Unser Haushund: Eine Spitzmaus im Wolfspelz? - Wolf-Ekkehard ...

43(d) "The enormous difference in size and strength between the skeletal frames of a giant St. Bernard dog and a dwarf toypoodle; showing contrast in form between domestic breeds of the same animal species comparable to the contrast betweenhuman giants and dwarfs” – Stockard.Aus Charles R. Stockard (1931, Fig. 54, p. 222b): The Physical Basis of Personality.Stockard, pp. 224, 252: "There are giants with strong acromegalic symptoms, like the St. Bernhard and themastiff. […] Among dogs, the St. Bernard and the mastiff are splendid examples of the combination ofgigantic size with acromegalic overgrowth. 34 The male St. Bernard may weigh more than two hundred pounds,and is covered by excessively loose skin that may sag on the head to such an extent as to completely overhangthe eyes, making it impossible for the dog to see unless the head is much raised or the skin lifted from abovethe eyes.”Die Kreuzung der Riesen Bernhardiner x Deutsche Dogge (Resultat St. Bernard-Dane hybrids)offenbart einen (weiteren) Teil der genetischen und anatomischen Defekte (Funktionsabbau) der beidengroßen Hunderassen. Es folgen einige Auszüge aus Stockard 1931, pp. 253/254 (für die vollenZusammenhänge siehe die ausführliche Dokumentation unten):"When the simple giant, great Dane, is crossed with the acromegalic giant, St. Bernard dog, large littersof hybrid pups are obtained, and all the individuals are very uniformly alike. […] Between the third and thefifth months after birth two very striking reactions occur among these St. Bernard-Dane hybrids […] Accompanyingthis head growth there is an excessive skin growth varying in extent among the individuals, but producing the typicallooseness and wrinkling of the St. Bernard, though not to so pronounced an extent. The brain may also in many casesbecome distended with fluid, giving a condition of hydrocephalus which is not uncommon in the big-headed breeds ofdogs. All of these changes develop only after the third month of age; see Fig. 69. […] Another even more peculiarreaction, arriving in these hybrid puppies shortly after three months of age, is the appearance of a strange paralysis ofthe hind extremities. These pups may all be vigorous, active, and well, when suddenly one or two in a group are unableto support their bodies on their hind legs and are completely unable to stand or walk. Closely following the firstcases every individual of the litter is similarly attacked. This condition of inability to stand or walk may last foronly a day or so, or for as long as several weeks. After a time, the animal learns in most ingenious ways tocompensate for the partially paralyzed condition by twisting the legs into various positions, and is again able to standand walk with, as a rule, a more or less abnormal seal-like gait. In two cases the dogs actually learned to raisetheir bodies from the ground and to walk on their front legs exactly as a man does when walking on his hands. Thedogs did this for a number of days whenever they walked and then became able to use their hind legs again.”34 Zu den acromegaly-like features möchte ich auch an dieser Stelle noch einmal betonen, dass die Erforschung der genauen genetischen undphysiologischen Ursachen zumindest für die großen Hunderassen noch am Anfang steht, dass aber die Mediziner Stockard und Goldschmidtden Trend der Unterschiede zum Wolf (von relativ geringfügigem Funktionsabbau bis zu "hereditary monstrosities", "pathological mutants"etc.) schon damals ganz richtig erkannt hatten.