Dog DNA & Designer Dogs
by Reva
on 7/1/2010 at 5:42 PM
in Designer Dogs
Hello! I am a pet sitter in the Pacific Northwest, and have worked with animals all my life, although I am not a breeder. I have owned and had Borzois, Shelties, and Dalmatians for 37yrs. My daughters have Mini Dachshunds and Collies, and my sisters have Golden Retrievers and Beagles. I am also a lover of both purebred and regular cats.
I have been disturbed by the fact that the professional dog breeders have had a political strangle hold on dog DNA for the past 60yrs. The AKC closed their stud books, limiting the amount of genetic traits that all of our purebreds have to draw upon. At the same time, huge pressure has come on the public to spay and neuter all pets.
The result has been very expensive purebred dogs on the market, which have serious, inbred caused, health issues. The list is too long to cover here of dogs that I have cared for that were well loved, lost at an early age, and never should have been bred just for dog show characteristics.
I am against puppy mills , like any dog lover would be. But I also think that designer dogs, bred by caring families, are the only hope we have for having healthy pets. Dog show people cull puppies all the time, simply for having a minor color fault. But we are not supposed to have dogs with hybrid vigour, raised by loving families? Something needs to change.
Thanks for this website, and for giving me an ear.
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Hello Reva
Thank you for your attack on the "closed shop" attitude of the AKC. This is exactly the same in the UK too, the Kennel Club being responsible for the terrible incestuous breeding in many, if not all of the most popular showdog breeds, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Labradors, German Shepherds, Pugs, English Bulldogs, just to name a few. Some of whom are so sadly reduced by hereditary illness, that they can only function as a shadow of their true selves. The German shepherd for example is often no longer suitable for military and police work, so it is being replaced generally worldwide by the malinois, which fortunately has not really attracted the attention of the unscrupulous dealers, possibly because the Belgian variety is not as attractive visually as the German one.
I fully agree with your comments concerning designer dogs. It is evident that crossing of two breeds usually provides health benefits, undoing the harmful effects of inbreeding, whilst still maintaining some of the desired characteristics of the pure breeds, the looks, the personality, the skills etc. Most insurance companies, obviously fully aware that crossbreds are much healthier generally than purebreds, have premiums often 50% lower for the former against the latter.
My two designer dogs, a 7 year old Greyhound/Border Collie Cross, with the looks, speed and temperament of the former and possibly some of the brains of the latter, has never had to visit the veterinarian for any illness - neither has my 2 1/2 year old Pug-Zu. She is clearly visually a cross of two pedigrees, pug and Shih Tzu. She does not have the respiratory problems of one of her younger pure bred Pug friends, who is a very frequent visitor to the dog doctor. Unlike him she can run with a pack,walk for several hours in any weather and swim. An ideal example of a designer dog.
Welcome to the website.
michdwy
on 7/5/2010 at 5:19 AM
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I UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE PUPPY MILLS BUT SOME TIMES THOSE HAVE COME OUT WITH SOME OF THE BEST DOGS
mastifflover134
on 8/27/2010 at 2:10 AM
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