Pedigree Dogs Exposed airs tonight

[Dolly]

There will be a documentary on the BBC channel tonight (Dec 10th) called Pedigree Dogs Exposed that will be aired at 8:00 pm, (check your listings for different times) that entails the horrible outcomes of inbreeding dogs to seek better conformations. It was aired in Britain and as they say, the Brits were shocked. One example they used was the Caviler’s heads are getting smaller, creating more pressure on their brain.

Happy Channel Surfing

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[muddy dog]

Yes, I remember the disgust when this was shown on the TV in England, although I haven't seen it. I will be watching it tonight. I heard that it was pretty graphic, showing the dogs that had deformities through the intensive breeding. Something that should never be aloud to happen, and we call ourselves animal lovers!!

[edderland]

I watched it online. It was graphic; I agreed with some of the stuff but it was sincerely anti breeder and anti purebred.
Deidre

[HoundLover]

they also had it on youtube. i remember some parts one of them being a cavalier breeder who showed her dogs....one of them had a heart defect and she was breeding it.
thats all i know about it.
Hound

[windywaycavaliers]

I watched it online. It was graphic; I agreed with some of the stuff but it was sincerely anti breeder and anti purebred.
Deidre

I agree. I have seen this show, and it is graphic. Some of it is simple truth and other parts are highly steeped in propaganda.
But the parts about the Cavaliers I can personally attest to. The SM caused from small skull size is true. It is something that is on the rise with this breed, and all we can do if we have a dog who develops it, is to spay or neuter and do what we can for it medical wise. None of mine have ever had SM or any deformities, but I do have a female right now who is living with SM from another breeder. Doing rescue, I see that it is one of the most common diseases that causes a family to surrender a dog because of how expensive it is to treat, and that treatment results are minimal. It is a horrific disease. And it is partially caused by cosmetic breeding, and by doing so without regard to the physiology of dogs--ANY dog, for crying out loud, has to have a proportionate and adequate skull size and brain case or they are going to have problems. It is just common sense,,but some breeders do lack this is seems, and on top of this, the disease can pop up out of the blue with no other dogs in a breeding program having any such problems. When it does, it is time to trace lineage, spay and neuter and do lots of praying (I mean that in a respectful way).
As a breeder, it is always up to us to do the right thing,,and many breeders do not, for many reasons,,,but there's NO excuse for breeding a dog proven of any defect, whether they make a film about it or not. There's lots that goes on in the dog breeding world that I am ashamed of, but then that is the case with some things in life, and all I can do is to do my honest best and try to create a change.

[stewiedog]

POOP!!! I had been thinking of this being on since the Op's earlier this week, or maybe lasy week already. My husband and I started watching a horrible movie (Taken) and playing Rummy. I forgot. I hope they rerun it most of those cable channels do.

If not where canI find the whole thing online?

[blue]

I watched it online. It was graphic; I agreed with some of the stuff but it was sincerely anti breeder and anti purebred.
Deidre

Sorry, it was neither anti-breeder nor anti purebred. It WAS anti bad breeder.

[blue]

As a breeder, it is always up to us to do the right thing,,and many breeders do not, for many reasons,,,but there's NO excuse for breeding a dog proven of any defect, whether they make a film about it or not. There's lots that goes on in the dog breeding world that I am ashamed of, but then that is the case with some things in life, and all I can do is to do my honest best and try to create a change.

Windy, you've almost single-handedly restored my faith in human nature (for today anyway; I'm an incorrigible cynic.) So often rightness depends not upon what's right but rather what side of the fence we live on.

Thanks for your honesty and courage.

[Helly]

The saddest part about all of the problems in purebred dogs gets blamed on inbreeding. If done correctly, inbreeding is no more problematic than outcrossing. It's an extremely usefull tool when used by a responsible breeder who has done their homework and knows what they're aiming for.

The problem is that people (both show breeders and BYB/puppy mills) is the breeding of dogs who simply should not be bred. We pretty much all know the evils of mills and BYB so I'm not going to go into that. The thing that bothers me are the so-called show breeders who refuse to cull unsound animals and start over.

I know show people who have a stud dog (very popular one) that has one of the worst temperaments I've ever seen. Whizzy's breeder just doesn't get it that both his mother and father have the genes that account for his parrot jaw, and both should never again be bred. My dear little Ronda Sue had epilepsy, her son had narcolepsy. But her breeder, to this day, denies that epilepsy or narcolepsy exists in her lines. Folks, it came from somewhere. They didn't catch it from the dog next door.

I could go on and on with examples of bad breeder practices. But y'all know what I'm talking about. The real problem isn't purebred dogs. It's ****** breeding practices done simply for the bucks.

[dogspaw]

As a fellow Cavalier lover and owner, I have to say that not one of the breeders I have known personaly would ever concider breeding a dog that "MIGHT" have a defect that that would be passed on if they knew about it. I realize they are out there, but I have not had the displeasure of meeting them. Every Cavalier breeder I have had the pleasure of knowing has been very involved with health screening and testing, to the tune of donating fortunes to the national trust orginization. So much so that is one of the things that attracted me to the breed in the frist place. This was just another example of irresponsible reporting IMHO. The other side of the story should be told also.

Here is the ACKCSC response to the Today show interview on this subject

http://www.ackcsc.org/

[Jenneversage64]

I watched some and

listened to most while on the computer. It was sad. Even if it isn't as common as they say, it has caused pain and suffering to puppies, and that is just so sinful, for lack of a better word. Sad dogs are victims of greed. Probably happens with horses and cats too. I got the impression it is more common in England. The attitude, win at all cost. Those GSD dogs were real and wobbled in the rear right in the show ring at Crupts show. Spell. Sad, just a dirty sad shame. Thr Ridgeback segment was awful! And the seizure Boxers too.

[blue]

As a fellow Cavalier lover and owner, I have to say that not one of the breeders I have known personaly would ever concider breeding a dog that "MIGHT" have a defect that that would be passed on if they knew about it. I realize they are out there, but I have not had the displeasure of meeting them. Every Cavalier breeder I have had the pleasure of knowing has been very involved with health screening and testing, to the tune of donating fortunes to the national trust orginization. So much so that is one of the things that attracted me to the breed in the frist place. This was just another example of irresponsible reporting IMHO. The other side of the story should be told also.

Here is the ACKCSC response to the Today show interview on this subject

http://www.ackcsc.org/

If you realize they're out there, why was the reporting irresponsible?

The show was not claiming that all CKCS breeders breed poorly. But PART of what they were saying is that some owners of top CKCSs in GB are knowingly passing on these horrible traits.

Did you not see those poor dogs?

Why, oh why (and I'm not just asking you this, dogspaw) do we attempt to polarize every hot issue? Can people not see that when an issue like this is taken on, no one is claiming that everyone is guilty?

The people in the ACKCSC who are holding true to the pledge they have given are to be commended. No one is trying to take anything away from them. And that's wonderful that all the breeders you know are stellar examples. But you don't know every CKCS breeder, and you can't reasonably deny that there are many, here and in G.B., breeding both show and pet "quality" dogs of poor inherited health.

[windywaycavaliers]

As a fellow Cavalier lover and owner, I have to say that not one of the breeders I have known personaly would ever concider breeding a dog that "MIGHT" have a defect that that would be passed on if they knew about it. I realize they are out there, but I have not had the displeasure of meeting them. Every Cavalier breeder I have had the pleasure of knowing has been very involved with health screening and testing, to the tune of donating fortunes to the national trust orginization. So much so that is one of the things that attracted me to the breed in the frist place. This was just another example of irresponsible reporting IMHO. The other side of the story should be told also.

Here is the ACKCSC response to the Today show interview on this subject

http://www.ackcsc.org/

Yes- I should also mention that since the Cavalier is a relatively NEW breed here in the US to have been inducted as well as to still be developing some parent clubs,,we have with this breed, a genuine relatively tight knit group of breeders, show people, rescues and volunteering networks compared to many other breeds. Here in the midwest, our parent clubs deal directly with all of the national rescues and even the shelters have these numbers for direct and immediate contact in the event of a Cavalier coming in to a shelter to be adopted out. At least with this breed here in the US, so far--great effort has been made to keep up with breeder/registering/networking/medical progress, etc.--in the UK- it is a long standing breed and similar in breeding practices to our Shih Tzus, Labradors, etc. Meaning that they are EVERYWHERE. When I went to outside London to meet a breeder there, I could not believe all of the Cavaliers everywhere--and many of them were NOT bred well,,not just not to breed standard by our US AKC standings, but even clear things like knees, bite, fundamental structure, etc. It was scary to see when I was going to meet a breeder and possibly have a dog flown over after having come all that way! ~Very different over there.

[4Sibes]

I don't get the BBC, but watched it online this afternoon.

I had no issues with the reporting, and while a wee bit sensationalized (w/ some of the dramatic music selections) I thought the show was very well done overall.

I think it simply paints bad practices...in a realistic and bad light, as they should be.

Remember...the show's purpose was to "Expose", and sometimes one of the best ways to enact change on a bad "product"...is to educate the consumer, to the point that they become more discriminating and demand better.
It's a real shame that it got to this point, but it is what it is, and if even a few influential breeders begin to make an effort...the tides may start to change.

I tell my co-owner all the time...how disheartening it must be for people like her that have set the bar so high for themselves...and along comes someone like our local Sibe-mill pumping out puppies at the rate of 50 to 75 a year. Hard not to feel like you are doing anything more than spitting on a house fire...but she perserveres, and I applaud that.

[epilady]

We are testing

Our dogs for Lens Luxation which is the main health concern in Sealyham Terriers. The gene has been identified and everyone is doing the DNA test, myself included. You can go to the American Sealyham Terrier Club site to see whats being done.
The problem with my breed is the very small gene pool. What do we do? Throw out the really good dogs that are carriers? There are many beautiful dogs that are carriers but few clear. Its going to take a few generations of careful breeding to rid this wonderful breed of this . Prior to isolating the gene and being able to test we could only look for affected dogs back in pedigrees. This condition does not show up until a dog is 8 or 9 years old, well after being bred. We imported a dog many years ago that was a gorgeous champion and after being bred many times had passed on this gene. Now we have to fix it.
We have also had a problem with Demodex in the past. With careful breeding, I personally ,have not had a puppy with it in several generations.
What it all comes down to is the puppy buyer doing his/her research. We all know how many do that.