Biggest threat to the GSD breed in the USA

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by Preston on 22 March 2008 - 21:03

Wandrer, very astute. The "o" should have been an "e". Nothin get's by you. You've got a shart eye and know the english language well. Perhaps a professional journalist or teacher?

by Preston on 22 March 2008 - 21:03

Here's an article on a national survey. Most americans think we are in a recssion, but don't think it will last very long. Many are driving less and buying cheaper foods to spend less.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/21/news/economy/CNN_poll_review/index.htm?postversion=2008032207

I predict that GSD folks will likely not be driving to as many shows or trials as they have in the past, in order to spend less. It seems to mee that the rising price of gasoline and diesel will impact every area of our economy and we will have to live on less, with less discretionary income in the future. This probably will mean some big changes for GSD breeding and GSD dog sports. Less shows and trials, less GSDs bred, less new folks entering these GSD sports. What effect it will have on the pricing of quality WL and SL GSDs is anybody's guess, but the changing economy will likely have an impact.

I know that when GSDs first came to the USA in the 1920's, they were typically imported by the upper middle class and the well to do and the first GSD shows were exhibitions among the upper strata. Will we see less imports into the USA because of this recession and the devaluing of the dollar? Is this going to be a bad thing for the GSD breed or could it weed out those who damage the breed with poor breeding practices?

Perhaps we will see less shows and trials, but bigger ones where clubs band together and pool their resources. Maybe there will be less ravel to other aeas but more development within local clubs close by, as in Germany.

by BabyEagle4U on 23 March 2008 - 01:03

I'm praying it's not gonna get as bad as the experts say. If it does, you can bet your bottom dollar these Bush bastards will flat out kill all our dogs on contact. (sound familiar) Once Martial Laws kicks in like it did in katrina ... and no flood ... they will think of a pass time. Remember they have dogs too to protect, only on the opposite side of that fence. It's sad really. Vote Ron Paul. Pennsylvania primaries is coming up April 22 .... "it's not what your country can do for you, it's what you can do for your country" ~ I forget who said it.

by Speaknow on 23 March 2008 - 05:03

I must be going nuts! Why in heaven’s name was following post deleted? What’s my take BabyEagle? Well, not here to convince anybody of anything, only putting my own ideas. You seem to rather relish playing with words and definitions! Here’s one simple definition of ‘republic’: “A republic is a state or country that is not led by a hereditary monarch, where the people of that state or country (or at least a part of that people) have impact on its government, and that is usually indicated as a republic.” ‘Demos’ (as in democracy) relates to the people and ‘res publica’ (as in republic) refers to a politically organized body of people. There is no such thing as democracy or republics: only different FORMS of each. Where the common people happen to elect their leaders and lawmakers the republic is merely another sort of democracy. Adding State-based division of powers and Constitutional Rules, normally part and parcel for all democracies, merely serves to differentiate one particular democratic political system from another. Democratic Republican Rome based their system on power splitting as well, albeit in other ways, together with numerous other checks and balances, these to the nth degree in fact. By the way, it wasn’t overthrown by “corruption”, as you assert, but by the sword; or more precisely, by a succession of ‘army barracks’ generals - by the gun or ‘militias’, if you like, the very same you’re so keen on (as well as far too many elections held too often). Am I enthralled by US Democracy? Quite the opposite: I see it as a joke, a media circus: then, the country isn’t run ‘for or by the people’, but mostly for and by big business and their lobby groups; mixed-in of course with some Old Testament religious absurdity and patriotic apple pie! Can any party even get elected now without Evangelical support? (Comprising over 28 percent of the population?) Heck, there isn’t even a party to represent the average working man! But I’m not overly impressed by other Western democracies either. It’s similar to the jury system though: it will have to do till something better comes along. DoRight states: “Look me straight in the eye and tell me that you know for a fact that we went to war in Iraq for oil and just to make Bush's cronies rich, and not of the BELIEF (rightly or wrongly) that the bad guys were there making stuff and planning things against us, for another potential 911 type attack..” I could reel off ten pages explaining why securing future oil access was real objective all along, DoRight, but shan’t. I’m glad it is though, because otherwise it would render those controlling the planet’s most powerful military machine chronically irrational; a prospect I’d find even more terrifying! By the way, since the Russians started selling oil to European neighbors their economy has simply boomed. You also seem to forget that our whole Western lifestyle of material abundance is built on constant flow of plentiful cheap energy, oil included.

by Speaknow on 23 March 2008 - 08:03

You baffle at times, Preston! Whenever I just start thinking how worthy and useful your posts are, you do a turnabout and assert the silliest … For instance, you began this topic by saying US dollar is falling in value “as pegged against international oil prices.” As oil contracts are written in US dollars (with US dollar prime beneficiary thereof insofar every other country has to buy it to pay for their OPEC oil), what the heck does this mean! US consumers are simply paying more because the world US dollar price has gone up – what’s this “pegging”? By the same token, although non-oil imports, currency-wise, become pricier with a weaker US dollar, exports become that more competitive. (Which is why I’m surprised the economy isn’t doing far better.) Now all of a sudden the US is a Republic instead of a democracy, which instead “is mob mass rule.” Well, if you visit certain other chat-rooms you’ll discover that earlier All Gore supporters feel it’s precisely this very ‘mob mass rule’ (democracy in action in other words) which robbed them versus Bush. (Although some argue that in fact they were the majority!) It’s simply how most Western democracies work – one portion loses out to the majority rule. Just because the political process is ‘fine-tuned’ in various electoral ways, or of a particular republican or federated State flavor, make it no less a democracy! I’d prefer not to get to get into this socialism versus capitalism issue, but why must everything here too be seen in black and white. Isn’t just a question of finding the proper balance between the two, as for most of Western Europe? Then, capitalism, if nothing else, demands a proper degree of regulation if its lifeblood, competition, is to remain intact. And doesn’t every society have an obligation to look after those too unfortunate to so themselves through no fault of their own? As well, social welfare schemes are meant to be about wealth redistribution, not its destruction. Even the extraordinary subsidies paid to farmers merely recycles the money; whereas Iraq war is mostly about re-channeling average taxpayer dollar into coffers of corporate industrialists. You asked what happened to the 40 percent drop in the US dollar. Well, there are of course numerous factors at work, but a currency’s intrinsic worth is derived from worth of underlying goods and services produced as coupled to money supply (including credit and money’s ‘velocity’). Financing unwise spending on credit (deficit budget financing?) or by printing more money hardly improves its value! You can’t really believe that annual 500-600 billion dollars drug keeps US financial system afloat! In wider economic terms it’s verily a pittance! For instance, estimates for worldwide dicey credit instruments range as high as fifty trillion! (Mostly held by corporate gambling joints – sorry, respectable investment banks!) Your CNN item plays like a bit of comforting bromide. Classic statement: “American's concerns framed the issue that faced the Federal Reserve, which attempted to balance the threat of recession against rising inflation in its 3/4 percentage point cut of its key interest rate Tuesday.” Seeing it puts the key interest rate at least two percent below that of inflation, some attempt “to balance the threat of recession against rising inflation”! More like sheer desperation?!

by BabyEagle4U on 23 March 2008 - 11:03

Speaknow, I'm sure certain people can muster up a definition for democracy or republic real quick. I prefer to relish and feed off the founders and US Constitution. Ya know that "goddamned piece of paper" ? America is a Republic hence the part of the Pledge of Alliegance, "and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands..." sadly the propaganda the Gov spreads is too powerful. Also amendment 4 says it all. Besides our Republic is not like Rome where they didn't have a written Constitution. We have it in black and white and signed by the founders giving us a "Royal Flush" in dire straights.

A democracy is where 51% of the people can destroy the rights of 49% of the people, but in our constitutional republic, 99% of the people cannot legally destroy the constitutional rights of 1% of the people. The international banksters, who own the media and admin, found it in their best interest to convince us that we have a democracy by "opinion rule", even though it was never mentioned in the constitution or the bill of rights. Also, our constitution states that the government cannot take private property without just compensation ( this includes dogs, cats, cars, food or anything "we the people" purchase ). Land Use Planners completely disregard this part of the constitution, and routinely pass laws that take land rights away from people. BSL is a simple example. They take a democratic vote, and the constitution can go to hell is what it boils down to. They have been brainwashed ( and most American society ) by the Council on Foreigh Relations, founded and run by the bankster ruling class ( as in democracy ). Our Constitution and Bill of Rights explaines evey single inch and word of the Constitution in detail and even repeats it's self on occation, so when reading it ... noone can be fooled. I suggest Speaknow you grab yo self a Constitution and Bill of Rights book and read, and the sidekick the Declaration of Independence. They are dummy proof.

"Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49" - Thomas Jefferson

"Democracy is Two Wolves and a Lamb Voting on What to have for Lunch. Liberty is a Well-Armed Lamb Contesting the Vote" - Benjamin Franklin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbLbi3N27P0 Battle Hymn of the Republic

by BabyEagle4U on 23 March 2008 - 12:03

OK, I'll give you a conclusion from ... Sam Adams, James Madison, Ben Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, & John Adams the founders.

In 1776, the founders risked their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" to set up a free and prosperous nation. They warned us that it was our responsibility to keep it that way. As a service to America, I have brought them outta retirement to issue a final warning for the sheeple of course. They ......

**Warned you of the dangers of excessive taxation. Now you labor nearly six months of the year to pay taxes at all levels as your economy suffocates under this cruel burden.
**Warned you of the dangers of foreign entanglements. Now thousands of men and women suffer and die in foreign lands while your government plans a military draft.
**Warned you of the dangers of government spending. Now your growing national debt stands at 8 trillion dollars and your babies are debt slaves from the day they are born.
**Warned you of the dangers of a private Central Bank(The Fed) and a debt-based monetary system. Now you drown in credit card debt as you lose your homes to foreclosure.
**Warned you to obey the Constitution because power corrupts. Now a secretive government can spy on you and detain you at will under the guise of "National Security". Hummmmm

They ...
**Warned you of the dangers of political parties. Now you have two powerful parties that conspire against the people, plundering you while they pretend to oppose each other.
**Warned you to keep your nation sovereign and independent. Now you submit to the U.N. and NAFTA authority as your borders are deliberately left open to endless illegal immigration.
**Warned you to be distrustful of government. But you believed the sugarcoated falsehoods of ambitious politicians and now you no longer know who to trust or what to believe.
**Warned you of the importance of an honest, independent, and unbiased press. Now your centralized "Mainstream Media" is full of propaganda, distortions, and omissions.
**Warned you that the price of liberty was eternal vigilance. But while you were distracted by ballgames and TV shows, government stole your liberty and bankrupted your children.

There is nothing more for me to possibly say but argue, so I'll shut up now. Vote Ron Paul.

by BabyEagle4U on 23 March 2008 - 12:03

Actually I wanna give credit to Mr. Bartlett, I recieved most the post above in an email to help on this thread. Just so you know. That is all.

by Blitzen on 23 March 2008 - 14:03

To get back to the original topic - IMO the biggest threat to the GSD breed in the US is the blatant lack of ethics of many breeders and the way their friends support their activities. In most other breeds a lot of GSD breeders would be outcasts and shunned. In this breed they are put on pedestals and revered by their cronies.

by hodie on 23 March 2008 - 19:03

Blitzen,

You are absolutely correct as witnessed here time and again. In the Borzoi breed, as an example, there are few breeders and they WILL NOT sell pups to just anyone. Nor do they breed early. They make sure there are no health issues by waiting to breed females until near 5 years of age. They turn down people wanting such dogs for all the wrong reasons. It remains a select few, dedicated to breeding a high quality, healthy animal, and an animal that they recognize is not intended for the masses who don't have a clue what the dog is bred to do. The do not tolerate unethical breeders amongst their ranks. It is sad that the popularity of the GSD is killing it and we are all part of that. But few seem to give a damn. And the few that do cannot stem the tide.

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