"We always say that the Rhodesian Ridgeback is a healthy breed, but I am not sure about this anymore" - are the words of those present at the RR World Congress 2016. In fact lot of the presents there were thinking the same.
To tell you the truth we were really worried for the future of the breed.
But then we had very interesting chats about genetics and breeding and we could see some light in the future of the breed if we follow their advice.
They asked us - Do you really want to eliminate all the carriers and affected dogs of any illness or defect from breeding? If so, in very few time you will have no dogs to breed from and you will have finished with your beloved breed.
From now on, we have to use our common sense when breeding.To breed with affected dogs it is not necessary for the moment, we still have a good gene pool. But we must still breed with carriers but of course the other dog must be clear of the illness. Doing this way we will achieve our goal.
If the gene pool dicreases and we start to breed with the "populat stud" syndrome it is very probable that some other illnesses will appear in the future.
These speakers gave us some advices, to focus on 5 illnesses and work against them, once achieved it move on others.
And really important for the future of our breed Honesty and Integrity, working all the breeders together we can achieve a better Rhodesian Ridgeback.
At the end of the congress a statement was done:
"The 2016 Rhodesian Ridgeback World Congress recognizes that breeders are autonomous and are the best arbiters of what should happen in their whelping boxes. To that end, the 2016 RRWC strongly encourages breed clubs to avoid punitive language in their codes of ethics or other official documents regarding the breeding of healthy Rhodesian Ridgebacks with only cosmetic faults, and strongly encourages openness and honesty between breeders.
