Very sad but true. When a breed becomes very popular and suddenly in demand, indiscriminate breeding leads to health issues that may never be weeded out. Take my favorite, Dobermans. Very popular in the 70’s and many folks were just trying to cash in on that. Now we have a breed with a pretty short life span
I saw a documentary from BBC about the world of pure bred dogs. They showed pictures of breeds such as the Basset hound and the English bull dog from many years ago. Wow they looked healthier and “normal” ie w/o legs so short they cant walk or faces so pushed it it’s impossible to breath. (they are doing this with Persian cats too). The documentary also revealed how some breeders of Rhodesian Ridgebacks will “destroy” puppies that are not born with the ridge.
‘Tis why I consider the AKC to be a vile organization. They perpetuate the notion that a dog’s value lies in superficial qualities such as appearance. This mentality causes such things as overbreeding, in-breeding, breeding for particular traits that cause the dog to have physical discomfort and/or health issues (such as breathing difficulties for short-snouted dogs and hip dysplasia for “well-tapered” German shepherds), physical “modifications” (mutilations such as tail docking and ear cropping) to dogs solely for aesthetic reasons, etc., etc. Their mindset also adds value and appeal to the pure-bred dog, encouraging people to make money from dog breeding. This increases the supply of a “product” for which the supply already far exceeds the demand, increasing the number of dogs that are killed simply because their numbers are too great. Anybody who truly loves dogs (or cats) would never breed them – every dog or cat that’s added to the population is one more dog or cat that is put to sleep. (Even if every one of my dog’s puppies goes to a good home, the odds are that they’ll go to families that would have gotten a dog anyway. If that family doesn’t take my puppy, then they’ll get a dog from some other source. Somewhere down the line, for every puppy that my dog has, there’s some dog somewhere that is not finding a home and is instead put to sleep. Only a scumbag could live with such a notion.)
rush.diana about 11 years ago
Very sad but true. When a breed becomes very popular and suddenly in demand, indiscriminate breeding leads to health issues that may never be weeded out. Take my favorite, Dobermans. Very popular in the 70’s and many folks were just trying to cash in on that. Now we have a breed with a pretty short life span
rush.diana about 11 years ago
I saw a documentary from BBC about the world of pure bred dogs. They showed pictures of breeds such as the Basset hound and the English bull dog from many years ago. Wow they looked healthier and “normal” ie w/o legs so short they cant walk or faces so pushed it it’s impossible to breath. (they are doing this with Persian cats too). The documentary also revealed how some breeders of Rhodesian Ridgebacks will “destroy” puppies that are not born with the ridge.
fishbulb239 about 11 years ago
‘Tis why I consider the AKC to be a vile organization. They perpetuate the notion that a dog’s value lies in superficial qualities such as appearance. This mentality causes such things as overbreeding, in-breeding, breeding for particular traits that cause the dog to have physical discomfort and/or health issues (such as breathing difficulties for short-snouted dogs and hip dysplasia for “well-tapered” German shepherds), physical “modifications” (mutilations such as tail docking and ear cropping) to dogs solely for aesthetic reasons, etc., etc. Their mindset also adds value and appeal to the pure-bred dog, encouraging people to make money from dog breeding. This increases the supply of a “product” for which the supply already far exceeds the demand, increasing the number of dogs that are killed simply because their numbers are too great. Anybody who truly loves dogs (or cats) would never breed them – every dog or cat that’s added to the population is one more dog or cat that is put to sleep. (Even if every one of my dog’s puppies goes to a good home, the odds are that they’ll go to families that would have gotten a dog anyway. If that family doesn’t take my puppy, then they’ll get a dog from some other source. Somewhere down the line, for every puppy that my dog has, there’s some dog somewhere that is not finding a home and is instead put to sleep. Only a scumbag could live with such a notion.)
goblyn about 11 years ago
Harsh… Next it will be drunk driving a stolen car :(
angusdad about 11 years ago
That’s why I prefer mixed breeds. They usually don’t have the problems like there is with purebreds
rush.diana about 11 years ago
BTW the name of the BBC doc is “Pedigree Dogs Exposed”. It can be watched on youtube in it’s entirety
pschearer Premium Member about 11 years ago
I remember when cocker spaniels were popular. “See Spot run! Run, Spot, run!”