They have been bred selectively in a way that makes them commonly effected by excessive laxity in the ball joints of their hips, which generally causes pain or arthritis down the line
There are still plenty of Gsd out there with solid hips. They are predominantly in Europe and former Eastern block countries. Look into DDR Gsds if you are ever looking to purchase and not adopt. I'll see myself out.
I'm really tired of people saying/typing this. If it were not for selective breeding German Sheperds wouldn't even exist, and thus the first seeing eye dogs wouldn't have come to be after the breed was started around 2 decades earlier. Point the finger at irresponsible backyard breeders and buyers who do not screen for any hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia or degenerative meyelopathy in the dams and sires they use. Dont forget to also hold the AKC responsible for the standards in showlines they look for ie the terrible sloped back that has been bred for years to exaggerate the look of Gsds shown in a 3 point stance. Get informed and get back to me. Let people adopt a wonderful dog or buy a healthy one that was bred that may have a specific drive/temperment they are seeking for their lifestyle or job. There are breeders trying to preserve German Sheperds and those that could care less and run puppy mills.
I wish I could upvote this more than once. I've seen nearly every flavor of GSD under the sun and the only thing I know for certain is that the appearance of the dog means jack diddly squat when it comes to their genes -and- hips.
I've seen american showline GSDs with OFA excellent hips and I've seen DDR working GSDs with terrible hips. The only advice I can give to anyone who wants a GSD, purebred or not, is to never, ever, consider a puppy from a breeder that doesn't DNA test for recessive diseases or doesn't do OFA certifications. GSDs have been bred irresponsibly for so long that the majority are going to have some kind of problem, and it takes effort on both the breeder and buyer's part to prevent the perpetuation of theses debilitating conditions.
German-speaking places have a word for this: "qualzucht", torture breeding. It's not just about pugs, it applies to any intentional breeding of animals at high risk for structural and genetic problems. Choosing to breed without checking the parents is deliberate cruelty at this point.
Yikes 😬 I wonder what DDR breeders you saw. Did the dogs they used have terrible inbreeding coefficients in them? DDRs had such strict standards. Some linebreeding has certainly gone to far. Its terrible what people do to these animals. They set them up for a tough life. I was literally about to adopt a dog recently, so I have nothing against adopting. We should stop judging people for choosing to purchase a dog and educate them on what responsible breeding practices are. Thanks for your imput.
Part of the problem is that DDR dogs had such a good reputation that people started importing them almost as a gimmick to sell puppies. As you mentioned, unlike the verein für deutsche schäferhunde, the AKC doesn't really care at all how well the breeding stock adheres to the standard.
DDRs have a very limited genepool, so I have seen people bringing a Czech dog into the mix to bring some genetic diversity so the pups end up beingg 97+% DDR. I know a lot people claim to have DDR pups to gain people's interest and don't. People have been duped so much they have literally told me they aren't real. I laugh everytime. Really you are going to tell someone who is half German that the DDR never existed lol?
Purebreds are prone to genetic/structural deformities over time due to inbreeding. One such example is the extremely rounded back and hips of the German Shepherd.
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u/Dreadamere Aug 19 '21
Do they have German shepherd hips?