The white dog has been in the population since before the beginning of the German Shepherd Dog; that is, the color variety has existed since before recognition as a distinct breed. When the GSD began to be recorded (registered, identified by name and number) and an association formed for that purpose a decade before 1900, there were various “styles” or types used by sheep herders and other owners. There were heavy-bodied dogs with hanging ears similar to those of the Pyrenean flock guardian...

Before we get into the meat of the matter, let’s review the OFA-type definitions of canine hip dysplasia, referred to here as HD.

  It has been said that there are only two colors in dogs, at least in their coats. This is as true as saying there are only three primary colors in pigments for inks, paints, etc., and that most others are blends of those three. Even truer, for eumelanin (dark or black pigment) and phaeomelanin (yellow pigment) are the only chemically differentiated forms of melanin, the coat’s color substance. The various shades of brown, tan, red, and cream depend on the concentration of phaeomelanin in the hair shafts, the shape of the crystals, and other factors. Certain genes called modifiers can act on the major ones to cause the black to look blue or chocolate. White is not technically a color, but the absence of pigment...

Years ago, in the age of print media, there was a situation in the German Shepherd Dog Club of America in which people were striving in vain to speak out about the GSD Breed Standard. In many cases, members were not allowed to express their opposing opinions on the breed Standard in the GSD Review, the official journal of the GSD Club of America. Those who ran the club also ran the magazine, and their editor was on a tighht leash, although how much she actively sympathized with the power structure’s proclamations was anyone’s guess. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist (and I actually was one for a while) to see the obvious slant the officers of the GSDCA had on the subject. I maintained that the members had the right to...

As the author of "Canine Hip Dysplasia", and an international lecturer on orthopedic disorders, as well as a dog show judge, I am frequently asked to comment on similarities and differences in the procedures used and information obtained when radiographs are taken for OFA and other leg-extended positions as compared to the PennHIP evaluation, which you will see is an improved diagnostic technique.

Breeders’ responses to early puppy deaths vary. Some expend a great deal of effort, while others “let nature take its course” and stoically hope the next breeding will be more successful. Many have discovered that neonatal puppy mortality is preventable or call be reduced through scrupulous attention to prenatal and postnatal care. These breeders, who in the past may have accepted 20 to 25 percent mortality before weaning, have learned that such losses can be reduced dramatically by simple changes in management, including veterinary checkups.

The game is the same (go to ground, in the quarry’s lair, and flush or drag him out), but the “game” (in the sense of what species is being hunted) will vary a little in size from the small rats to the large otters. Despite a miniscule percentage of terriers ever likely to be asked to enter a burrow after such prey or pest, the purists in the world of dog fanciers want the breed to remain true to its original purpose.

At least in the German Shepherd world, many have been blaming the fact that so many of our bitches were “coming up empty” on the known use of anabolic steroids given to many of the top show dogs in an attempt to boost their chances of being placed in the very highest positions at the annual national specialty, or even the preliminary competitions where success is considered in making judging decisions at the final big show.

Hip dysplasia is not common in wild animals because of the continuous processes of natural selection and survival of the fittest. In an environment where society removes or inhibits these means of selection, the host of ills of which HD is but one example is denied full effect and allows the least fit to survive and breed as well, and in some instances makes it easier. The hunter bags the biggest game, we cut the best trees down, and so forth.