I wholeheartedly agree. HOWEVER, determining at what point something has become excessive (angulation, wrinkle, head size etc) is extreemly subjective. It is a point I raise over and over again when defending purebreed dogs. At what stage is any feature that differs from a 'wild type' deemed excessive? It isn't fantasy to suggest that some organisations would ultimatly like all dogs returning to some kind of generic format along the lines of the pariah dog.
On the other hand, deciding whether a dog is blind or deaf is far more objective and will have an indisputable impact upon it's welfare. I don't think anyone could argue otherwise. This is why it is less acceptable to deliberatly breed dogs that are likely to have such problems. I know there is a problem with deafness in dalmations and breeders to their utmost (usually) to avoid producing uni or bilaterally deaf puppies. But they do not have to contend with sight or other physical problems as well. I also don't believe the probability of producing deaf dalmations is anywhere near as high as 25%.
I am full of admiration for those who take on dogs with major disabilities, but I'm reasonably sure that if they could magically restore their dogs' hearing and sight, they would do so. Frequency of occurence is usually an important consideration, but in this discussion I'm not sure it matters how many breeders are doing merle to merle matings, or how many end up in rescue. Isn't is sufficient that potentially a quarter of the puppies born from these matings will have some degree of sight or hearing issues? This is not something which is possible to alter through health screening, or careful study of pedigrees, unlike other 'high profile' health considerations.
If you breed a merle to a merle, there is a high chance a 'defective' puppy will result. It's hard fact and unavoidable based on current genetic knowledge. I don't think there would be much support for a breed if one in four puppies had the potential to be born with major problems! It isn't as if there is no alternative either. Shelties are a very numerically strong breed so no shortage of suitable appropriate mates. Put simply - there is no
need to do this, no
need to condemn a dog to live in a dark and silent world. There would be no negative impact on the breed if merle to merle matings were to stop. Unlike changing to standards that alter the way certain breeds look,(which are usually bitterly opposed by breeders) there will still be shelties. There will still be outstanding shelties. There will even still be beautiful blue merle shelties. There just won't be blind, deaf white ones.
I reiterate, if top breeders are seen do be OK about doing this and others are prepared to condone it by using a white stud dog so much so that he gains an award, then what is to stop anyone else from doing it as well, other than their own knowledge and ethics.
It makes the job of trying to argue that show breeders are responsible, knowledgable and caring very, very flimsy when this sort of thing is accepted and promoted and can only serve to further the case of those who want showing and breeding of purebreds stopped.
The ban on registering progeny from a merle to merle mating in the UK was actually implemented as a result of a request from the English Shetland Sheepdog Club rather than a KC initiative. In recent times, it was pretty rare anyway. I can't say for certain that NO merle to merle matings are carried out at all now. However, there is little incentive to do this if the progeny cannot (honestly) be registered and few shelties here are unregistered. Hypothetically, I suppose there isn't any way of stopping a breeder surrupticiously using their own blue dog on their own blue bitch and claiming their tri as the sire while disposing of the obvious evidence, but the very act of imposing a ban sends a clear message that this is not acceptable practice. Even the breeding of sable to merle is very much frowned upon here as it can lead to problems and peer pressure is surprisingly effective.
I'm also going to say how well it reflects upon our breed, our forum and ourselves that we are all able to discuss this emotive topic in such a reasonable, polite and positive manner.
