By
definition, a purebred is the result of selective
breeding. Dogs possessing the same physical and
temperament traits have been bred together for enough
generations that the physical and temperament traits
are now "fixed." It's those fixed,
predictable genes that make a German Shepherd puppy look
remarkably similar to other German Shepherd puppies.
These fixed,
predictable genes means those German Shepherd puppies
are going to grow up to be intelligent, protective,
reserved dogs standing from 22"-26" tall and
weighing between 65-100 pounds. Their eyes will
be dark, their ears will prick up and their noses will
be black. Their coats will be harsh with a dense
undercoat in the following colors: black and tan,
bicolor, golden sable, gray sable or solid black.
(Notice white is not listed. This is not an omission.
A white coat is a disqualification in the show ring
because it is forbidden by the breed standard.)
You may be wondering,
"If those genes are fixed and predictable, then
all German Shepherds are the same and I can buy from
any breeder." Yes and no. Like
humans, dogs have dominant and recessive genes. Like
humans, some dogs carry genes for disease. This
is one of the many reasons why a reputable breeder will keep in touch with you
throughout the life of your dog. He/she will want to
know if your dog develops any genetic diseases so he/she
may evaluate his/her breeding program.
A
basic genetics lesson is in order. Let's pick an easy
one like the gene for prick ears (as opposed to a
harder one, like the genes that control coat color).
The prick ear gene is dominant, let's call that
"P". The gene for ears that flop over is
recessive, let's call that "f". Let's
say in our imaginary breeding scenario of GSDs that
both parents have prick ears, but each carries the
recessive gene for flop ears. (The prick ear
gene will "win" and show up, but the flop
eared gene is still present and waiting to be passed
on.)
Let's
say the dam's genes are
the blue Pf (P=prick
f=flop) and the sire's
gene's are red Pf. Since
each puppy will take one gene from each parent, the
litter will look like this statistically:
P
f
P
PP
Pf
f
Pf
ff
25% of the litter
will have prick ears and will not carry the flop
eared gene at all (PP)
25% of the litter
will have flop ears and not carry the prick eared
gene at all (ff)
50% of the litter
will have prick ears but carry the gene for flop
ears, just like their sire and dam (Pf).
Throughout this site
and many others, you're going to be hearing about
buying your puppy from a good or reputable breeder.
This is why. When the breeder of the
above GSDs (German Shepherd Dogs) sees one of his
puppies ears will not prick up as they should, a
warning goes off. He now knows that his champion
bitch is carrying a defective (according to the breed
standard) gene. He also notifies the sire's
owner, because his dog is carrying this defective gene
too.
The two dog owners now
have a dilemma, assuming that they're both of the
"ethical" variety. (This scenario presents
no problems to the unethical breeder.) Do they
retire their champion breeding stock or do they
carefully screen future breeding partners?
Careful breeding means
breeding the female (Pf)
with a male not carrying
the flop eared gene (PP).
This will result in:
P
P
P
PP
PP
f
Pf
Pf
50% of the litter
will have prick ears but carry the gene for flop
ears, just like their sire and dam (Pf)
50% of the litter
will have prick ears and will not carry the flop
eared gene at all (PP)
The problem is, there is NO WAY to
know which puppies are PP and which are Pf.
They all look the same.
So all the puppies will
have the correct ear type but half will carry the
defective gene.
The ethical breeder doesn't want
to breed GSDs who deviate from the breed standard, so he removes this bitch (or
dog) from the gene pool for the sake of the future of
the breed. Even though a GSD whose ears don't
stand erect can make an INCREDIBLE family pet, the
ethical breeder is breeding with the breed standard in
mind. He's shooting for the perfect GSD and that
means one who isn't carrying a defective gene time
bomb, be it ears or some other genetic defect.
Right about now you may
be saying, "All I want is a pet puppy. I
don't want to breed or show. My German
Shepherd's ears don't have to prick up."
You may only
want a pet, but you want a quality pet. The
last thing you want is a pet that has skin problems,
structural problems or digestive problems. A
breeder that is unconcerned about the physical
appearance of his breed (and produces GSDs with flop
ears), can not be trusted in regards to important
issues that don't readily show such as health and
temperament.
Every breed, without
exception, has a handful of breeders who will breed an
animal with excellent structure but a major known
fault (i.e. bad temperament, genetic disease, etc).
It's your job to avoid these breeders at any cost.
The only way to know who falls into this category is to research,
research research. Talk to several
breeders. Talk to owners of previous litters.
If a breeder's bitch has produced puppies who are
timid and fear bite before, it may happen again.
Make sure it doesn't happen to you.
The advantage of buying
a purebred puppy is fixed, predictable genes.
Make sure you're dealing with an ethical breeder to
take full advantage of the predictability of fixed
purebred genes.
There's a world of difference between a poorly bred
purebred puppy and a well bred purebred. In the
end, both cost the same to feed and maintain while the
poorly bred on may be more expensive in the long run.