Gone But Not Forgotten - Page 1

Ken Vom Elzmundungsraum, Astana Alfons, Erasmus Van Noort-----ANYone, ANYwhere, ANY information.

I do not know the circumstances behind the untimely & unfortunate deaths of any of these great dog, and I certianly do not make any assumptions.  Looking at the pedigree of each male, they share a certian genetic link.   They also share the same genetic link with other young and seemingly healthy German Shepherds that have died worldwide suddenly over the past years.  

I agree with you about the link, it's just a great pity that nobody seems prepared to tell the truth. Apparently quite happy for rumours to circulate. The really sad thing is, I thought we were ALL gsd lovers, but it appears we are NOT. Why hide the truth, what is there to hide??? Do only SOME of us really care?????

 I think payment is coming due for all the inbreeding/linebreeding that has been going on - see Jantie's posts of a few weeks back. No-one is telling the truth because that would mean admitting to faulty breeding practices..........to the names above you can add Flipp von Arlett and (I think, not absolutely sure)) Atlas vom Wizard's Hof and Ex von Arline. All young dogs which passed away during the past couple of years. And these are only the well-known ones........ very sad, because it is the dogs which pay the price.

AnjaBlue,

stop spreading rumors! Flipp von Arlett died of bloat, not of any suspicious causes. Please contact Margit if you do not believe what I am writing here. As to Astana Alfons, it is published that he died of heart muscle infection, a complication which is usually caused by a viral/bacterial infection (not inherited), due to a possible cold or flu. I have known of humans who either died of it or were hospitalized with it after a flu episode which was taken too litely. Parvo virus can also cause a heart muscle weakness in adult dogs. Dogs are just like people - some grow old and stay healthy, others develop cancers or other ailments and die young. To now out prominent dogs as a common nominatorfor the death of Astana, Ken etc. is downright silly. These dogs/this dog produced lots of healthy offspring, and if a couple of them did not make it to a ripe old age, I call that unfortunate, but not alarming. You need to keep this in perspective.

Thanks Silbersee for your educated post..Yes ,we need not alarm unless we have facts..Maybe others know the death causes...It is nice to post what the dog died of , as it does stop rumors..BUt people talk regardless...Glad your back  ,got your pm but Im snowed in with work ...ttyl

Please excuse my ignorance, but could you tell me where it is published about Astana Alfons cause of death. (silbersee)

haven't seen that either brady bee,nobody here in the uk seems to know the cause of death officially,maybe we have missed something.  liz

The owners/ breeders of these dogs that are sick, have died young, or have passed on illnesses should let it be known for the sake of the breed.  I guess there is just too much cash involved, especially where dogs are changing hands for over £10,000.  They know that in keeping quiet rumours will start about what the dogs might have died of, so perhaps the actual cause of death is much more damaging to the breed, if they are ok about that.  It really worries me.

I have just looked up the progeny for one of the well known dogs that have recently died young & I have found 612 offspring listed on this site alone.  While this is good in that, all in all, they must be pretty healthy, they are all still quite young & a few have died already.  It is surely taking a huge risk in the breed for a single stud dog to be used so many times at a fairly young age, as if they do die prematurely and the cause is found to be an hereditary disease it would be a time bomb.

Personally, I think that there should be a limit on how many times a stud dog can be used in a year & a limit for it's life time.  Once per month I think is ample.  It's better for the breed & the dog, and breeders would not necessarily lose out financially as they could just a higher fee due to the exclusivity of the dog.  

Everyone rushes to use the next young stud, but even at two years old, they are not fully mature.  The dog may have a good hip score himself, but it is not known whether he is passing on good hips or hip problems.  Surely using a much older established stud is the best bet & perhaps the way to go to improve this breed, because at the moment it is in a dire state.

I haven't seen anything either Liz - to my knowledge, no official cause of death was ever given for Alfons - see earlier posts on this topic where even the breeders seemed to be in the dark.

Secrecy is never a good course of action IMO............