|
A few years ago I was sitting at the group
ring on a big seven-day circuit. A tall slender, strikingly
attractive woman was sitting to my left. As she intently watched
the group, I wondered who she was. Non-sporting came in and she
remained attentive to the process. After a few minutes she
turned to me, apologized for interrupting and asked if the
Poodles had hair pieces? I said yes, some….. most. She nodded
and said yes, horses wore tail pieces and some had hair braided
into the manes. The light bulb went off. Of course she was a
horsewoman. I asked what events. “Hunter-Jumpers and Gaited.” Do
you show? I thought what a silly question that was as she
replied “U.S. Equestrian Team.” Oh.
We talked as the group was judged and she asked a lot of questions after
having explained that she held a Masters in Veterinary medicine
and was doing a research paper on how man has damaged the horse
through “selective breeding.” I kept my mouth shut and listened
as she explained how breeders had changed the skeletal structure
to the extent that certain bones in the forequarters had become
elongated while others had shortened and that the stress on
jumpers caused a lot of injuries. She said there was a movement
to increase bone size and density but not proportion.
We discussed Tennessee Walkers, in my mind one of the most damaged “show”
breeds of all. So sickle-hocked they can’t walk normally and
when performing, it is not rare to see the rear collapse. The
rider remains mounted, seemingly unconcerned while the horse
struggles to get the rear quarters collected enough to continue.
She asked what I saw in show dogs that had changed to the detriment of
the breeds, noting that there was much more man-made
dissimilarity of size and structure in dogs. We had a
stimulating conversation which included a discussion on tails in
both species; how it changes the configuration of the rear
quarters and spine and why people no longer bred for attributes
that can be created with the slice of a knife.
I asked her to send me a copy of her paper and she smiled, saying it
would be very lengthy and technical. Well of course. She didn’t
think dog owners would read it any more than horse people but
that it was of interest in the scientific community. I
understood.
I feel like a broken record but every judge must understand that what he
or she puts up today will impact the breed tomorrow. Every judge
is responsible and to skirt that issue by placing blame on the
breeders is patently dishonest! If a higher tail set is
consistently awarded, that is what breeders will strive to
produce. If “good angulation” is what wins, then breeders will
ignore a hundred-year old standard. If an exaggerated virtue
catches the judges’ eye, it will be eagerly sought by everyone
and thus will become ingrained and normal. That breed has taken
another step towards becoming a caricature of the canine.
We don’t have to name breeds. You are either thinking of them or have
already quit reading. Nature’s dog is high on leg, short backed,
slightly rounded croup, tail level with spine but capable of
flagging high when communicating. He’s moderately boned, prick
eared, with triangular shaped head and muzzle length adequate to
grasp and hold prey. Legs are moderately angulated, set under
the body, capable of trotting long distances and sprinting in a
gallop fast enough to catch its prey.
Hounds and spitz type have probably changed the least over the last two
centuries. Leave that Group and there are few breeds that
resemble the dingo and Carolina dog (basically unmolested mutts)
or the coyote, wolf, New Guinea “singing dog” and jungle
basenji.
While they may not be the prettiest dogs we know, wild or pariah dogs are
sound, healthy, intelligent, free-whelping, and capable of doing
the “job” for which they were created. They hunt, scavenge,
reproduce, and survive quite successfully.
Could Designer Dogs be man’s instinctual way of reaching out for a more
“natural” and useful companion? Will the more diversified gene
pool allow some of the horrid genetic problems which affect
today’s “high bred” dog to decline? Or are the destructive genes
so intensified in ALL breeds that crossing purebreds will only
introduce new but equally awful genes into the hybridized DD?
Can a bad gene like PRA become endemic in a breed, thus
transferring undiminished into another breed with widespread
heart defects, the result being blind dogs that don’t live long?
Can a breed with an elongated spine transmit that deformity to
one with a normal back but exaggerated angulation, thus
combining two devastating structural abnormalities? I am not a
geneticist, just an observer but my answer is a resounding
“Yes.” If we look around our showrings with the educated eye of
my ringside companion, it is a disturbing sight.
So judges, the burden is where it belongs. On you. You asked for the job.
You hold yourselves out to be experts in canine type, soundness,
and efficiency of movement. You have a huge responsibility to
the domestic dog because the ever widening scope of genetic
abnormalities can and will permeate the species.
The genetic tests with which breeders are currently obsessed serve
limited purpose. They enrich the vets and the labs and they
could alert a breeder who never goes out of their line, but they
will not stop the onslaught of genetic problems even if we leave
environmental issues out of the equation. Judges, start by
re-reading some books on the remaining wild dogs of the world.
Watch the nature features on TV instead of the one we all love,
Funniest Animals…. Our beautiful purebreds stand out but are
becoming funnier and funnier looking to the public.
For 150 years we’ve been proud of overcoming the “drag of the breed” and
just look at what we’ve done to dogs!
Barbara J.
Andrews
Managing Editor
|
