Re: docking my rotti's tail, yes or no, she is 6mo's old

On Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:32:02 GMT, Robin Nuttall wrote:
Bonsai wrote:

Who said you should?
If you breed a german dog, go with the german standard.
If you breed an australian dog, go with the australian standard.
If you breed a british dog, go with the british standard.
If you breed an american dog, go with the american standard.

Sorry, coming in a bit late on this, but there are many reasons why this
reasoning is faulty. Let's take my breed, the Doberman, or Dobermann if
you prefer.

The German Standard was changed a few years ago to meet what was winning
in the ring--in other words, instead of breeding the dog to fit the
standard, they decided to change the standard to fit the extreme of
style they like to see in the ring. ...

*Ouch*

... The result is a dog allowed to be up
to 10% longer than tall (in a SQUARE breed), and a dog with other severe
structural issues which compromise its ability to do real work in the field.

This is why I also mentioned the German Shepherd Dog. Changed for looks and
lost more and more working abilities.

Did you read my reply to chris?
Msg-ID: <z3pcnvgolpqp.9t0ldp7mxufx.dlg@xxxxxxxxxx>

Next we have the Greens coming along to tell us what we can and cannot
do with ears and tails, the strictures of which have become so onerous
that what is happening is, in effect, isolating the German gene pool to
just the dogs in the country. Registrations have dropped precipitously,
and the health and working ability of the overall breed is compromised.

When I said "go for the original", I did not mean to say do all nonsense
somebody else does. I knew from the GSD, I did not know from the Doberman.
People caring about a working dog breed, should primarily breed for health
and working abilities, not for looks. Apparently I overestimated the care
of some original breeding associations.

The American standard, OTOH, now much more closely describes the old
German standards and what Herr Doberman wanted his dog to look like than
the FCI standard does. And we have no strictures on crop/dock, so our
dogs can benefit from Euro and other lines worldwide. Our registrations
are stable and overall our breed is improving.

That's fine so far, but I am still no big friend of crop/dock. I am against
it, but not a fanatic (or fantast).
What I do like is the idea to keep everything (in most cases = non-working
dogs), describe the goal for the ears/tail in the standard and make it
first no fault. So you can breed over generations to built e.g. a robust
tail with a minimum injuring risk. Obviously you need to have dogs _with_
tails to figure it's robust or not :-).

So no thanks, I have no desire to breed to the German standard, much
less follow stupid German laws instituted by animal rights activists.

I am no animal rights activist, I just prefer to see "complete" dogs
working. If it comes to breeding: of course you can't change it today,
maybe also not tomorrow, but you can over time, if you want to.

Bye
Marion
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: docking my rottis tail, yes or no, she is 6mos old
    ... If you breed an australian dog, go with the australian standard. ... If you breed an american dog, ... The German Standard was changed a few years ago to meet what was winning in the ring--in other words, instead of breeding the dog to fit the standard, they decided to change the standard to fit the extreme of style they like to see in the ring. ...
    (rec.pets.dogs.behavior)
  • Re: Robot Violinist
    ... about Tourists and Group Tours and "standard ... dog and pony shows" and the like. ...
    (soc.culture.scottish)
  • Re: Coat Color Related Question
    ... Most modern dog breeds are based on a certain ... When modern, standardized dog breeds were "created", these local ... landrace breed, but it is based on mixes between Swedish hounds, German ... hunting clubs decided to write a uniform standard ...
    (rec.pets.dogs.breeds)
  • Question about kindergarten puppy classes
    ... I am looking to start classes with Sadie soon (standard poodle 12 weeks old) ... In short it says" I understand there is risk to people and dogs in all dog ... training courses, I understand I or my dog may be bitten or otherwise ... The other is as though everything is a miracle. ...
    (rec.pets.dogs.behavior)
  • Re: List of Airpower conflicts between near technological equals
    ... technically superior to just about everything short of the M-1 rifle - they ... In fact, the 1945 German ... The late 45/46 German soldier would have had as standard issue: ...
    (rec.aviation.military)