Book about White Swiss Shepherds - Page 2

Whiteshepherds:   Yes, very much so,  they do need to take care.
They also need to do research on the lines, quite a long way back,
for their own stock as well as anything they import from Europe.
Unlike some genetic influences in dogs' conformation and temperament
the influence of long ago ancestry never leaves as far as Epilepsy goes;
it just needs the second copy of the gene to pair up with and here we
go again.  Although the white dogs on the American Continent have
many generations 'in between', there are still quite a few chances of
them being descended from the same coloured dogs carrying white
as the european dogs;  and of white dogs also having white european
bred ancestry somewhere along the route, even if most of the lines
are from home-bred naturally occurring whites, rather than the mass
produced ones.  I am sorry I cannot be more specific about the epilepsy
risks from specific dogs in the States and Canada, but there has been
a similar pattern of over-production and in-breeding so if you do have
identifiable Epilepsy carriers / producers,  they will influence many
bloodlines.  I think this is THE most important aspect of the whole
sorry story, but it isn't the only one - other faults, problems and diseases
will out, occasionally - see for example the complaints by puppy-buyers
on this forum - and while it is true dog-breeding will always get its share 
of those, no matter which breed,  the antics that went on to produce
'consistent' whites, for £$£$£$£,  can only have compounded the situation.
I do not 'blame' current breeders of WSS/BBS ;  there are people among
them that do too little homework, and / or take too little care - as there
are with ALL breeders - but there are equally people who DO try to actively
ensure they only mate dogs so that rogue genes aren't paired and don't
produce problems.  Trouble is, the 'history' is getting so far away now, 
that becomes ever harder to research and ensure.  [If any history book only
has a few pages it is a fair bet it will not be going into detailed background
information !]  I have been accused of 'hating' white shepherds;  nothing
could be further from the truth.