Havanese Forum banner

Rejoicing Disease

520 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  eurobichons 
#1 ·
For all the dogs in the world xxx

Remember how natural selection works. If a given genetic trait makes you stronger—especially if it makes you stronger before you have children—then you’re more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass that trait on. If a given trait makes you weaker, you’re less likely to survive, reproduce, and pass that trait on. Over time, species “select” those traits that make them stronger and eliminate those traits that make them weaker unless of course WE step in and this is what has occurred with mans best friend-The Dog!

Breeders have selected traits that have made their dogs stand out within the show ring, that is human nature but we need to have some humility and admit It’s the show ring that has ultimately caused dogs much suffering, such as the inability to breathe without effort, the ability to safely deliver pups etc. All is not lost though we can survive the trauma of Pedigree Dogs Exposed (PDE) by declaring disease and rejoicing in it, disease is not something to be frightened of especially in dog breeding, there is NO dog free from some form of disease, no matter what the breed clubs or its membership say on many websites. It is saddening that so many breeders become aggressive when their name is associated with disease, they waste the opportunity to do something positive with their breed. By recognising disease, its prevalence, its hereditary factors we move a step closer to a happy healthy fit for life dog, by hushing it up, by hiding the facts we actually harm dogs.

If your dog has a disease be open and honest, dance and sing and not hide and be secretive because by doing that YOU ARE actually taking notice and protecting the breeds you own. Do not gossip and besmirch reputations of those doing every effort to declare openly about their dogs , they are actually doing YOU some good. It will be their honesty that people will believe and pedigree dogs will once again be the Talk of the Town , for good reasons not bad.

It’s not uncommon for breeders to attack the honest ones within their breeds, the people who declare disease such as hip dysplasia in newly imported rare breeds, or eye disorders in toy dogs and SM in Cavaliers , just because you may have unwittingly used the diseased dog doesn’t necessarily make you bad , because through selective breeding we can move forward from that mating. It would only be irresponsible if you then bred on from the progeny without due consideration for the gene pool. That is how we learn, dogs are a huge learning curve World Wide and we owe it to them to be progressive not regressive, pro-active not reactive. Adopting this new behaviour makes breeders produce progeny for betterment instead of profit. The task facing any breeder is to determine what genes are present in his breeding stock and to plan matings that will bring forth offspring which exhibit and carry desirable genes. You cannot do that by hiding or not declaring disease. The goal is to eliminate unwanted traits not only from the phenotype but also from the genotype for future generations. In this way the overall quality of dog breeds should improve. If we continue to allow breed clubs and breeders to hide disease from other breeders and hush up negative results or send back dogs to their country of origin without making that known then we stifle progress, we destroy honest breeding policy and more importantly we encourage poor gene pool management which in turns allows disease to flourish willy nilly and destroy the very breed that is making these breeders stand out from the crowd, when in reality they should be shunned. Now ask yourself, do you REALLY want to stand out from the crowd?

Breeders also need to be honest when selling dogs, the new fangled idea is to offer a one year health and genetic guarantee to buyers, it’s a simple yet effective way to befuddle and confuse potential new owners. It’s also very misleading and borders on dishonesty knowing as we all do that some diseases are hereditary and cannot be detected until a dog becomes at least 18 months of age, some even later.

So , if your dog has a disease don’t hide it away , stand up and be counted , you will be part of the new generation of responsible caring owner/breeders , the ones who will stand the test of time and give dogs a new lease on life, FREE OF DISEASE.
 
See less See more
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top