I have stayed out of this discussion because I know absolutely nothing about breeding (being the pound dog girl my entire life), but Parnone's comments about breeders taking the risk of possible birth defects by breeding merle on merle combinations raised my hackles a bit.

Correct me if I am wrong, but these breeders seemed to be willing to do this to improve their show quality rather than their health quality. Isn't there a risk that these genes will be passed on to future generations even though they may not show up in some pups? Now I may be totally off the mark as I don't know anything about breeding, but it seems pretty risky to me.

And personally I would rather see breeding that improves the health of a breed, such as breeding smaller GSDs that have less problems with hip dysplasia; or larger Chihuahuas so they don't have joint problems; or longer nosed Pugs so they don't have as many respiratory problems. I always thought the point was for the good of the animals, not the good of the trophy.

Just my 2 cents.