German shepherd dogs structural deformities: German shepherd dogs have been seen as not very healthy breed owing to the structural deformities that have been bothering this breed for quite some time now. So next in the10 things you must know about German shepherd dogs are some of the structural deformities you must be aware of.
German shepherd dogs: Health Issues
Overall German shepherd dogs have been considered as one of the healthier and active breeds but now it’s simply not the case. I will talk about aggression problem and bad breeding practices later for now let us just consider the health issues that German shepherd dogs are facing.
The biggest and most painful situation that has been encountered in German shepherd dogs is that of hip and elbow dysplasia. The evolution of German shepherd dog in past 2 decades has contributed to this problem greatly. I will discuss the vision of German army officer Max Von Stephanich in some other article but it is necessary to understand that the change in the target attributes of breeding programs have given a major blow to the working prospectus of this breed.
The emphasis to the slope of back bone and angular hind quarters have resulted in the limited physical capabilities of some individual dogs. The modern for that the German shepherd dog had attained has been criticized widely but not has been done yet by the FCI. Politics, status, ego or maybe any other thing might have prompted to the authorities in the policy making department of FCI to not to take any action. Or maybe they are really higher in the hierarchy to answer to concerns of people who are worried about where the breed is heading to.
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The acute slope of the back bone have prompted the development of angular hind quarters that actually have put a high risk of wear and tear on the bigger joints of the German shepherd dog. Setting apart the money that will be required for the surgery of hip dysplasia or even not taking in the consideration of how much the owner has to go through the pain that animal suffers during the development of a sore joint and the treatment should be the reason enough strong to motivate people to ditch the lines that are becoming prone to hip dysplasia.
And this has actually happened to German shepherd dog in the last decade. There is a steep decline in the demand of German shepherd dogs in the defense, security and protection services. Slowly German shepherd dog has been replaced in professional environment by Belgian shepherd dog and Dutch shepherd dog. We are now even seeing the Russian black terrier being slowly becoming a good option for security services.
German shepherd dogs structural deformities: problems nowadays
The customer in the pet circuit is not completely aware of this situation and because of the seemingly constant demand in the pet trade German shepherd dog have been able to maintain its popularity. But in the pet trade sector there is a really big problem going on. The paying capacities of many families are limited and most are not interested in really knowing about what they are getting. This has given rise to puppy mills ever where in the world. This is a burning topic and I will up this topic in my upcoming posts. Just to understand the effects of bad breeding practices I wanted to point out the role of puppy mills in affecting the pets in very unhealthy and undesirable way.
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The problem of elbow dysplasia can also be examined in the similar way. The changed body shape of German shepherd dog has put immense pressure on the withers and elbow joints of the dogs leading to elbow dysplasia and shoulder problems.
