Opinions wanted!!

[CanadianRotts]

For what it's worth...

I do not think it's unethical...in the least bit.

My first show dog in 1992...was my first foray into the show world....and was dysplastic, and I continued to show and trial her.

She completed her CH at 1.5 years old, and she was all set to be bred to an AM CH/BISS Rottweiler on the USA east coast, until I x-rayed her hips and, she failed. I was devastated. My first dog, my first Rottweiler, my first hope at breeding.

I am beyond stubborn to begin with....so it didn't take much to decide that I would keep showing her....for myself, and for her...(she loved it). She was eventually spayed, and retired...but her name is still in the record books.

:D

Also...I thought of the famous Westminster, GSD winner: CH. Altana's Mystique. She was dysplastic...and either is still the top winning dog of all time in AKC (not sure if that record has been broken yet...)

Also...although Rottweiler breeders/fanciers seem to be stuck with clear hips....there is so much more to worry about. I would rather have a mildly dysplastic dog that I could work, vs. a SAS-affected, blind, ACL-ruptured CLEARED HIPS Rottweiler.

I have run into this situation currently. The NICEST dog that I had my hopes pinned on, that I have EVER bred...was recently diagnosed with juvenile cataracts shortly before his 2nd birthday. This dog is easily a BISS winner....but both his owners and I are discussing if we want to push him farther. He made the Top Ten as a puppy...undefeated as a puppy Special/CH, with multiple Group placements, etc....

We haven't checked hips/elbows yet...as it is a moot point. I will not breed a cataract affected dog. Period.

Slowly but surely, the rest of the litter is slowly being checked for eyes....and another littermate sister, has been diagnosed with cataracts as well. So sad. So much was invested in this litter, emotionally, as well as financially.


:(

[Ramon]

To me, that's not unethical. It's perfectly conceivable that a young dog with mild or moderately dysplastic hips can actually move better in the ring than a dog with excellent hips. I've seen it happen. So if that dog happens to be conformationally better than the others to boot, then give the poor dog a title. A conformation title does not necessarily mean the dog is breed quality. It just means that it looks good, is conformationally sound, moves well, and stands for the judges. It doesn't mean the dog is free from genetic defects (other than cosmetic faults) or that it can actually do the kind of work that it's bred to do (we all know that a lot of them can't).
The judge is not saying that the winning dog is breed quality. If that were the case, then they should be looking at a LOT of other things besides hips.

[willowwins]

I have to agree as we know it is the opinion of the Judge on that given day and at the time he/ she is picking to them the overall better dog no matter what venue of show, say if the dog picked for Best of Winners or a V1 at the show and just so happened to be the one with HD took the placement at that given time the Judge must of felt this dog/bitch had more to offer then the one with sound hips which may had other DQ faults some out weigh the others when a Judge is examining.
Seen many dogs in the AKC and other show venue's win and should not be deemed breed worthy but yet they they get the title or win first thing most yell is politic's instead of looking at what they are bringing into the ring.
Some of the fault lies with uneducated Judges in the sport and also to the breeders for not bringing in up to standard Rottweilers that can move and stand for examination instead bring in dogs with bad toplines awful fronts and no rearends or a head that is 5 times the body or one that refuses to stand for examination and expect to win while one may have say bad hips or suspected bad hips that is well put together and then when the dog wins over the others we must point out the bad thing.
But may really be the dog was trained to show and was what the Judge wanted.