I bring this up as a term I use to identify many of the breeders of German Shepherds today.
Often people query the board about whether to breed a dog with an outward expression of an health issue or temperament problem. I see the breed as an iceberg in that there is a part that is apparent on the surface, but a larger part that is not visible but just as; if not more important. How often do I hear breeders make decisions exclusively on the surface element. I equate a specific dog to the visible part of the iceberg, and the rest of the litter as the invisible part of the iceberg. This is why it is so important to identify source genetically to health issues and temperament issues as opposed to individual expression of a singular dog. Say a particular dog bloats, and the cause is due to extreme poor diet/feeding purposes....that is different than bloating from a dog with a genetic propensity for bloat. Why???? because in the first case the problem was created and in the second case the succeptibility of the problem is inherited. In the first case, the rest of the dogs in the litter are not succeptible genetically, and in the second case the other pups in the litter are. This is important in my making breeding decisions in terms of whether I would breed the dog and WHO I breed the dog to.
Remember, if the underlying causation is genetic due to a compiling of recessives, (usually from reputable breeders trying to acheive a specialty goal), then the other pups in that litter will carry the same risk as the pup giving the outward expression. So if your advice to them is to scrap the dog from the breeding pool....what about the litter bro/sis. Is this maybe the reason certain problems in the breed continue to proliferate??? Would not a better solution be that you bring in completely new genetic blood into the equation, to minimize that recessive.(make sure the blood blood is much stronger in that area.)
My point is just as an iceberg, you cannot make decisions based solely of the visible expression seen. Many many breeders do, and if your decisions don't access genetic impact, then its very probable you may continue to create and reinforce the issues that you are trying hard to eliminate.
Hope this makes sense.
Often people query the board about whether to breed a dog with an outward expression of an health issue or temperament problem. I see the breed as an iceberg in that there is a part that is apparent on the surface, but a larger part that is not visible but just as; if not more important. How often do I hear breeders make decisions exclusively on the surface element. I equate a specific dog to the visible part of the iceberg, and the rest of the litter as the invisible part of the iceberg. This is why it is so important to identify source genetically to health issues and temperament issues as opposed to individual expression of a singular dog. Say a particular dog bloats, and the cause is due to extreme poor diet/feeding purposes....that is different than bloating from a dog with a genetic propensity for bloat. Why???? because in the first case the problem was created and in the second case the succeptibility of the problem is inherited. In the first case, the rest of the dogs in the litter are not succeptible genetically, and in the second case the other pups in the litter are. This is important in my making breeding decisions in terms of whether I would breed the dog and WHO I breed the dog to.
Remember, if the underlying causation is genetic due to a compiling of recessives, (usually from reputable breeders trying to acheive a specialty goal), then the other pups in that litter will carry the same risk as the pup giving the outward expression. So if your advice to them is to scrap the dog from the breeding pool....what about the litter bro/sis. Is this maybe the reason certain problems in the breed continue to proliferate??? Would not a better solution be that you bring in completely new genetic blood into the equation, to minimize that recessive.(make sure the blood blood is much stronger in that area.)
My point is just as an iceberg, you cannot make decisions based solely of the visible expression seen. Many many breeders do, and if your decisions don't access genetic impact, then its very probable you may continue to create and reinforce the issues that you are trying hard to eliminate.
Hope this makes sense.