mutts vs pure breeds

[brittney logan]

Hi Ashley, no doubt these dogs a beautiful and quite interesting! To answer your question, we prefer that dogs enrolled in our study be apart of a family where the owners know the dogs behavior. Our goal is to find correlations between behavior and genetics, and if staff don’t really know shelter dogs, then their answers on the surveys will not be reliable. Thank you for asking, and I hope the dogs going through the shelters find loving homes in no time!

[jesse mcclure]

Brittney is correct. But if you are able, please feel free to pass on our information to anyone who adopts the dogs. We’d love to have those dogs enrolled once they are with their family.

[michelle warren]

Specifically regarding the mutts vs. purebreds debate. My mixed breed is a carrier for Exercise Induced Collapse (EIC) and Progressive retinal atrophy, Progressive rod-cone degeneration (prcd-PRA).

[dawn miller]

Yikes, Michelle. It is a good thing to know these things. I ran a dna panel on my pure breed in case I’d ever offer to let him stud a litter.

[laura mills]

I have two Olde English Bulldogges, technically “mutts” but regisered with IOEB. The OEB is a mix of English Bulldog, Bullmastiff, “pitbull”, and American Bulldog (my female I believe has some Catahoula in there as well). A nice attempt to bring back a healthier, more athletic bulldog, but since they are a mix, they are very different. My male is 148 pounds and built more like a bullmastiff and my female is 50 pounds and looks more pitbull. At least both can breathe fine and both can even swim. I am anxious to see what the mix does prove out to be in these two. I do not see them as healthier but chances are the dogs used to create them were not necessarily the best of the individual breeds. I am still dealing with hip and knee issues in my female and food intolerances and skin issues in my male. I had them spayed/neutered as I did not want to pass any of their issues on. I am excited to learn more from this study!

[irene indarte]

Great article car2ner. I live in an area where there are too many stray dogs. They all look similar. It has become a situation where I can almost tell who is related. I like to call these dogs “Gauguins” as in Paul Guaguin. If you see his paintings in Tahiti you’ll see all the dogs look the same, just like most street dogs. I guess this could support the article’s statements even more.

[dawn miller]

It makes sense to me Irene, that with adaptation, one body style should win out over others.
Pretty nifty of you calling these dogs Gauguins.
https://goo.gl/Vz2MYp

[nanci mccune]

I don’t think there is such a thing as a “healthier breed,” unless that breed is one that hasn’t become all the rage. In the 60’s, Cocker Spaniels were the sought after dog, which led to all sorts of inherited issues. Golden Retriever are genetically predisposed to cancer, yet people still breed them. A high percentage of Rottweilers die of cancer before age ten, as do Bernese Mountain Dogs. Mutts are the same, depending on what DNA they inherit. We had an INCREDIBLE yellow lab/Malamute? X..adopted, who liked like a giant white Arctic breed with silly ears. We thought he would be healthier than a purebred dog. He was adopted. But he got cancer at 10.5 yrs and dead at age 11.Labs are also prone to cancer…AMERICAN Labs, not British Labs.

I really think there needs to be stricter laws about just anyone having a purebred or ANY breed and deciding to “let them be a stud” or “let them have a litter”..Or two +. Here in Tucson, pet overpopulation is a horrific issue. On any given day, over five hundred dogs can be found in the County shelter. This does not include the other hundreds of dogs, better in the rescues, which number at least 10. A huge percentage of them are pit bulls and chihuahuas, the most common breeds that are allowed to stay in backyards and constantly have puppies by whatever dog comes by the yard! And then there is the mindset of many, I hate to say it SOME men, who act as if neutering their dog is an extension of them. They believe the old wives tales that if they neuter their dog it will change their personality. After all, it’s not cool to strut down the street with a tough-looking pitbull, unless he’s showing off his package!
There are not enough homes for these dogs!

[dawn miller]

There are some studies that suggest that delaying neutering can be healthier for large dogs. That being said, if an animal is intact for what ever reason, the human is responsible to control the animal’s opportunities to breed. Our boy is intact and our female went through two heats before getting spay. No pups in our house. We controlled their access to each other.
Yes, breeding should be done by people who understand as best we can, how to improve the breed, not just crank out popular breeds to make money. Breeders need to make a profit but that cannot be their only goal.

Sorry to hear about your big white companion. I grew up with a lab/ german shepherd mix and she developed a huge tumor on her side. There is no stopping our dogs from passing away, but we can try to give them longer better lives.

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