Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, the National Dog show judge for the Herding Group gave the award to the German Shepard Dog (GSD). This dog, named River, was also highly awarded at Westminster's show earlier in the year.
GSDs are a breed that has been known to have hip issues, and here the "industry" of the dog show world is promoting and breeding GSD's with at least a 10 degree downward slope in their back from their shoulders to their tail, which I would think puts an incredible strain on their hips, knees, hocks et al.
Yet, on a current facebook page, even owners who have GSD's with straight backs are praising River's awards, saying how River is so representative of the breed etc., and one of the announcers during yesterday's dog show was exclaiming about how much he loves River .. ..
However, not everyone agrees. I have seen GSD's in my neighborhood with that sloped back, and their hind legs were actually knocking together with each step, at a walk (never mind the poor things trying to run ).
This article says it better than I can;
Archive
The Kennel Club in the UK changed their policy, in part due to this petition and other people putting pressure on them. I so wish the AKC would as well;
Sign the Petition (Edit; this petition is closed, I posted it for informational purposes only, regarding how the UK handled things).
GSDs are a breed that has been known to have hip issues, and here the "industry" of the dog show world is promoting and breeding GSD's with at least a 10 degree downward slope in their back from their shoulders to their tail, which I would think puts an incredible strain on their hips, knees, hocks et al.
Yet, on a current facebook page, even owners who have GSD's with straight backs are praising River's awards, saying how River is so representative of the breed etc., and one of the announcers during yesterday's dog show was exclaiming about how much he loves River .. ..
However, not everyone agrees. I have seen GSD's in my neighborhood with that sloped back, and their hind legs were actually knocking together with each step, at a walk (never mind the poor things trying to run ).
This article says it better than I can;
Archive
The Kennel Club in the UK changed their policy, in part due to this petition and other people putting pressure on them. I so wish the AKC would as well;
Sign the Petition (Edit; this petition is closed, I posted it for informational purposes only, regarding how the UK handled things).
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