Can the bulldog be saved?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/magaz ... ed.html?hp |
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| Well Bulldogs are certainly not the healthiest of breeds; that has long been known and accepted. And there are certain lines which are more problematic than others. I remember seeing advertisements for a number of years from one U.S. east coast breeder who was breeding for size alone and bragged that all his males were in excess of 150 pounds when mature! Good grief!! But don’t you think that this article is just a bit on the biased side? In fact I see an AR, if not outright PETA, agenda underlying this entire article. It plays to emotionalism more than fact and only presents negative commentary as “facts” and summarily discounts any positive comments from pro-bulldog sources. Look hard enough and you can find a vet who will crucify any breed you want to disparage. Many dislike our Bobtails. If we allow articles like this to be presented as de-facto truths without challenge and hence sway public opinion where will it stop? Push faced dogs are actually one of PETA’s first targets receiving just as much attention as docking and cropping. And the article has a number of internal inconsistencies as well as tries to present certain widespread conditions as exclusive to Bulldogs. For instance it tries to imply that 6 years is a uniquely short lifespan. Not so, Irish Wolfhounds are often called the “heartbreak breed” because their average life span is in the order of - you guessed it – six years. Many Great Danes die at the age of 6-7 and a large number of the similarly larger sized breeds have life spans in the same range. Health and breeding improvement of any breed is primarily the responsibility of the national breed clubs. Those are the people who have the most experience with the breed and should be regulating themselves and providing for the dog’s needs before breeder’s financial benefits. It is the breed clubs who should be running judge education seminars so as to help judges properly evaluate the breed and not award wins to “extremist” examples based on their arbitrary “preferences”. Unfortunately many breed clubs in many countries become beset by political intrigue and “loose their way” with the breed’s health and continuity becoming just about their last concern. It is too often the case of the old story of “money and power….”. When a particular attribute begins to win a disproportionate amount of shows then breeders will “pile on”. And who can blame them if years of hard work and otherwise equally good if not superior dogs are not being recognized and rewarded. In the Bobtail world “whiteheads” became very successful in the early to mid 80s and that led to many breeders breeding for that characteristic. As a result whiteheads are now very common, perhaps even close to the same population as colour marked heads rather than the rarity they were in the 60s and 70s. Michele and I love colour marked heads, especially asymmetrically marked heads but all three of our Bobtails are essentially whiteheads. That was what was available from reputable breeders at the time we got Martin Zephram and Virgil Tiberius. And Dawn Eline was the natural result of breeding Virgil to an essentially whiteheaded bitch. I can’t honestly recall a full out whitehead from my days of going to dog shows as a teenager. No doubt they existed but they were not common. YMMV Yes Bulldog’s have a disproportionately large number of problems but breeder integrity in adhering to their breeding plans and judging to the standard instead of personal preferences would go a long way to correcting the most extreme maladies. A responsive and responsible breed club could, over a half dozen generations significantly improve on the worst of their health problems. |
| Tangential to this, I have seen the British documentary "Pedigree Dogs Exposed", and one thing I did not like at all in that documentary, and see echoed in this article is the lumping of all "Pedigree/Purebred" dogs together. There is huge variance in the world of purebred breeding, especially if you're considering all breeds. Two things which I do sympathize with--from the documentary and the article--of course poor breeding practices which are well known on this forum and the idea of breeding for extremes particularly in toy breeds and other gimmicky breeds like bulldogs. Combine those two together and you are ending up with some monstrously unhealthy dogs. This was also timely because I saw an adorable 2 year old bulldog at Bruce Pit this past weekend, same age as Mady and she was very interested in trying to play with Mady, as much as a bulldog is physically capable. I took some pictures and will upload them. The owner did make a point of saying "OMG the vet bills!" with this 2 year old dog. I've always had a soft spot for bulldogs, but I would be scared to ever get one. |
Baba wrote: I've always had a soft spot for bulldogs, but I would be scared to ever get one. Ummm... Don't you have another Bobtail in your near future  Not to mention a Komondor or Bergamasco in the just slightly longer term future - no I haven't forgotten that thread so don't try to weasel out of that one bud.  But you are right, English Bulldogs are pretty neat.  We had one living about 4 houses away when I was in my late teens and he was always cause for a smile when we saw him. And when we had time to stop and greet he was always totally endearing  Damn too many breeds to love and not enough house or money to make it happen  (hope Michele is not reading this   ) |
And once again, Carl is a bad influence on David and I will hold him completely responsible if David comes home with 4 extra dogs one day!  |
Mady wrote: And once again, Carl is a bad influence on David and I will hold him completely responsible if David comes home with 4 extra dogs one day! Should I be quaking in my boot here? Sitting in fear and trepidation of some future calamity   ?I think Kim has just given David a "blank cheque" to get whatever dogs he wants whenever he wants.  I know that if Michele said she was going to hold somebody else responsible for my choices I'd definetely be indulging myself. So...Go David |
Carl Lindon wrote: Baba wrote: I've always had a soft spot for bulldogs, but I would be scared to ever get one. Ummm... Don't you have another Bobtail in your near future Not to mention a Komondor or Bergamasco in the just slightly longer term future - no I haven't forgotten that thread so don't try to weasel out of that one bud. But you are right, English Bulldogs are pretty neat. We had one living about 4 houses away when I was in my late teens and he was always cause for a smile when we saw him. And when we had time to stop and greet he was always totally endearing Damn too many breeds to love and not enough house or money to make it happen (hope Michele is not reading this )Carl, I'm with you 100% on this! From the home of the OES, bassets, rat terrier, lab, coonhound...and used to be min pins too Thank goodness I get my "fix" from teaching classes twice a week - I get to hug and enjoy LOTS of breeds of dogs!!  |
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