# European Dogs



## Brian Dascalu (Aug 7, 2011)

What are the views of members here who are buying working dogs about the price/quality of dogs from Western Europe. I would like to exclude Czech, Slovak and other Eastern European dogs from this as I think that is a whole other topic.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

my opinion is the "price" as well as "quality" of anything in the world depends on supply and demand as well as how savvy the buyer is and how savvy the seller is ... why the heck would it be anything different if the commodity was a dog ????

'course i could substitute a few different words for savvy, but why bother 

which would include the countries you excluded.....

but if you're looking for "views" you'll get plenty here


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## Jerry Lyda (Apr 4, 2006)

Rick pretty much hit the price part on the head. Quality of dogs from Western Europe: I think there are good breeders all over the world. Those working lines have expanded everywhere and it's the breeders that makes the difference. You can get good and bad dogs from all corners of the world now. The key is to search out the better breeders and they will have the better dogs. The bloodlines really don't know what part of the world the pups were conceived. LOL


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

i'm not up on the history of all the Czech, Hungarian, Slovak, East German etc working lines that seem to be more prevalent, but is it mostly fallout from the end of the cold war, or just more breeding interest in more countries ?
- or a cool factor from the american market wanting imported stuff ?
....or has it always been that way and i just wasn't paying attention for the last 30 yrs over here in the Pac Rim ?

when i was a kid during the RinTinTin years, a German bred gsd from Germany was kinda rare where i grew up. my (German) neighbor had two massive jet black GERMAN gsd's and those two dogs were like super heros to me. i still remember them more than some of the dogs i had


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## Thomas Barriano (Mar 27, 2006)

Brian Dascalu said:


> What are the views of members here who are buying working dogs about the price/quality of dogs from Western Europe. I would like to exclude Czech, Slovak and other Eastern European dogs from this as I think that is a whole other topic.


Brian,

For a broker or someone buying multiple dogs I can see going to Europe. For an individual looking for ONE working dog (any breed) I can't see the extra shipping expense when there are plenty of working dogs available here in the USA. Of course I'd stick with Euro line working dogs.


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## sam wilks (May 3, 2009)

I agree there are good dogs everywhere but. Keep in mind africa ain't gonna send us there best runner! You can gert nice dogs here for example but for a little more u can get a dog overseas from the same people they bought there breeding stock from! And in that case it would seem your dog will be at least one generation closer to the bloodlines your after anyways. Jmho


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## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

Unfortunately, Sam, too many think as you do. Getting a dog from the same breeder, or a generation closer is no true advantage.


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## Steve Groen (Aug 22, 2010)

Daryl Ehret said:


> Unfortunately, Sam, too many think as you do. Getting a dog from the same breeder, or a generation closer is no true advantage.


A health anecdote somewhat relevant to this thread, and, because I'm relatively new to the working dog world, I'd be interested in comments. I was getting my Malinois girl's OFA radiographs and eyes tested for CERF this past Friday. This was the first time I had been to this particular specialty hospital (well, I take that back - the first time was with a Springer diagnosed with PRA about eight years ago), and the vet told me he used to work for the Port Authority of New York which was using Malinois.

Apparently, the Port Authority was buying Malinois from somewhere (or everywhere) in Germany at that time, but he didn't give me details about who was the purveyor or from which kennels they were purchased. What was surprising was that he told me "at least 30 percent" of those imported from Germany during the time he was employed by the Port Authority had dysplasia.

He also told me that radiographs can lie (I neglected to ask whether the lying could be intentional). It's in the "palpating" that the vet knows, not the photos. There can be flex when OFA certification can be hips excellent or good and elbows normal.

I guess the point is that purchasing a dog from Europe without a vet actually palpating for flex might be risky.

Steve


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

Steve Groen said:


> I guess the point is that purchasing a dog from Europe without a vet actually palpating for flex might be risky.
> 
> Steve


I xray every dog I purchase. I've always felt vendors have one set of xrays they pass around. I have my vet do the examination, at my expense, before I purchase any dog. 
The xray will tell you what's there, if it's done correctly. The second part of that equation is; you must have someone that can interpret the xray correctly.


DFrost


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

David Frost said:


> I xray every dog I purchase. I've always felt vendors have one set of xrays they pass around. I have my vet do the examination, at my expense, before I purchase any dog.
> The xray will tell you what's there, if it's done correctly. The second part of that equation is; you must have someone that can interpret the xray correctly.
> 
> 
> DFrost


Thats been done very often as I follow same strategy, in the long run its worth the extra time, money and eyes


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## sam wilks (May 3, 2009)

Not being a smart ass but can u elaborate darryl


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