Interesting Cross Breed on Craigslist

BCSnob wrote:
You have a better chance at finding a healthy breed if you look for one bred for physical activity (hunting, herding, pulling, racing, etc) than one bred to be a lap puppy. The stresses put on the dogs to meet the physically active breeding goals typically weeds out those dogs that have health issues.

I think that *might* be true if you're talking of working/performance lines within those breeds. For instance, IME Labs from pet lines don't seem to be any healthier than the average lap dog. Field bred Labs probably would tend to be healthier than an average lap dog or an average Lab from pet lines.

But there are likely exceptions to that. For example, the high incidence of cancer in Greyhounds, even though the overwhelming majority, at least here in the U.S., are bred from performance lines.

I have seen very, elderly lap dogs. I have seen many dogs bred for sports, that were riddled with joint and bone problems.
A happy medium would be nice.

You have a better chance at finding a healthy breed if you look for one bred for physical activity (hunting, herding, pulling, racing, etc) than one bred to be a lap puppy. The stresses put on the dogs to meet the physically active breeding goals typically weeds out those dogs that have health issues.

True, no real answers. I would just hope that with so many different breed choices-at least one could be the 'Methuselah' breed. Long-lived, companionship and healthy!

Looks are in the eye of the beholder.

And function -- goodness, if dogs hadn't originally been bred for function we wouldn't have any purebreds at all. Which might not be a totally bad thing, but think of all the good dogs who've been bred for certain functions have done over the years. How many lost people have been found by hounds, the assistance herding dogs provide, etc.


Not to mention that w/o human-directed breeding experts say almost all dogs now would be about 40 pounds, have short coats and upright ears. I don't mind admitting I like variety.

Plus there are plenty of "someones" out there who ARE working valiantly for health and long life in their breed of choice.

Note I'm not arguing with you, just presenting another, hopefully wider, perspective. It's not a simple issue, and there are no simple answers.

Pawz4me wrote:

Go Dogs wrote:
Rather an ugly, big, smelly, healthy dog, than a cute little thing, riddled with genetic health problems. IMHO.

But that's a false choice. There are plenty of genetically unsound large dogs, and plenty of healthy small dogs (probably not on Craigslist, though).

Please read the post that corresponds to this statement. I said that I wish someone would breed for health and long life, rather than looks and function.

Go Dogs wrote:
Rather an ugly, big, smelly, healthy dog, than a cute little thing, riddled with genetic health problems. IMHO.

But that's a false choice. There are plenty of genetically unsound large dogs, and plenty of healthy small dogs (probably not on Craigslist, though).

Rather an ugly, big, smelly, healthy dog, than a cute little thing, riddled with genetic health problems. IMHO.

Go Dogs wrote:
Who cares what it would look like, or how big it got, how much it sheds, or how much it drools?

A lot of people do care, and often for very sound, justifiable reasons.

I would like for breeders to try and produce a very healthy dog. Who cares what it would look like, or how big it got, how much it sheds, or how much it drools? I would so enjoy a loving, loyal companion, that would enjoy a long life. It's so hard to watch them suffer from any ailment, but even worse, one that could have been prevented with careful breeding.