Crufts viewers criticise 'horrific breeding' of dog voted best German Shepherd

Daily Mail ^ | March 14, 2016 | Daily Mail

[Gennie]

A row has broken out over a German Shepherd bitch who won best of breed at Crufts - after viewers accused the breeder of animal cruelty.

Three-year-old Cruaghaire Catoria was judged to be the best example of her breed at the world-famous dog show on Saturday night.

But the dog was said by some viewers to be 'deformed', with an abnormally sloped back and a painful-looking out-of-step gait.

[Gennie]

I breed German Shepherds, but my dogs are the larger, straight-backed style...this dog is horrific looking but is an example of what some of the show dogs look, not just in the UK but Germany and even in America.

[TexasFreeper2009]

overall health should be a criteria they are judged by.

[silverleaf]

I have one of these awkward gaited slope backed shepherds and I am glad to see that there may be a growing movement to change the breed standard

[Varda]

Except that conformation has nothing to do with health. I’m not a fan of the look but the dog could be extremely healthy. In the British animal rights activists routinely make accusations like this and the press obliges them with full coverage.

[Varda]

“In the British”
I mean in England activists......

[Farmer Dean]

German Shepherds were always intended to be a working breed.If a dog can’t chase cattle or herd sheep all day long,then somethings wrong with it.

[Gennie]

That’s kind of an oxymoron that the conformation has nothing to do with health...at least as far as long term, though you’re probably technically correct that this dog is “healthy” right now since I think they are still required to have hips/elbows screened before breeding. Just like someone obese could be technically “healthy”, they also are at greater risk for certain things in the future.

[Tupelo]

German Shepherd is just another in a long line of breed that have been ruined inbreeding by the Gog Show Purist. In most cases , the first thing lost was intelligence, then deformities start showing up as “Normal” or “Standard”. Hip dysplasia is just the first that comes to mind.
The first breed I became aware of this happening to was the Collie. Back in my youth a collie was a beautiful, intelligent working dog. Now it is not much more than a ornament.
To me it sad what the has and is happening to these breeds and others.

[nuconvert]

Based upon that video, neither of those dogs would have been in the running at Westminster.

[TexasFreeper2009]

I thought it said the animal could barely walk properly?

[Gennie]

Here are two videos to judge for yourself I guess:
https://youtu.be/QBq6gM0sI7A
https://youtu.be/EnE8EkevHnc

[lysie]

later.

[Varda]

You’re talking about including soundness in a term like health. Health is about dieases. As you say, there are tests and certifications for some health issues (hips, elbows, etc.) Some of the worst breeds for these dieases have very moderate conformation (Labs, Goldens etc.)

Soundness is about bio-mechanical competance. Bad conformation will break down over time given normal stress. I would call the dog in the picture a dog with bad conformation. If the owner never does anything stressful with the dog (most pet owners), it can live a full normal life.

[Varda]

I agree completely. That idea should have been first and formost in the mind of the breed judge. The judge failed.

[Varda]

German Shepherds with bad conformation don’t walk correctly. I would bet that dog weaves when it walks. It’s ugly and unsound but it’s not a health issue.

[Gennie]

See, that's just the thing...I'm not sure I believe that even by doing nothing with the dog they would live a "full, normal" life because their bodies possibly break down sooner than a dog would otherwise. My vet agrees. Playing ball outside or going for walks certainly isn't overly stressful, though I agree that most pet owners aren't planning on working their dog hard.

That's not to say a dog that has, as you say, moderate conformation is automatically going to be healthy...since you mentioned diseases such as hip dysplasia in Goldens, Labs, etc. which is why health testing still needs to be done. However, there is no wild canine that has the structure of this dog, and I believe there is a reason for this.

[T-Bird45]

OMG - both of the dogs in the ring video could not perform as befits their “Working Dog” category description. The “winner” will now spread poor conformance through further breeding. Sad in so many ways.

[TexasFreeper2009]

I think if a animal is so deformed it cant walk correctly, or inbreeding has led to it having massive health issues. That should be disqualifying. The point shouldn't be just to breed to a look no matter the cost, health should be a major factor. A breed of animal that looks pretty but is prone to blindness for instance, should be disqualified, and that propensity for blindness should be bred out of the bred as aggressively as they breed for long hair or whatever.

[Nifster]

I hate that some breeders have gone this way. They took a perfectly magnificent dog and ruined it

Thank you for breeding the original. We need more of them

[Varda]

For most people, full normal is the dog doing moderate family stuff for 12-16 years. Dogs with bad conformation do this all the time. If they had better conformation would they last longer? I kind of doubt it. Most pet owners let their dogs get badly out of shape and over weight. I think that’s vastly more harmful and life shortening. There are so many other things that can go wrong as dogs get older (injuries, chronic dieases) that shortens a dogs life.

You’re right that no wild canine has this conformation but we aren’t talking wild canines. Wild canines have conformation suited to their prey, domestic canines have conformation suited to their purpose.