Rhodesian Ridgeback vs. German Shepherd as a new dog

[lvbuckeye27]

I am quite familiar with the term "eugenics" and still say that bringing hitler into it is nothing but an emotional ploy. People have been "guiding the evolution" of domesticated animals from the time they were first domesticated. The video has an agenda. It was obviously poorly researched because it took me no time to find a dog with dermoid sinous without a ridge. I didnt even get into the fact that most sources dont even link dermoid sinous with spina bifida. Saing it is what causes the ridge is pure ignorance.

Of course your out of the conversation. You couldnt even address my question.

Matt

dermoid sinus is the canine equivalent of spina bifida. it's a congenital defect.
do you want links?

we can start with Wiki

Health conditions known to affect this breed are hip dysplasia and dermoid sinus which is the canine version of the human condition, spina bifida.


what is spina bifida?

Spina bifida is a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings. The term spina bifida comes from Latin and literally means "split" or "open" spine.

What is dermoid sinus?

Dermoid sinus is a tubular indentation of the skin in the middle of the back, that may go as deep as the spinal canal. The tracts may be single or multiple.

This condition occurs because of an abnormality early in embryonic development, in which there is incomplete separation of the tissues that will become the skin and the nervous system.

sound familiar?

again, from the Wiki: The only disqualification in the AKC standard for this breed is "ridgelessness". This term refers to the purebred offspring of heterozygous parental animals which do not inherit a copy of the ridge mutation from either parent and are, in effect, normal dogs which do not have a ridged back.


huh. imagine that. the only thing that disqualifies them from AKC standards is the LACK of a mutation. wow.

FYI, i'm not knocking you or your dog.

 

[shotgunner11]

I didn't read the whole thread but wanted to add my half a cent.

I have a 1 and a half yo. female. Half German Shepard and half pitbull.

I prefer mixed breeds. I've just seen to much inbreeding and questionable breeding from people trying to get a perfect breed. I've found mixed breeds to be healthier and to a degree, smarter than most of the full breeds I've had contact with. YMMV.

My pup is smart as a whip, protective and the picture of a healthy dog.

 

[A. G. Russell]

If you are still watching this; Get a Ridgeback, buy pick of the litter and take it home at 6 weeks paper train it and let it sleep beside your bed. Get a copy of "Gun Dog" and follow the instructions. Teach the dog to allow babies to eat from it's dish.

The dog will shed less than any other breed I know of, has no body odor and is the only breed I would consider allowing in the house.

raise the dog with your wife and children and you will have a protector (after 6-8 months) like you have never seen. good luck

 

[kdstrick]

If you are still watching this; Get a Ridgeback, buy pick of the litter and take it home at 6 weeks paper train it and let it sleep beside your bed. Get a copy of "Gun Dog" and follow the instructions. Teach the dog to allow babies to eat from it's dish.

The dog will shed less than any other breed I know of, has no body odor and is the only breed I would consider allowing in the house.

raise the dog with your wife and children and you will have a protector (after 6-8 months) like you have never seen. good luck

+1 on GUNDOG! GAMEDOG is also excellent. In my view, there are no bad dogs... just bad owners.

 

[Charles Helm]

When you get a question like this many people tend to vote for their personal favorite. I have had a lot of dogs, most pound puppies but a number of purebreds, and think you should spend time with the breeds (as suggested above) and see what you like about each.

If you have high energy and enough dog experience you might like a Mal -- the GSD look with less show breeding. As mentioned above they are not for everyone. If you want a GSD look outside show lines, try to go with a line with working titles and sound structure (OFA excellent or at least OFA good hips on the parents and past litters, for example), and avoid the real large lines. These dogs are not designed to be 100 pounds or look like a triangle. Get a breed book and look at the foundation stock. If you get the right health and disposition you will be very happy.

As I said above I have little Ridgeback experience but those I know that have them enjoy them. Some people do prefer a shorter coat as compared to the double coat of the GSD.

I doubt you can go wrong if you get a healthy and stable example of either breed. Remember you will get more out of the dog the more you put into it in time, attention, and training.

 

[Oakietree]

dermoid sinus is the canine equivalent of spina bifida. it's a congenital defect.
do you want links?

we can start with Wiki

Health conditions known to affect this breed are hip dysplasia and dermoid sinus which is the canine version of the human condition, spina bifida.


what is spina bifida?

Spina bifida is a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings. The term spina bifida comes from Latin and literally means "split" or "open" spine.

What is dermoid sinus?

Dermoid sinus is a tubular indentation of the skin in the middle of the back, that may go as deep as the spinal canal. The tracts may be single or multiple.

This condition occurs because of an abnormality early in embryonic development, in which there is incomplete separation of the tissues that will become the skin and the nervous system.

sound familiar?

again, from the Wiki: The only disqualification in the AKC standard for this breed is "ridgelessness". This term refers to the purebred offspring of heterozygous parental animals which do not inherit a copy of the ridge mutation from either parent and are, in effect, normal dogs which do not have a ridged back.


huh. imagine that. the only thing that disqualifies them from AKC standards is the LACK of a mutation. wow.

FYI, i'm not knocking you or your dog.

I am not saying that Rhodesians arent sometimes born with Dermoid sinus. I am not even saying that it isnt even more common in dogs with ridges or even that the ridge is the cause of the dermoid sinus(thou I dont believe this)
The video stated that only dogs with ridges suffer from dermoid sinus. My link shows that to be false. There are ridgeless and mix breed dogs on that site with dermoid sinus. It is also found in other breeds without ridges. You stated that the ridge was a result of spina bifida. Even if spina bifida and dermoid sinus are related,(even though the veterinary dictionary doesnt mention it) you still didnt show that it is the cause of the ridge. Actually both your link to wiki and your link on dermoid sinus back me up. Dr Bill your quote doesnt either nor does it explain the occurance of the defect in other dogs. Saying a runny nose is linked to a cold and saying that runny noses are the cause of a cold are two very different things. Yes I think both you and your quote are making assumptions.

Now dont get me wrong, I certainly think that modern dog breeding has done some horrible things to dog breeds. I also think that there are ethical breeders out there and breeds capable of some truly amazing things. I still think that the video is inaccurate and has an agenda that they wanted to prove regardless of what is actually true. I also think that eugenics is more heavily influenced by the thousands of years of animal domestication then the other way around. I think it was people trying to apply what we have been doing with animals to people not the other way around, but thats just my opinion.

Really I dont have a problem with either one of you and I am sure that we all probably agree in principle on this matter. If you can actually show me that the ridge is caused by dermoid sinus I would be happy to retract my previous statements.
Also despite what your wiki says there are other features which generally disqualify RR from being show dogs. I dont know what the AKC standard is cause I could give a F**k. I am not really into show anything. Some features are to much white, a less than perfect ridge(my dog), a kinked tail and generally dermoid sinus along with many other non breed specific things. Most of these animals are fixed, which generally is also a disqualifing factor. I ll take a well bred dog with a cosmetic defect anyday. I also have seen dogs that had a dermoid sinus removed and they really seemed no worse off then any of the other puppies. They were all sold before they were born and the condition wouldnt have kept me from buy that dog. I dont intend to breed my dog. They were removed by the breeder. The effects of spina bifida and and dermoid sinus are very different.

My wife is telling me I have to go. Thank you both for being so civil.

Matt

JUst one more thing if dermoid sinus is the equivalent of spina bifida in dogs, why do dogs have spina bifida too.
http://www.upei.ca/~cidd/Diseases/nervous system disorders/spina bifida.htm

 

[bodhi_]

If you want a big guard dog then get a boerboel or any mastiff type dog, they tend to be good with kids although they run on half a brain cell. Shepards are also great but avoid any show line (actually this applies to all dog breeds).

Ridgeback were hunting dogs, they were not breed to fight lions. This is a legend that tends to be repeated. Lions are pride animals and even a pack of dogs wouldn't last a second. Even spotted hyenas, who are a lot bigger than dogs, avoid direct confrontations with lions.

Working dogs are very difficult to handle and if you don't have a schedule that allows them to do their job you will have endless trouble (e.g. border collies). As a matter of fact any real shepard type dog should be avoided unless you have a big farm. Same applies to running dogs like huskies.

I'm partial to pitbull terriers, they are small, short haired and are very people driven. Although they make bad guard dogs.

You could also check the local pound, two of my dogs come from there and I never regretted it.