Great interview! Kudos to you for letting Helmut talk, too many interviewers always interrupt. Stephanitz inbred mothers- sons, fathers-daughters to set the traits for his first German shepherds. My dogs go back unbroken 35 generations, with photos of almost each dog on pedigree database, all the way back to Horand von Grafrath in the late 1800’s. Problems come when only the champion studs of SV are bred hundreds of times, really narrowing the genetic pool. Not few of these champions had bad flaws, like cryptorchidism or severe unsound aggression, that were passed down through the generations, and were bred over and over. Out crossing becomes so important, but is often laughed at by sport breeders, show dog breeders and military/police puppy mills.
