I have posted this before, and I hate to sound like an alarmist. But, over the last few years I have tested few dogs for Police Work donations. None got past the hip xray. Which I do first. I have also tested what I had hoped to be two future Police Dog breeding bitches. Bad hips both of them. Time, love and money lost( While none were of Stormfront Brawson's progeny. All did have one commonallity, Arko Honest close in the pedigree. Take it for what you want. But, I won't trust these genetics any further.

Bryan Colletti
President of K-9 CRIME STOPPERS INC.

for whatever its worth.....there is far more to be taken into consideration than a hip x-ray. i have just recently learned that my 8 year old female is suffering from spondylosis. calcium deposit between lumbar vertebra. she OFA'd good at two years and current x-rays still look good....for the hips. i have a 4 year old male whose x-ray was so bad at 10 months that i didn't even bother trying to OFA. only half a socket on the left side. honest to god, you'd never guess it. he tears around, jumps and is strong as an ox. now, he may be crippled one day, when he gets old. who knows. the vet school at ames, iowa told us that the reason he does not display any symptoms is on account of his superior muscle tone. apparently they are holding everything in place. i will just add this: the old germans in their infinite wisdom realized that they would ruin the working ability of the breed if they turned their focus entirely onto the hips of the dogs. when everybody else was jumping from the fry pan into the fire over hip dysplasia, they kept a clear head and said "let's look at the dog as a whole." and thus, they came up with the breed value system. ofcourse you are going to put more emphasis on the hip xray if you are breeding dogs, but if you are training real working dogs perhaps your first consideration should be ability to do the work and the xray is secondary. i have known two security dogs from my place of employment that were both dysplastic and both worked well into old age. one was 14 years old when he was put down.....and not from dysplasia, but from blindness. just look at the dog as a whole. then decide.

Patricia P.,
You said that there were a couple of security dogs with HD working into their teens. I have also seen a HD GSD working security. I am not bashing them at all, but that is not work that requires a lot of activity. The dog does not normally have to do extreme type things.
Hips, elbows, and spine are all very important xrays in my opinion. But as you said there are dogs that have HD and can work extremely hard through their whole working career, whether it be K9, sport... Xrays just better your odds. Back to the original subject of this thread about Stormfront's Brawnson, I have heard somethings about the dog that would make me think twice about breeding to him. Won't comment on it cause don't know if its true or not.

i'm going to back up here a bit. first i apologize for my last post being off topic. i was responding to something in the previous post rather than the original question in this thread which is probably how we often get off topic. i would just make this comment in regards to the original post: in view of the fact that you are currently doing SAR work, i would suggest that you look for bloodlines that have been successful in this type of work.....unless ofcourse you are planning different work. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Patricia, I just saw a dog by him at my obedience class. I'm not looking for a dog from him, I just like the look and (from what I see at class) temperment from this pup. I asked about his pedigree, and the owner said Brawnson was the sire which is why I posted about him. More of a passing interest to learn just a tad more about bloodlines than anything serious. Seems Brawnson is a highly debatable stud, depending on who you talk to. Please, noone take this the wrong way, but could it be because of the females bred to him and not necisarily (sp) Brawnson himself? Has anyone met him, worked him, or observed him work?

Tonya, I personally think Brawnson's handler, Mike Deihl, deserves most of the credit. I don't think Brawnson is famous for producing dogs as good or better than himself; he just has a good handler. Also, Brawnson only has Fair hips, and that's definately an important factor to consider.

also important to note, Brawnson's OFA was done at 63mos of age (that's over 5yrs of age). How long had he been on the street and what effect did that have on his joints by the time he was OFA'd?

I wanted to post this. This is what I was told of the dog from someone who has saw the dog, met the dog.
I don't want to be spreading rumours or lies, but just wanted to see if others have heard the same thing.
On top of the fair hips, as Mike S. mentioned, he also carries the blue coat gene. Also you can't get close to the dog, he is very, very aggressive. I'm sure if this was true, it is not necessarily just genetics, could be training. From what I understand he works in extreme type of police work.

blue coat gene? not sure about that, that's 2 different things, not one gene. But, Brawnson does produce long hairs (aka coats), so yes he does have the coat gene. I've yet to hear about a blue out of him, liver either.

As for not getting around him because he's so aggressive, that's BS. I know someone that had the opportunity to meet Mike Diehl and Brawnson at Nationals last year. They said he was a very impressive looking dog in person, but didn't have the guts to ask to give him a pet.

Brawson does do extreme police work and I know both Mike D. and the dog. I know the dog is around his kids and his wife no problems. He's nine years old and was just retired from DPO and Sport work but STILL works the street so regardless of his hip rating I would say this dog has shown physically and mentally he has what it takes to work long after most dogs would have been retired