What are YOUR experiences on how Dogs have changed??

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

So many good posts here with a lot of different opinions.

Shih Tzus. I've had Shih Tzu's since back in the 70's. Unfortunately things went wrong just before their 10th year and I lost them. Always broke my heart but even with vet care they died much too soon.

A few years ago my girl was about 9 yrs. old and I started to panic cause I new some off the wall health problem would come along and she would be gone. I began my search for another Shih Tzu puppy. (Over 25 yrs. ago when I was losing my Dobie my very good friend that worked at the vet told me it was better to get the next dog BEFORE the other one died so for the most part this is how I have done.)

I began my search. OMG those were the UGLIEST DOGS that were called the Shih Tzu breed. I had no ideal they had changed so much and (gives me chills) just to see those hideous puppies. What happened to my beautiful breed? It's the eyes that get me the most. Holy crap they are in every direction in their head.Ugly ''eye white"it is called and people buy those awful looking things.

It took me over 2 years to find an acceptable puppy and she is standard sized. "Chinese Imperials" (don't think that is spelled right.) they are tiny but most of those are ugly too although I have seen a few that are super cute. These seem to be what a lot of ppl want.

If I had known this years ago I would have bred my "Gump" as the mods change the word of what the female dog is called.(First time I saw someones post show gump heck I had no ideal what was being said.

BTW I still have my old girl

I hope she broke the curse.

Designer dogs: There are several I like. To me some of the blends are very pretty and make very nice pets. Some look like neither parent but there is a market for them.In the 70's I would often bred peke-a-poos. There was a nice demand partly because since they weren't purebred and I didn't charge as much money. Another reason was the vet here recommended them to a lot of ppl as mine had very nice temperaments.

Collies: My BFF forever has an occasional litter. Keeping good health and brains has been a big obstacle for her.She also breeds for conformation. I think some of the changes in the health of Collies has been DM and bloat. Many a time she has told me a very popular stud dog had produced some serious health problems that are in a lot of Collies because a lot of ppl had bred their gumps to him. Gosh it's just not natural to call these female dogs a gump, family forum or not. It says little about teaching the proper education to the ppl as to the correct terminology of a female dog. Just MHO. I don't feel like it's a bad word in this context.

I don't like the long lean head and small eye of the collie now but in the end you have to look at the whole package. The look of the English Collie is more to my liking.At least her Collies have a good record as a family dog with beauty,brains and health. She gets a lot of repeat customers and has seniors at her home too.

 

[Brindlebtch]

I've got a rough collie from show lines in class right now that is extremely driven and a great worker and herder. She'll make a fine agility dog.

 

[verity]

(This is my own personal opinion -- and only my 'opinion')

--- Cavalier King Charles Spaniels --- 'toy dog' --- bred from hunting stock to be 'companion dogs' (most dogs are 'companion dogs' to me)

The first Cavaliers in the USA -- thirty or more years ago were compact, lean, and not 'overdone' in any way --- average weight under 20 pounds -- largest of the 'toy' group --

Present-day Cavaliers are larger, extreme coat, and 'feathering' --- many, many health problems --

The ones I see day-to-day are overweight and much larger than the standard -- the overweight part is the fault of the owners and not the breeders -- temperaments seem to be not-so-good -- little angulation -- stilted movement -- short necks -- these things are from the breeder --

A 'show' Cavalier is often over-groomed and 'sculpted' --- not so many owner-handlers in the AKC --

And now it'sswung to the other extreme -- small, not enough 'bone' and with exaggerated shortness of muzzle --

I know I am not knowledgeable on GSD or any of the true working breeds, but I believe there have been more changes in the 'toys' than most other groups --

This has been such an interesting thread to follow as everyone who has posted seems to really love their dogs --

 

[verity]

aaacck! double post -- not enough coffee this morning!

 

[FourPawz]

My breed, Papillons, have divided into at least 2 distinct types, sad to say. The advertisers have piled on to individual dogs that are totally lacking in breed type, so John Q Public pretty much is convinced the breed is over 10 pounds, short haired, pointed eared (with no discernible ear fringe) generic dog.

This is a well bred, correct (temperament, health and breed type) papillon:



This breed, so far, hasn't been totally ruined and a Papillon won the 8 inch class at the AKC Agility Nationals this year. That said, the puppy mills, back-yard breeders and pet shops sure have tried.

 

[verity]

gorgeous Papillon --

 

[coreybee]

Quote:
I have to respectfully disagree here....

If proper health testing is done annually and the dog is being shown to it's championship, and you are doing right by the dam by having a correct whelping.... you will not make a dime. My last brood dam (It won't let me say the B word) was shown to her conformation championship, and 3/4 of the way to her field championship. I easily spent 10K for all of the classes, plus performance entries. Add on the health testing, pre-breeding testing, and progesterone testing, plus paying the stud fee, and ultrasound at 21 days post breeding. I did not get one single puppy. I probably spent upwards of 15K said and done. If you can do all of that the right way, I just don't see how you can make any money. I would not have even broken even.

I don't do it to make money, it's impossible when done the 'right' way. I breed because I want to preserve the breed. I enjoy (to some extent) showing my dogs (although I could do without the politics), after all, a dog show's purpose is to evaluate breeding stock. I want to see the dogs succeed. The dog I speak about above is now spayed due to a health issue cropping up in her mother, making me glad the breeding didn't take place. I do not want to take the chance it could get passed onto offspring, so.... I removed her from the gene pool. This was the right thing to do for the health and welfare of the breed. Yes I could have bred her again, but to have produced a litter with the chance of having the same health problem. It's not worth it. Yes I lost a boatload of money, time, blood, sweat, and tears.... but I am determined to do right by the breed. Now I will be starting over with a new girl next spring, and probably spending about the same amount or more to hopefully get different (better) results.

Making money on breeding for me... if done reputably, is just not possible. It's a merely a hobby, albeit one I take very seriously.

I have to maintain a full time job, and that's where I make my money, not breeding.

 

[FourPawz]

Quote:
I think the percentage of dogs bred for show is really pretty small when push comes to shove. And, a dog that shows a hint of aggression toward humans or for that matter other dogs is DQ'ed so fast it's not funny. What you do get, though, is dogs that are hyper, more "up" than a pet owner might want. Of course you get hyper individuals from field stock and other performance sports like agility and especially schutzhund. Can a hyper dog that's not managed well (socialized and given boundaries) break into aggressive behavior more often than a laid back dog? Possibly.

YMMV, of course.

 

[FourPawz]

Quote:
Do you think the problems you note above could be due in part to working families leaving Phydeaux on his own for much of his life, giving him little structure due to "positive" training methods that do nothing to correct behavior problems, traumatic puppyhoods from pet shop/puppy mills or abuse?

A lot of times people get a big breed pup, give it no structure and the first time it growls or becomes pushy, they panic and chain it outside. It then becomes prey to every jerk kid tormenting it just out of reach, every stray dog that comes along. No wonder we see more behavior problems.

I'm not ruling out poor breeding, but I think there are a lot of environmental causes for the upswing in canine behavioral problems.

 

[FourPawz]

Quote:
AKC is a pedigree registry. It's made up of one parent club for each breed plus other all-breed clubs and a board of directors. These clubs maintain the breed standards. AKC does inspect larger breeders for record-keeping, but has no police powers whatsoever. They can suspend breeders for fraud, but have no power to make people breed for health, temperament or breed traits. They do, however, give people the ability to trace their dogs' ancestries which can always be helpful. Let's say your dog goes blind. If you know what to look for in a pedigree, you might find your dog's grandparent has other offspring with the problem. You therefore can avoid dogs from that part of the pedigree. Also, AKC itself cautions consumers that an individual dog's AKC registration is in NO way a guarantee of that dog's quality or freedom from health problems. It simply is a registry of that dog's ancestry. AKC has improved the verification of pedigree with DNA testing and can now catch false registrations more easily.

Sadly, people put more effort into researching a washing machine than they do buying a puppy that could live 15 to 20 years. With the internet, there's really no reason why the pet consumer cannot educate himself on the characteristics found in a responsible, ethical dog breeder. In addition, there are hundreds of rescue groups who would love to place their fostered dogs (or cats) with loving permanent homes.