jacamat

Well, we invented dogs. So while it is a good morale argument that breeding co-dependency into a species and infantilizing an otherwise very self-sufficient predator is a bad thing, its probably not going to happen. At least not in our lifetime.

Which brings us back to improving the standards for breeding that we have today. Some dogs, such as Dalmatians and Bulldogs, are genetic atrocities and should not be bred in the way that they are right now. Not only is it irresponsible, it results in a very poor quality of life for the resulting litter.

Standing firmly against these practices as an industry - as pet lovers, as professionals - is a difficult, but remarkably achievable goal.

Probably.

And because of that, many pet owners now want Malinois* instead of Shepherds...because they saw one on TV and it looked super obedient and they think, well if the police are using them, it's probably just what I need to complete my apartment..!

You'll see the same problems in Malinois in - my guess - 3-5 years from now. Let a couple generations go by. Keep an eye out for phrases like "old world" and "large-boned" when you start seeing super-sized Mal's walking around Petsmart.

eternally SMH

It does, but Nazi control over Germany shaped and changed the kennels significantly. The Verein fur Deutsche Schaferhunde (the breed organization for the GSD at the time) was relinquished to Nazi control a few years before the founder of the breed, Von Stephanitz', death.

Nazi influence on breeding and the use of dogs for experiments (Hitler's "beloved" German Shepherd, Blondi, was famously fed a cyanide pill to test its effectiveness) had quite an impact. Many of the best bloodlines have vanished because of this (in Blondi's case, her puppies were shot and killed after her death) but because of the dogs military value, this was of course not the fate of all of them.

The ancestry of the "working line" dogs we have today can be traced back to these same dogs that fought alongside soldiers in WWII. What's left of them, anyway.

Depends on the line and the particular confirmation of the dog. For German Shepherd's specifically, dogs from "working lines," tend to be absent of these issues because their breeders focused more on the dogs temperament and behavior than confirmation. Ergo, you have a sturdy, intelligent, willing dog with minimal health problems.

I am a professional trainer. I have 2 German Shepherds, one is a "show line" and the other is a "working line." The showline dog has congenital health issues and grew up with terrible confirmation. The working line dog last weekend rolled about 150 feet down a mountain while chasing his ball and just walked it off.

Having a mixed breed dog can be a great thing, but it is no more a guarantee against confirmation and health issues than any other dog. The real issue, IMO, is that clients/buyers don't know nearly enough about dog breeding to know if what is being advertised is actually a good thing.

I did this maybe a year or two ago. I un-followed all of my Facebook friends. No more Facebook updates, no changes to any of my relationships (e.g., nobody gets "unfriended",) more time to focus on my own stuff.

And you can re-follow people any time if things get quiet.

I never carry cash. Why not just integrate Stripe for debit/credit card transactions? Or literally anything.

I did Keto for a month in September. It requires a good deal of self-control to stick to it (you'll quickly realize that only about 1% of the grocery store is food you can eat on Keto - resisting that temptation constantly is a trial) but it's not particularly expensive. You do have to be "in ketosis" to get the full benefits of Keto, but I've also found that just sticking to a low carb diet (under 100 carbs p/d) is a good start to ease into it. For Keto you will need to stay under 50...some people stay under 20.

I lost about 15 lbs during the process and my diet mostly consisted of salads with lots of chicken + cheese + high fat dressing. I was a vegan before I switched to Keto so eating my veggies was not difficult, but some of my friends struggled to keep a "healthy" diet during the process.

The most difficulty you will have doing Keto is your own self-control. Finding recipes & food to buy is easy.

Honestly I'd buy this from you depending on the price. I don't want to make one myself, but I love the idea of a lightweight pack and (personally) don't mind the look. Actually quite like it. :)

Nice work.