From: X005CB@tamvm1.tamu.edu (Chris Barnes)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: looking for new dog suggestions
Date: 14 Aug 92 17:06:55 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University

In article <1992Aug13.203230.23914@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>
     srb@atmosmips.Berkeley.EDU (Susan Beutelschies) writes:
 
>|> Not so.  I have a friend, in Philadelphia, PA.  has a lab that has a
>|> total of 2 hunting titles in it's entire pedigree.  He has twice breed
>|> this bitch to a dog with at least 20 titles in the pedigree (including
>|> the sire itself).  They do mix.  VERY FREQUENTLY.  Usually in exactly
>|> that way (ie. the sire has a title, the dam has none).  As long as
>|> the owners of the sire get paid for the stud fee, they don't care.
>|>
>
>Oh, and I thought your complaint was that dogs would get bred WITHOUT
>consideration as to their hunting abilities - so that eventually hunting ability
>gets bred OUT of the breed.  In the case of your friend, he is making sure that
>his bitch's pups DO retain hunting ability - and now you're complaining????
 
And just how do which know which set of genetic tendancies got passed
down?  Since the proportion of great hunting dogs (the only ones that
should be bred) is low even in a litter where BOTH parents have the
genetic makeup to be great hunters, we can rest assured that it's even
less for this guy's litter.  And we can also rest assured that at
least a few of the pups from these litters will also reproduce.  Yea,
you bet I'm complaining!
 
 
>|>
>|> And just why do you think they fell from favor as hunting dogs?  Because
>|> they (as a breed) became worthless for it.  (chicken vs. the egg).
>|>
>
>Why does this bother you?  The alternative is for this breed to die off, right?
>That is, if the are ONLY bred to hunt, and not enought people USE them as
>hunting dogs, so not enought people BUY them, so not enought get BRED,
>pretty soon they're all gone.
 
You are making an invalid assumption - that their aren't enough people
that would use them for their purpose if they could still perform it.
The number of hunters (pick a type) is going up, not down.  Therefore,
the demand for those dogs would also be going up.
 
 
>Someone pointed out recently an article in Life magazine regarding puppy
>mills.   I read the article last night (very upsetting, I might say).  According
>to the article, puppy mills didn't come in to existence until the 60's or 70's
>(I forget which).  Long after the run of Rin Tin Tin.
 
Even Life magazine makes mistakes.  Puppy mills were in (brisk) business
at least as far back as the 1930's (before Rin Tin Tin).
 
 
>Oh by the way, we shouldn't let anybody own a seeing-eye-dog, since there
>is no breed of dog which was origonally bred to do this.  And since it's a full-
>time job, any dog which serves this purpose will obviously be deprived of its
>origonal purpose.
 
Sigh.  How many times do I need to say this?  GSD's (among others)
were bred to be utility dogs.  Acting as a guide dog is a utility.
 
Also, as I have already said (at least privately to other people),
I realize that there are times when a breed may have abilities not
found in other breeds that make it useful for a purpose other than
that for which it was originally intended (Labs and guide dog functions
is an excellent example).  And those dogs certainly should be allowed
to be used for that purpose, BUT NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE BRED (the
Guide Dog Assoc. rep. that bought 2 puppies from my lab's litter
seemed to agree with me).
 
      ----------------------------------------------
Chris Barnes            |
x005cb@tamvm1.tamu.edu  |  Only 20 more days until the start of
(409) 846-3273 (home)   |           hunting season (in Texas)
(409) 845-8454 (work)   |