M is for..?

I know I am going to get flak for posting this video, spotted on YouTube. These dogs' breeder, David Payne (Videx), has never been slow in telling anyone (including me) what he thinks.

So I shall mostly let the footage speak for itself. These are Milo, Merk and Minder - 6-month old showline GSD pups from the Videx "M" litter that the Kennel is running on. Keep watching until the end, for the shots of Minder coming out of the paddling pool (at about 3m 30secs).

I like Minder - not for the way he moves (which, sorry David, but I think is bloody awful) but for his obvious love of water, evident from a very early age. There's another video of him on YouTube showing him at just 10 weeks old, already lovin' that paddling pool.

Here for comparison are two working-line GSD pups of exactly the same age.

The debate about the conformation of show GSDs was raging for a long time before Pedigree Dogs Exposed highlighted the issue. But the film (and pressure from vets and others) undoubtedly pushed the Kennel Club into taking some action. The breed was not on the KC's health "watch-list" prior to PDE.

A series of meetings between the KC and the GSD breed clubs followed and, er... Well, what? If a plan of action was drawn up, it has never, to my knowledge, been published.

Meanwhile Ch Korzwin Randy (pictures here) won Best of Breed at the West Yorkshire GSD show at the end of June under judge Sue Belfield. This dog has a very high hip score of 50 (3/47). I understand his breeders have said that they will never breed from him (poor Randy... not the best of names given the circumstances). But I'm afraid I still don't get how such a dog becomes a Champion - particularly given the GSD breeders fine talk about how important health tests are.