Oh - I hope he'll be OK.  I was a-feared you were going to say this.  I'm sorry about your beardie.

>he lies like a frog on the cool paving stones with his rear legs wide apart

Oh dear. :( So did my M-i-L's crossbreed who had very bad HD. :(

I am going to get my boy hip scored before he mates again.  If it is high - more than 7 - I definitely would not breed from him.
Now that's what I call irresponsible breeding, he's already been used!!

Clearly your vet was a prat!  How can you say that ALL of any breed is anything?  It would be like me saying ALL huskies and ALL mals have high hip scores - I'm sure they don't.

And I agree with you about Beardies - they are delightful dogs.  I'll tell you a funny story about a Beardie.  They was one who lived across the field, and who fell in love with our boy.  The feeling was very definitely reciprocated.  Whenever one or the other could stage a break out, they would be found - first one on top, then they would change positions.  I sometimes have serious doubts about my boy's sexual orientation, although he did sire 9 pups!

No he wasn't a prat he had been bitten by the only two beardies(not mine)he had ever met so in his experience all beardies were nasty

& about the bloodlines in GSDs from Horand onwards that have wolf blood introduced ?

Hair splitter ? there is a lot of difference between a male with two testicles one of which hasn't descended & a true monochid dog that only has one testicle altogether

Hang on here - I was saying hair splitter over the message someone had posted about inbreeding in humans, not your point about the GSD's!  I think I should have joined my hubby at the pub!  I'm getting confused!

He is a prat - to judge ALL beardies by two nasty happenings.

You condemn a breed because of one occurance

No I don't.  When did I say that?  I have come to my conclusions over many years.  I can quote you, which will bore you to death, every dog (pedigree) I have ever had and all the costly trips to the vet etc.  And details of all the other dogs (pedigress) I can remember with a variety of problems.

As a sensible human being with half a brain, I came to a logical decision.  That I was never going to have a pedigree dog ever again - unless under extreme duress, such as in a cruelty case.

I must have been extremely lucky with my pedigrees then.  Having had 7 very healthy ones so far in two different breeds, only 3 of which are younger than your dog.

>When humans interbreed, we get big problems.

Erm ... humans don't interbreed, because that would be breeding with another species. We tend to stick with other humans. :)

Hair splitter!  You know what I Mean!

I am leaving this thread now, the poster obviously is making claims that she can't back up, mainly against Malamutes and Siberian Huskys , again....that she obviously knows nothing about :)

Sure do! You mean to wind people up! Fair dos - back under your bridge now!

Is it halfterm already? ;)

:D :D

For some strange reason, I can no longer post a reply on another part of this board in response to your extraordinary statement that "I've been sussed".  I must be being very thick, but I don't understand what you mean.

Sussed about what?  I said to Tiger Lily that I wouldn't let her have a photo because my boy is very recognisable.  What's that got to do with being sussed?  Do tell!

> I'm not making unsubstantiated claims at all.  I am repeating what my vet told me.

Then I'm afraid your vets needs to check their information - they can obtain the results directly from the KC. They will then be able to give their clients accurate information.

> If there are only 3 other breeds with a hip score in single figures, that is precisely proving my point - that most if not all breeds of dogs in the country are interbred.

This is not what I said at all - I stated that there were only three breeds with a BMS lower than 7. Not that there are only four breeds with scores in single figures.

> Sibes DO have a big problem as a breed with dysplasia.

So explain how, with over 2,000 dogs scored and a BMS of 7 they have a big problem with HD? Sibes actually have the lowest score of any breed that has had over 100 dogs scored. Can I ask where you are getting your information from?

As the breed mean score for sibes is 7 and based on the US OFA ratings a dog scoring in the UK up to 18 would have normal hips (Exc. Good and Fair) then I can't see where the Sibes have a hip problem????

My Norwegian Elkhounds happily live into double figures.  My 10 1/2 year old barely showing any sign of age, and her 13 1/2 year old mother still averaging 2 to 4 mile walks.  Her mother died in September aged nearly 15 1/2 and was still going for short walks to the day she died.  Her mother and Grandmother I know lived to over 15 also.  A number of veterans in theri teens are seen regularly at our club shows.  They average 14 in hip status, but have very few scoring in the dysplastic ranges.  Happily they are a pretty healthy breed.

We have had occurences of hereditary disease, but thanks to responsible breeding practices and health screening the incidence is tiny.  Wild animals also carry deletorious genes and in a domestic environment manyof these would be perpetuated as they woudl be insufficient to cause an early death in a domestic situation as opposed to a wild one.  Many wild animal populations are very inbred.  Some domestic ones like the Park cattle are also, but becuse they ahve lived wild the natural selection has ensured their fitness.  As has ben sasid inbreeding itself does not create a condiiton it just amplifies it if already present in the gene pool.  there is of course also mutation which has brought about most of the canine characteristics.