Smooshed faces. Sloped backs. Back legs dragging on the ground. Brains too small for the skull. Eyes bulging and watering. Short legs unfit for exercise. Excess wrinkles and weight. Inability to reproduce without human assistance and intervention.
Though this sounds like a science experiment or science fiction, the descriptions reference serious health problems in various dog breeds. Bulldogs, Pugs, Bostons, Shepherds, Cavaliers, Collies, Chihuahuas, Mastiffs, Shar-peis, Chow-Chows, and many more dogs face numerous health concerns because of poor standards in the show ring, what people find “so cute,” and ‘good’ breeding.
Our love for dogs is killing them
One of my favorite past times growing up was looking through dog breed books and admiring the variety and array of dog breeds. I spent hours reading about the dog breeds, characteristics, temperaments, designed purposes, and studying the build and form of various dogs that creates such uniqueness in these beautiful and amazing animals.
Yet the inadequate standards in the show ring and what is considered healthy and acceptable in dog breeds has changed drastically.
Someone I know shows Heelers and one of the things she said was “they like the dogs heavier in the ring.” What? Seriously? How is extra weight beneficial at all? An overweight Heeler would probably run the risk of being kicked by a bull it was trying to move or not be able to move fast enough to head off a wayward cow. Extra weight is not cute nor is it healthy for the dog.
I was appalled to find out that the dog who won Top Dog in previous years was a Pekingese which had surgery to correct its breathing problems. Meaning this dog could not breathe on its own. And this surgically corrected dog went on to stud many litters of puppies.
Watching the degradation of the many breeds including the German Shepherd Dog is pure insanity. If you haven’t seen one of the most recent GSDs competing in the Herding Group for the 2019 National Dog Show you’ll want to see it. It is an embarrassment to the GSD breed. The dog looks like an arthritic elder with bad hips. The dog’s back legs are dragging on the ground and the back looks like a badly arched bow. This dog probably wouldn’t be able to clear a 10 foot fence with legs like that. And even if he could, how can one say that that dog looks healthy and those legs are desirable?
The quality and functionality of dog breeds has been steadily declining and watching dog shows has now become an absolute joke.
The winner of the 2019 National Dog Show is no better-a short faced heavily panting bulldog who wouldn’t be able to fulfill what the breed was initially bred for without dying from heat exhaustion. The fact that dogs with such health problems are celebrated is shameful.
It has to be said.
Judges are supposed to be encouraging the betterment of breeds, but it seems like dogs are moving backwards not forward.
Breeders are supposed to be breeding for the health, temperament, form, and function of a dog! Reputable and responsible breeders do that. Regardless of what ‘wins Best in Show’.
The fact that judges and breeders let dogs that look like that into the show ring is deplorable.
Dogs should be able to breathe without having surgery, walk without overheating to the point of dying, and jump and run without excess skin or ill-formed joints! Dog shows need to have a workability component and overall health factor as part of determining the winner’s success. For more information about the many health problems created in various breeds check out BBC’s Documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed.
