right in two. wrote:
Dogs in general shouldn't be a "breed".. I mean, even wolves tend to vary quite a lot in terms of phenotype, color and attitude. There aren't any wolf or free ranging dog populations running around with matching coat colors and super specific temperaments and breed traits and tight, monitored bloodlines.
I'm really glad that it's becoming common knowledge that purebred dogs can be messed up, but it isn't only pugs, bulldogs and all of these brachycephalic breeds that are suffering. Dalmatians look normal and healthy for example, but unless they happen to be LUA dalmatians, they have to eat a special diet low in purines or else they'll end up with bladder stones. Oh, and a lot of the time they're deaf in one or both of their ears.
Dobermans are super prone to DCM.
Golden retrievers should really be called cancer retrievers because they tend to get cancer.
German shepherds are very often hip dysplastic.
It's really not as simple as "choosing another breed to enjoy" either; dogs aren't interchangable like that. You can't just decide to love and own border collies because somebody told you that pugs are deformed. You may not be much better off choosing another breed anyway. You'd just be trading respiratory problems for back problems or skin problems or something.
Not that I'm trying to disagree, but what do you recommend people do? We can't just stop getting dogs. Plus, a lot of dog breeds are relatively healthy, especially mutts (who tend to live longer than normal dogs, plus can help cancel out bad breeding choices). Poodles, Border Collies, Labs, Huskies and Cattle Dogs are all examples of breeds that are generally healthy and aren't prone to diseases. Should we focus more on dogs like that? I agree, as a bulldog owner (she was a rescue from the SPCAA before anyone comes for me) that it's sad what happened to these dogs and we should focus on maybe trying to change breed standards and undo all these deformities, either by selective breeding or crossbreeding. But all dogs at some point going to be more at risk for cancer, or joint problems, etc.
Dog breeds were created to fulfill certain tasks to aid humans (like horses), such as guard dogs, hunting dogs, swimmers, etc. and, even though most dogs are now pets, some still perform the tasks they were meant to do therefor breeds aren't useless. Even now, only certain breeds with the right disposition can be tasked with being service dogs which are very important for handicapped people.
