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Published 8 years ago by jenjen1352 with 4 Comments

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  • SuperCyan
    +2

    The selective breeding in the dog world sucks, because it's lead to a lot of breeds having many health issues.

    For example, pugs were bread so they'd have really small, and weird looking, snouts. Now, many pugs have respiratory problems, due to their snouts being so small and their faces being weird. Dogs aren't really supposed to look like that, and in the case of the pug, they're worse off due to people breeding them to not be like that. Basset hounds are the same way. Short dogs commonly have muscular and spinal problems (and I've heard of some of their organs getting flipped over is a common issue), because of their size, and breeding them to be ridiculously short doesn't really make that any better. On top of that, Bassets are so short, that it makes it hard for them to do a lot of things. Mine use to struggle getting on our old, shorter couches, but now, with a higher couch and old age, he can't get up on them at all. He's taking a supplement for his joints, because old age made getting up the stairs an impossible task, rather than the grueling one that it used to be.

    I know him getting older has a lot to do with his struggles, but I've had taller dogs in worse shape do what he can't, and I feel like he'd fair better if his legs were a bit longer. It's one thing to breed for good traits, but the level that some purebred people take it is insane. For every benefit that pure-breeding brings (mostly looks), there's a plethora of issues that pushing traits and killing genetic diversity that come about.

    • jenjen1352
      +2

      I agree. The early pugs had a longer snout, which I think looks better. One of the worst breeding problems is that of the English bulldog. Their pelvis is so narrow compared to the width of their jaws that caesarians are required to successfully birth the puppies. Or so I've been told.

      • SuperCyan
        +2

        That sound horrible. It's a shame that people abuse dogs so much just to make them look "better" in their eyes.

        • jenjen1352
          +2

          Another interesting thing is that cats have not responded to similar breeding programmes anywhere nearly as well. They are all pretty much the same size, their fur doesn't grow as long, and it has taken until quite recently to breed the short-legged munchkin cat (which I deplore).

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