A Battle of Britain in Which the Germans Must Win

From Dog World

A MAGAZINE article has re-ignited the spat between the German Shepherd Dog fraternity and the KC [UK Kennel Club].

Writing in Dogs Today, Jemima Harrison, writer and producer of Pedigree Dogs Exposed, questions whether the man who developed the GSD in the 1890s, Max von Stephanitz, would be happy with how the breed looks today.

The piece is illustrated with a drawing of a GSD with frog’s legs.

Ms Harrison writes that her programme showed GSDs in the show ring with ‘roached backs, droopy back ends and wobbly hocks, a distorted shadow of the wonderfully fit and functional dogs they used to be...’.

But Ms Harrison’s criticism of some GSD show dogs has been eclipsed by a statement in the article attributed to KC chairman Ronnie Irving, saying he had spoken out strongly against exaggerations, ‘…even going so far recently as to say that if the GSD breed clubs don’t get their house in order they may be thrown out of the KC’.

Past remarks made by Mr Irving and the KC generally have inclined more towards regret that any breed might decide to abandon affiliation to the KC in the face of new edicts, rather than threatening them with the boot, and proving the origin of the quote has not been easy.

But just the publication of it has been enough to light the GSD community’s touch paper once again – and the quote has not been denied by the KC.

As I have said in the past, I have high hopes for Kennel Club Chairman Ronnie Irving.

When the dust settles and he is in his grave, I hope to be able to say he led the Kennel Club down a tough road to better times with healthier dogs, and by so doing left a legacy for the ages.

I hope to be able to say it!

The show line German Shepherd is a basket case, as is the English Bulldog.

The battle lines are being drawn here, and this is where the battle will be fought.

In this next "Battle of Britain," let us hope the Germans win -- the German Shepherds, that is!

And of course, let us hope the British win too -- the British Bulldog, that is!

If renegade German Shepherd and English Bulldog breeders want to strike out on their own to create their own registry for defective dogs, the Kennel Club should let them.

Oh you want the defective dogs? Call this number -- they have plenty of them!

If the Kennel Club stands for healthy dogs that can walk, breathe, jump, and do not have to spend a significant portion of their lives in pain, on medication, or in a veterinarian's office, they will see the rank-and-file public stand with them, and their ranks and reputation grow.

The public wants healthy dogs.

The dogs deserve to be healthy.

The parade-sized egos of the blue-blazer rosette-chasers should not be allowed to stand in the way of canine health and function.

• Related Links:
  ** Let's Do to Horses What We Did to German Shepherds
  ** The G in GSD Stands for Gimp
  ** How to Wreck the German Shepherd
  ** The Wrecked German Shepherds of Crufts
  ** Shitzhund Work at the AKC
  ** A Dog Show We Need to See
  ** Dogs and the Asch Experiment
  ** Counterfeit Collies and Transvestite Terriers
  ** The Kennel Club Wrecks More Than Terriers
  ** Making and Breaking Dogs In the Show Ring
  ** The Kennel Club Freak Show
  ** Inbred Wolves Live with Pain
  ** Will Patrick Bateson Lead the Way Forward?
  ** High Hopes for Ronnie Irving
  ** Will Ronnie Irving Lead or Be Pulled Screaming?
  ** Kennel Club Chairman Concedes It Can Take Action
  
  
• Related Video
  ** BBC - Pedigree Dogs Exposed
  ** ABC News Nightline "Best in Show'

Rin Tin Tin -- before the German Shepherd was ruined by rosettes.
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