Any advice for a 1st time GSD owner? General Chat

There is no cut off limit in the UK you can if you so wished breed from a dog/bitch with a 106 hip score(ie the highest score possible)

No matter how beautiful externally a dog is a good breeder would never ever breed from a dog with a score higher that the breed mean

From the BVA site

There is nothing about using dogs up to 36 in the procedure notes which are issued as part of the BVA/KC scheme.

There is as I have written before no reason to use a high scoring dog/bitch in a breeding scheme.

There is an absolutely beautiful Ch bitch who won BOB at Crufts as well as being a top winning puppy, junior & adult, however because her owners & her breeders are responsible & aim to improve the breed overall she hasn't been & never will be bred from because of her hip score. It was I know heartbreaking for her owners, but it is the only responsible thing to do.

I've had two high scoring BCs & even though they were/are both well bred & fit for function in every other way they were/are destined never to be bred from(& all the litter mates from both were low scoring). It is upsetting for me, but I could never forgive myself if one of my dogs produced a dysplasic offspring.

In GSDs it is possible to breed from what are called"Improvers"for HD. These are dogs/bitches who always produce offspring lower who score lower than the bitches/dogs they are bred to . We were lucky our German import was just such a dog & every one of his scored offspring had a score equal to or lower than the dam, they could not have a lower score than him as his score was 0:0=0

Until there is a proven DNA/environs link, the best that responsible breeders can do is eliminate high scoring dogs from the gene pool. This is done in Germany & they have slowly been improving the hip status of their dogs, as have many of the breeders in the UK, who follow the Breed Council Breeders Charter.

Malcolm Willis for many years stated that HD was not purely genetical, yet in has been an "expert"witness in at least one court case that I know of & gave just the opposite opinion that HD is purely genetic. He was appearing for the owners of dogs with clinical HD(the dogs were not physically disabled). I'm glad to say that for once he was on the losing side(much to his disgust)

Hi guys,
i am lucky enough to own 2 kazetis-Molly and Otto.
I also used Axel at stud this year with Molly and produced the best litter i have ever bred and kept a girl (Asha)
Last year i went through a hellish time when epilepsy had been produced in the lines that i was using (same lines that another breeder mentioned on here is still using)
[link removed, please read our Posting Guidelines (6.3) with reference to link dropping]

I retired them all and had to pick myself off the floor and start again.Doug and Karen (Kazeti) have helped me all the way and have been absolutely brilliant.
All pedigrees are thoroughly researched,the care they take is second to none.
Just look at the hipscores they have produced-they must be doing something right !!
The dog you are mentioning is a lararth dog not a kazeti.
It seems unfair to me that you are targeting Kazeti in this way-let their progeny speak for itself.
There is not one Kazeti owner who isnt as proud as punch to own one.
These dogs are healthy and believe me after what i have been through that is the most important thing ever,
Kind regards
Philippa

Sorry but I am not targeting anyone in particular, there is no reason for anyone to use a higher than mean scored dog, there is a huge gene pool for GSDs that are scored below the mean here in the UK let alone in Europe.

My next GSD will be another German import from VPG lines, with way more than 5 generations of health tested dogs behind him. He will be bred for temperament, health & conformation equally-he will not be bred for the colour or type of his coat & he will be bred from parents who are the same. I hope he will be a grey dog, because this along with black are my personal favourite colours in GSDs, however if he isn't grey(he will not be black)it doesn't matter as colour is only secondary to me.

Until there is proof positive one way or the other that HD is/isn't partially/wholly genetic in origin then I would avoid like the plague any puppy with a high scoring dog in the pedigree no matter how far back.

Good luck with your new addition,health is so important.
Temperament and health must always be at the top of our agenda no questions asked.

I have a german girl from Anpo , i am hoping to breed her at the end of next year pending health checks etc .
I have the upmost respect for Karen and Doug @ Kazeti , i got my special girl from them and am sooooooo thankful to them
I would recomend a Kazeti dog to anyone , they are perfect dogs for every purpose .
I have met Otto and Molly and can also say that they are cracking dogs .
Good luck with your search for your new addition , i hope it brings you as much pleasure as i have with mine

Pity there will be no more Anpo GSDs as they have disbanded their kennels on their separation

Ooh piccies of your Kazeti please I didn't realise we had another Kazeti owner on here

I got Lana from Karen and Doug , she's an Anpo girlie that they had there ( long story ) . I have posted a pic of her on critique my dog but it seems to not have had much response :?

Very true , i just hope i can do them credit from continuing breeding from Lana

Hi Philippa
Epilepsy is not just in whites and English dogs certain German lines are also epilepsy producers, and it can lie dormant for several generations. You can breed clear for 5 generations then put two carriers together and produce it in the 6th generation.
Pam

oh yes i know Pam,all peds are checked by researchers for me,i wish all breeders would do it,im not saying that that health problems wont pop up of course but its down to us as breeders to learn and not repeat, not just carry on regardless.
Philippa xx

Epilepsy is a very complex subject as A) it can be a hereditory or non hereditory form & B) it is aparently not just a straight forward yes or no to carrying the gene it is more like a scale of carrier from 0 to 10 & to make matters more complicated so I understand a dog will show clinical signs at about 5 on the scale & a bitch not till 7 on the same scale. Please mote theres not actually a scale but this is the way a specialist explained the complex inheritance pattern to a non scientist like me.

very true Sue,unfortunately with the amount of dogs diagnosed with epilepsy within the lines i was using and with the help of vets and pedigree researchers who have pedigrees of most of the "fitters"-it in this case was idiopathic (hereditory)

I hope I haven't caused any bother with my referring to Kazeti, I only picked that particular breeder out because I was looking at their website and was reading through different dogs hip scores, sorry if I have.

Does anyone know the difference with coats? Some long coats seem to be very heavy coated while others seem well, just longer that the short coats. Also, some short coats seem to be very short, almost velvet looking, while some are a little bit longer.

Also, thanks to everyone who has given advice or wished me luckk in my search for a puppy x

I am aware of the complex nature of epilepsy and also of the none hereditary forms and causes of these, but you also need to be aware that the mutations on certain strands of DNA will carry or throw different presentations dependent on the mutation.
Like TLE in humans there are 3 forms Autosomal dominant TLE, & Autosomal dominant lateral TLE are hereditary, whereas there are nonlesional forms of TLE which are not hereditary. There is a link to chromosome 10q for autosomal dominant lateral TLE.
Likewise Mitochondrial DNA mutation in humans can give a varied presentation such has epilepsy, parkinson type symptoms, psychosis, small staure (5ft and below) this can lead to people being diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease, Schizophrenia when they havent they just have symptoms and it can skip several generations.

The new KC standard does not lay down a length of coat but its usually accepted that a dog with excess hair around the ears or extremely long or short is not desirable. The only coat which is never acceptable is one where the dof has a longish top coat but NO undercoat & this coat is not waterproof & so the dog is not fit for purpose.

Hi,

Although I haven't read the whole thread I agree with Moobli. Have a loko at Kazeti. I've seen some of her dogs and they're absolutely gorgeous. I would have had one of hr pups but fo rthe fact that the Akita pup I wasnted was cheaper and would come along sooner.

Have you considered gettign a rescue. There are plenty of straight backed black & tan GSDs waiting for a good home (pups as well as older dogs).

Laura xx

Hi Laura,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, Ive looked at Kazeti, they are gorgeous! I will probably get in touch with them in the near future and see if I could get my name on the waiting list - if they let me!! Plus, after joining here, Im not so bothered about a long coat, the short coats are just as beautiful and it was something I hadn't taken much notice of. I've always had long haired dogs so it was just second nature to want a long haired GSD, but I hadnt really thought about it.

I did consider rescue but I have found most rescue centres dont re-home to families with v. young children or the dogs cant be re-homed with other dogs or small pets etc. I already have a dog and a bitch, my youngest is 4 and we have other small critters, so I think it would be best to get a pup and start from scratch

xx

Good luck in your search for the right GSD puppy and I hope we get to hear when you have finally chosen and booked your pup

Personally I love the longcoats and will always choose to have them, but there are definitely some fabulous standard coats out there too

Hi,

Thank you, I certainly will let you all know when I have any news, I'll probably be asking for more help!
I must say, your dogs are scrummy!! I'm v.jealous!!

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice on this x