifically the promulgation of hip and elbow dysplasia. While they continue to speak, write, and promote genetics, animal husbandry, conformation and other various standards, they still make the conscious decision to not address this issue from a realistic approach, allowing this serious issue to thrive through an actual recognition and registration process that allows these genetics to continue to be passed from generation to generation.
We have also accepted the classification of “Pet Quality” dogs. What does it take for people to recognize the true meaning of this? Be applying this classification to puppies and young dogs, the breeder is acknowledging that this particular dog does not exhibit the drives, traits, and characteristics typically associated with the breed. It goes without saying that these dogs cannot pass on what they do not possess, therefore further diluting the gene pool for the respective breed. These dogs are typically the result of poor breeding programs, yet the breeder will follow through with the sale and placement of these dogs to the unsuspecting buyer in the pursuit of making just a few more dollars.
There are many rescue and shelter organizations that continuously provide our communities, including our children, with information that is clearly unhealthy. Information such as it is wrong to purchase a dog from a breeder while there are so many poor, helpless animals in a shelter. Many people who are interested in purchasing a dog have a particular breed or breeds in mind that they are attracted to, or perhaps they want a dog whose medical history, lineage, and genetic profile can be documented. It is also possible they do not want to risk disease, life long medical issues, or to possibly deal with bad cards. Regardless the reason, it is wrong to play up on another’s pity by using the reason of the poor, helpless, homeless dogs in the shelters.
Not all breeders are bad. Many breeders have dedicated their entire lives to not only this industry, but to striving to better the particular breed, they are involved with. Many breeders are dedicated animal advocates who stand with the dog against animal cruelty and neglect, and would support shelter and rescue organizations more in this area if they were not constantly being ridiculed by them.
Yet, many breeders, and sometimes retired breeders, also chose to operate breed specific rescue and shelter organizations. By doing so, they provide many years of experience of not only working with that particular breed, but of also understanding the specific drives, traits, and characteristics that should be present within specimens of the breed. They are dedicated to not only adopting out those who exhibited an “even” character, but they are just as dedicated to ensuring the new handler also exhibits “even” character.
The actual art of breeding requires commitment, dedication, proper education, and of course, a fair amount of money, but is an honorable, rewarding profession when engaged with the dog as the number one priority.
