Breed Improvement Suggestions for the UK GSD Breed Council - Page 12

Singe

God what an uphill battle we have as a breed with idots like that around.  You didnt deserve a reply like that, and in fact after the BBC programme the other week you would have expected him to be asked for health screening.

Hello Pam, thanks for your reply - another reasonably priced vet with good ethics, just goes to show they are around, albeit thin on the ground.  Makes me wonder though, how Vets can justify their charges, for doing the same work, depends where everyone lives in the Country too, I suppose, but that is another topic.....!!!

Ros

Can we please get back to the title of the thread or start a new thread on hip scores and how to get them done cheaply

The breed standard includes health issues in the opening statement ie PHYSICAL RESILIENCE i am NOT advocating we ignore hips elbows etc but the title of the thread is the IMPROVEMENT OF THE GSD lets not keep ignoring the rest of the STANDARD (steadiness of nerves attentiveness loyalty calm self assurance alertness tractibility as well as COURAGE resilience and scenting ability all of these  necessary in a versatile WORKING dog)

We can hip and elbow xray from every angle but will it help with the above!

Sound mind starts with early socialising and being introduced to many different stimuli as sensible.  I have found that puppies who grow up hearing lawn mowers, hoovers, bowls being banged about, different people etc and then being carried out as much as possible as tiny puppies turn into much better adults than those who grow up contained in a kennel with little outside inolvement and then go to homes where they are kept in until 12 or 13 weeks.

I had a 12 month female xrayed today, the hips look superb, my vet xray's Mon 2 Fri, 24hr notice, I have a 25% discount deal with my vet on everything medicines, the lot, Hips including everything £130.00. If you hav'nt thought about it, if the plates come back for any reason they redo it F.O.C.  talk to you're vet, tell him you're involved in a breed, and ask for a discount . If you never ask you will never get anything.There are 6 vets at my practice and I have at least half of them betting on who will be the nearest to the score. Bill Owen.

Patrick, glad the hips look good.  I spent 9,5 years on a Shepherd Club committee and tried to persuade the rest of the committee to single out a vet/practice and agree a price for scoring (& various other tests) on the understanding that we and all who attended our club (breed & obedience) would use their services for scoring and that we would actively promote the service to other breeds.  It was a "no brainer"!  I still think it's a good idea and one worth promoting.

NikkiF, well done!  Given your all round success and experience, perhaps you could offer some worthwhile advice to us all re: Improvement suggestions for the BC?

Beepy

Yes but a sound mind comes from the basic genetic inheritance ans is then enhanced by correct nurture to stimuli, a dog that likes a mower mat=y become a good gardner but will it be a good GSD!

The title of the thread is in the reading we are NOT talking hip x ray here its a bit more seriuos than that

Beepy

Yes but a sound mind comes from the basic genetic inheritance ans is then enhanced by correct nurture to stimuli, a dog that likes a mower mat=y become a good gardner but will it be a good GSD!

The title of the thread is in the reading we are NOT talking hip x ray here its a bit more seriuos than that

reason - I quite agree that inheritance is a big part of a stable mind, but I have seen puppies out of one littler grow up in different environments and 1 became a fab police dog and another a bag of wind due to poor socialisation.  I have also been unlucky enough to suffer from genetic temperment imbalance with one of the bitches I had - she was great 99% of the time but I had that 1% that was a problem and eventually I found it stemmed with one of her grand fathers.

The reason I mentioned it is down to the statement on the Breeder Charter it states "I will endeavour to breed only to the GSD Standard and before mating any bitch I will ensure that I have suitable conditions to whelp and raise a litter."   Which I feel is a vague statement and suitable conditions could in effect result in poor mental conditioning of puppies.
 

The breed charter gives little credence to the GSD as a breed just a set of simple health issue regarding animal husbandry