Did you watch Pedigree dogs exposed UK?

Question

Did anyone else watch this, i thought it was brilliant, what did you think?

It was about pedigree dogs and how inbred they are, how unhealthy some breeds are and how the KC is not doing anything about it.

Answer 1

Sigh.

How many more times?

http://www.doggenetichealth.org/

Answer 2

I will only answer your question if you admit you didnt look at the message board and see the same question 15 questions below yours...DEAL?

Answer 3

Yes i watched it and found it very insightfull.

I think that more of the blame rests with  breeders who are inbreeding there dogs and more conserned with wining shows than there dogs health or more conserned with making money.

I think the KC could improve by stateing things like; all breeders must do the health tests befor breeding the dog, and that at the shows the dogs handler must produce a clear health test before the dog can be judged, not regestering close breeding (inbreedings), and advise all breeers not to cull pups unless they have a health problem that cant be cured and that will cause the dog to suffer.

But even if they did make changes like this, the breeders that are more conserned with wining shows than there dogs health can just stop useing the kennel club and form there own showing groups and the people more conserned about makeing money can just regerster there dogs with another club like the dogs lovers reg instead, or just not reg them at all.

Also i think that some breeds need to be bred back to how they use to look, i mean take the bulldog where most cant even give birth due to the big heads and narrow pevelis.

After all the KC is realy just another dog club so the way forward would be something like a breeding legerstration makeing thinks like inbreding, culling healthy pups, not health testing ect illegal.

Answer 4

Surely it is up to the judges at the Dog Shows to ensure that the original attributes of each breed are maintained. The only way that trends develop where certain attributes of a breed are overly exaggerated which then causes health issues, such as in English Bulldogs, Pugs, Pekingese, etc is if judges are putting up dogs with these exaggerations. Unscrupulous breeders want to win at all costs and will always try to breed to what the judges are putting through, rather than to the actual breed standard.

I don't think that buck stops there though cos it is the National Kennel Club who trains the judges and "licences" them to judge. Surely then it is up to them to ensure that the dogs that are being awarded are good specimens of the breed, and if a judge is putting up dogs with exaggerated characteristics they should be retrained or struck off the judge's list.

It is all about accountability - not just of the breeders, but of the judges and the Kennel Clubs. If problems exist in the Show Dog wold, and it does seem that they do, then they need to be addressed at all levels. You can't just blame the breeders.

I am speaking as someone who has shown Belgian Shepherd Groenendaels is the past and I have seen some judges that have awarded what I considered to be very hypertypical specimens of the breed.

In addition, I understand that Dog Shows are conformation shows, i.e. all about structure, but why can't temperament and function testing be introduced to show that a dog also meets the standard re. their temperament and are able to perform the tasks they were originally bred for.

Answer 5

I really really wanted to watch it but the stpuid tv is broke!! >:(

Answer 6

I just watched this program and was just about to post a question on it.

That program really opened up my mind, I just brought a £650 pomeranian, that is "show quality" and I now feel sorry for him, because what if he gets inherited diseases, and dies young and in pain? It makes me feel like crying at the thought.

I hopefully never again am going to buy a pedigree dog, because I wouldn't like to support something like that.  What I do support is people that do not inbred their dogs, and who do test them.

I couldn't stop shivering through that program, it really has changed me XD

Wow this is the longest answer I have written XD

Answer 7

Yes, upsetting....I don't look kindly on the kennel club brigade... always prefered the mongrol....so many people are simply S****y....to put it mildly.

Answer 8

I must be missing the point. What was so brilliant about seeing animals in so much pain ?????????

Brilliant might be the wrong word.

Answer 9

Yep - I just posted a question related to this and have said EXACTLY how I feel about this cruel and outdated pastime carried out by middle class, narrow minded and sick people.

By the way - I have a RIDGELESS Rhodesian Ridgeback. She copes very well without her ridge funnily enough AND she is healthy.

Thank goodness for this programme - if it just makes ONE breeder seriously think about what they're doing, then it's done some good.

I can't believe people in this day and age STILL allow their dogs to live in agony all their lives and actually pass it on to the next generation, and the next - all because a pompous, sad, sick person who calls themself a 'judge' has decreed that this dog 'looks' right.  They don't care that it could never do the job it was bred to do, or that it can hardly breathe or that it has fits every day or that it's skull is too big for it's brain so the slightest movement or touch causes swathes of pain.

Thanks BBC  

Answer 10

yup! it is pretty nasty. i really don't approve of inbreeding. if humans shouldn't do it[incest-ism] whats the difference in dogs? its pretty gross if you ask me...

Answer 11

yeah and it was horrible

poor dogs

im glad they showed it though

it exposed that they arnt cute and fluffy with lifestyles to match

Answer 12

I know, i was so unaware that the caliver was so bad and can't believe even though it had a problem they still breed it so the dieseese gets passed down and never ending..

I personally think if a dog has a problem they should not be bred..

Answer 13

Same answer I gave here:  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 14

I was over the moon to see this issue finerly being dealt with.

I am a breeder of rottweilers and have faced no end of critusium from kennel club breeders, due to my refusal to register my dogs with the kennel club, after being told, that i was giving other breeders a bad name by having my dogs vigarously health checked.

and because i refused to allow my dog to be used as stud by a breeder who refused to have her ***** health tested.

now i do not kc register my dogs, they are bred to be family pets not show dogs, and to have the best quality of life possible, which means they need to be healthy.

i would never have any of my dogs put down un-nessisarily.

and am pleased to say after many years of waiting and making sure my dogs were healthy and fit, and ready to have pups, my first litter is due in a matter of weeks.

i think everyone needs to pull back from the kennel club, and work towards making there dogs healthy and happy.

i am pleased to say i have had a lot of support from my vets as to the lengths i have taken in health checking my dogs and not only that but in taking on and rebilitating my ***** who was badly abused by a privouse breeder.

she was bred from far to young, and the vet believes she was chained tightly so she could not object to being mounted.

as well as health checked they have been dna tested, as well, yes it cost a lot of money but for my dogs happiness it is more than worth it, people should pull away from the kennel club and work to improve breed health.

i'm glad this program pointed out some of the issues, and i hope now with so many people realizing what really going on, things will be made to change.

as for those breeders who are still not health checking there dogs, and those i have come across who have had dogs put down just because they dont meet breed standards or have failed to produce litters, you deserve to be behind bars.

and if the woman who ill treated my ***** lady is out there, you know who you are and i know you use this sight, she is now in a loving home, where she is a pet first and formost, and you deserved to get more than the fine you recieved for the cruelty you caused her.

please i beg all breeders, love your dogs, and do what is best for them, stop thinking about your wallats, and think about that your beautiful dogs, who spend there life trying to please you, they deserve so much better.

i am only a small breeder and cant make a diffrence alone, i hope this programes makes others step up and take a stand.

because kennel club cruelty is out of hand.

the programe had me in tears from start to finish. well done to the bbc for showing the truth, something i have been trying to get a cross for sometime now.

and i hope you do take crufts of tv, it does not deserve the good publicity.

Answer 15

I suppose you have heard of "buyer beware".  It is true.  Never buy anything without doing your homework.  There is some in breeding that is acceptable, but not without the knowledge of the faults and positive points of not only the breed, but also of that line.

Yes, there are many people who only breed pets, and only breed for color.  It is the consumers job to do the research on the breed itself and to ask the necessary questions.  It is also of importance to go to the breeders kennel/house and see what you think.  Look at conformation, housing, food, general care, etc.  Then make up your mind.

If the public discontinues buying from breeders who do not look at the whole dog (conformation,temperament, health issues in the line, coat, etc)and they quite buying from pet stores, then the number of people

breeding who are not informed or do not care about the "whole dog"

will go out of business.  The consumer must be informed, or they will get taken.  

No dog can be guaranteed to be a "show dog", a show prospect or breeder quality dog possibly.  The possibility is greater if the breeding is kept 2 in and 1 out, or if the breeder has done their homework and has watched several litters grow and the growth is consistent and documented with pics, etc then it is possible to assure a "show prospect".  Most people have no idea what that really is, they just believe the breeder, which may be a big mistake.  The informed a person is, the more likely to get a good animal no matter what breed.

Answer 16

sickend me.i have 2 ridgebacks,love them lots.people who abuse these wonderfull animals should be shot.

Answer 17

same answer on the other posts;

I think it's disgusting that breeders are calling it AR bulls***t. Instead of name calling the people who genuinely care about dogs, stop lining your pockets and rubbing each others egos, own up and make a change to improve the health of our pedigree dogs instead of destroying them.

Answer 18

No thought for the poor dogs, it's a business. I have encountered many of these dogs on show grounds all the breeders/owners think of is money. A dog stands like it stands and doesn't need it's legs pulling out to achieve the so called clubs standing position.

Hope something comes of the programme if only for the poor dogs.

Answer 19

Didn't watch it but I'm not surprised at all the inbreeding. It's all down to the unscrupulous breeders conning the people who buy pedigree dogs and cats for that matter. It is far better if you get a mongrel or a common moggy, they are less prone to illness and disease

Answer 20

I know there are many questions about this programme on YA at the moment but I chose your one to answer.

I saw this programme and got really angry about it.  I have read about dog "inbreeding" and doggie designer breeding and it really makes my blood boil.  How dare those breeders say that they were breeding the perfect Bassett Hound, English Bull Terrier and English Bulldog when they look so much different to only 50 years ago!!

I admired the lady who took her case to the House of Lords re the King Charles Spaniels ... those stupid cows who called themselves breeders didn't even have the audacity to speak to the producer of the programme.

The English Bulldogs they were showing in the show ring looked so deformed that I really wept!  The German Shepherds couldn't walk properly and the English Bull terriers heads were so deformed ....

As for the statement about culling Ridgebacks cos they didn't have a "ridgeback" ... Those breeders should be culled themselves.

And, before anyone says anything, I am the owner of two perfect Golden Retrievers.

Is there any way they can "outbreed" these traits in these poor dogs?

I know the BBC can shock but this has been in the news for some time now - just so that "dog lovers" like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears can carry their dogs in their shrinking handbags!!!

There, I have said it now. Got it off my chest!!

Answer 21

it was ok

Answer 22

Yes I bore witness to this. Loveless crowd of monsters who should be sterilized........The Kennel Club and anyone who reveres it's status.