Quote:
Maybe it's time to consider that studbooks & reg papers are not only a crutch, but also that they're immensely damaging to purebreds. Blasphemy, I know...
.
I have to say, i don't disagree! my "problem" becomes purely that the highest level of the sport i love the most, the best of the best, all happen in the AKC. that being said, i have no problem registering my own dogs as mixed breeds, but i do NOT want to necessarily spay/neuter them. that ends up being my conundrum - HOWEVER, in my other breed (border collies), we DO have an open stud book. and this discussion is precisely why some of the border collie people have taken it to such an extreme to AVOID AKC recognition. the historical border collie was not a dog that LOOKED in any particular way, but in fact WORKED in a particular way. it's why there's no such thing as a wrong color in a border collie. and along that vein, i can 100% agree. i love my AKC registered border collie with multiple CH's in his pedigree - but he also has OTCH, MACH, HC and straight up herding dogs in there as well. and in fact, border collies remain overall LESS inbred than the average dog (the breed averages about 10%?) and chill has a COI of 2%. though i also have to say the breed is not without its own issues - since heavy use of particular studs led us to CEA, as i mentioned above. and the border collie stud books in other countries show clear evidence of other breeds being mixed in. the differences were regional, not "breed".
Quote:
Perhaps my ignorance leads me to believe that I don't see the point in outcrossing.
1)Does it not create a mutt?
at first, yup, it will. the first generation or two will be variable, but breeding back for type with careful outcrossing (to MULTIPLE breeds, i do not think the salvation lies in ONE bred) we can redefine breed type.
Quote:
2)Won't it just take health issues and multiply them because now you have the issues of 2 breeds?
not necessarily. if the dogs do not contain the gene for DCM (as if there is only one) then it will immediately become less fixed in the population - and with careful breeding and still maintaining health screens, we can decrease the frequency of DCM in the breed. vWD does occur in some other breeds but with a test that can be avoided and the genetics behind cancer are even more poorly understood than DCM but many other health problems in other breeds have known genetic tests as well. the institute of canine biology has lots of info on this if you browse the site.
Quote:
3)What breed out there is 100% healthy and compliments the Doberman? I don't see much longevity anywhere. I also don't know if I believe the health is going downhill or are the stats just being reported more often now? 25 years ago we put our Doberman down before she succumbed to DCM (well we just knew she had an enlarged heart) and she had thyroid issues. We didn't report it, we did what most farmers did and just buried her. What I do think is happening is far too many breeders breed more for the ring and not for health. One thing that I think is funny is that multiple breeders have told me I'll have a very tough time finding a stud for Gretchen. She had her CGCA at 9mo., She had her RE at less than 18mo. and she will be championed AND most importantly half her genes are new to the pool. But why breed to her when they can keep inbreeding/line breeding within their own lines. I know I'll have to go through this, I'm mentally prepared (can you prepare yourself emotionally?) but my mind is kind of blown by it.
I'm not trying to be snarky I guess I just don't understand.
i don't believe the process will be just ONE breed. there is no 100% healthy breed that is perfect - but certainly MOST breeds do not contain a health problem that strikes (at a conservative estimate) 50% of the breed. plain and simple. there are MANY breeds that have no known congenital cardiac diseases, and some of them would be a good start. there are many breeds that have very few congenital or inherited diseases, and they would be a good start.
you don't see longevity? then you should get out more. border collies routinely live into the teens - and SHOW and COMPETE into the teens - its why i got one. multiple other breeds its RARE to lose a dog under 10 - in our breed we almost expect it. we consider ourselves lucky to hit 10. it's a sickness.
i guess i just don't understand why you seem to think that it's not a problem. the informal states that were gathered in the late 90's via informal survey is where we got the stats that the average lifespan was under 10. the studies out of europe were done from cardiologist records (admittedly a slight bias in who is sampled there, you have to care enough to get your dog checked). we think its normal to have dogs drop dead at 1? 2? 3? 4? this is part of the problem - we have become so immune to the horrible health our breed has, we start to make excuses for why it's NOT a problem, or convince ourselves to once again bury our heads in the sand and say "nope, not MY line, not MY dogs!" or "that's someone ELSES issue".
as a vet, as an owner of other breeds besides dobermans - i can tell you, it's NOT something that is worried about in MOST other breeds.
it's there, it's everywhere.
Quote:
What is meant by open the stud book?
well, technically the open studbook rules depend on the kennel club. for most of them just allow dogs from not AKC lines for instance, or without known parentage, to be registered as such breed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breed_registry Open Registration - American Kennel Club http://www.kennelliitto.fi/sites/def...ohje_eng_0.pdf Quote:
The initial outcross would be considered crossbreeds. However, they would be crossed back onto Dobermans, as would be their puppies. The same thing occurs in Quarter Horses, with Appendix Registration. You can Appendix Register a TB/QH cross, and then breed them to a fully registered QH, and the resulting foal would be considered a QH. There are cat breeds that still allow outcrossing to other specific breeds, like the Scottish Fold allows outcrossing to British Shorthairs.
Furthermore, if your appendix QH is found to be of good quality, and works well and has merit, it can be forwarded into full registration!!! imagine that, registration based on merit and ability to work
Quote:
My ONLY concern about outcrossing is temperament lineup. In a working breed that struggles to get its true working temperament today, how would outcrossing affect that? If they are bred to "better" working dogs, then sure, but I would want a dog that can ACT like a doberman more than I care about show ribbons.
I'm also hesitant to say outcrossing will definitely solve the DCM puzzle, as I have heard repeated by many vets that DCM and CHF are the #1 cardio killers in all breeds, and that nearly every instance of a dog that just up and died was a suspected DCM case. I looked into it once not for my dog but for a friend's borzoi who, like many people have experienced with their dobes, was playing in the yard one minute and then stumbled, fell down, and died where he hit the ground with nothing showing on the autopsy except "I dunno maybe he had an arrythmia".
as a vet, i can tell you that is NOT true. OLD DOGS GETTING CARDIAC DISEASE IS NOT THE SAME AS DOBERMANS DYING AT FOUR YEARS OLD. other breeds simply do not drop dead at the rate dobermans do. in fact, dogs in general do not drop dead at the rate dobermans do, period.