Shakti Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 Shortstep - I am just blown away - thank you so much for posting this. I will print off several copies to pass on to interested friends and of course to the vet in question. This is comprehensiuve and understandable as well as ethical! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 many people think it. Friends of ours have a lab x kelpie, they say that the kelpie part makes her lab part smarter, but they're waiting for the lab 'calmness' to kick in when she's two (the dog has prey drive out of its arse which they're not really channeling but hey, the lab part will suppress that in a year or so ) people seem to think crossbreeding works like cordial. Mix it together and you get the flavour just right, ie, you get the temperament just right. I usually tell people like this, wow point this out in my genetics textbooks we seemed to have missed these parts. I see plenty of crossbreeds with massive temperament flaws ... why? EIther two non complementary breeds have been crossed and the dog got the 'best of both worlds' (try high working drive and no idea what to do with it so the poor animal just keeps exploding) or the parents have character traits that should never have been passed on but have. Breeding is difficult. The problem is there are too many idiots out there with self justifying reasons as to why they should breed their prime specimens and how fabulous those pups will indeed be. Perception is the key ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 What we can glean from her opinion, is that people prefer cross bred dogs over purebred dogs because of perceived faults and problems in purebred dogs. We need to market the unique qualities of the purebred dog. We need to (dare I say it yet again) look at it from a business perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogz4life Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 yes my friend recently was hell bent on getting a french bulldog was researching breeders and everything, she actually started checking DOL actually, and then what would ya know.....walks past a petshop in newcastle and buys a bloody moodle...... it is definetly the cutsie pie factor as previously stated nothing else and never will be.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Panzer Attack! Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 It's interesting how prejudice against breed affects people and their opinions on dogs. The amount of people who have been unwilling to approach my dog (and myself) until double-checking he is not a chihuahua is mind-boggling. When he trots up to them and starts jumping around and licking, most people assume he is a cross and are surprised to find he is a purebred. I know someone who posts on here who has chihuahuas and they are just lovely little dogs. I've not met a mean chihuahua and don't understand where the bad rep comes from! Sure I've met some highly strung poodles but they tend to be owned by equally highly strung owners! :D I think it's kinda scary that people genuinely believe that their groodle/moodle/maltshih is a purebred now more than anything else. I've had more than one woman argue with me that her schnoodle is a purebred dog. I don't get it. What kind of crap are these people being fed? Even at pet stores they will have signs up saying, for example, "CAVOODLE (cavalier x poodle)". Hello?! The vet that made the claim doesn't happen to be on a TV show about a veterinary practice with a beach setting, does she? E x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 The thing that is difficult to counter in the public mind though is that seeing a GSD competing at crufts with such a severe roach back it stumbles every few steps, or hearing about breeds that can't give birth naturally because of oversized heads has much greater impact on their thinking than seeing the friendly neighbourhood labradoodle, which may or may not develop problems later in life (which only the owners will see). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 (edited) As someone else said, her opinion (which she believes is fact) is an extension of the simplistic line that's been used to peddle 'designed' mixes in past years. 'Mix 2 breeds & you always get the best of both. While always eradicating the supposed worst of each'. And this includes temperament. A great deal of money has depended on getting people to believe that as a matter of faith, not science. Also as others have said, it arises out of ignorance about genetics. In this instance, also ignorance about how behaviour is shaped by environmental influences. As the saying goes, 'Genes supply the gun, but the environment fires the bullet'. Edited August 22, 2011 by mita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravyk Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Whilst I don't agree with her opinion and her idea probably is best in theory, wasn't there a case in Europe where a breeder bred a pointer and dally together to try to eliminate the uric acid (?) issue found in nearly all dally lines? And it worked, and a few generations down, even specialty dally judges couldn't tell them apart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Whilst I don't agree with her opinion and her idea probably is best in theory, wasn't there a case in Europe where a breeder bred a pointer and dally together to try to eliminate the uric acid (?) issue found in nearly all dally lines? And it worked, and a few generations down, even specialty dally judges couldn't tell them apart? This carefully planned and monitored attempt to improve the health of a breed is a very long way from randomly crossing two second or third rate examples of different breeds in the mistaken belief that this will magically create perfect health and temperament in the offspring ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverStar-Aura Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 The temperament argument doesn't hold much stock in my eyes. It sounds like she's trying to shift the blame of bad ownership onto the breeders. If a dog is yappy, snippy etc that's more of a learned behaviour rather than a genetic temperament issue. I also know first hand that cross breeding isn't a good thing because it's their cuteness that sell rather than the fact they're "hypo-allergenic" or "genetically sound". I bought Zeus (beagle x JRT) because he was cute failing to realise that this is the worst possible dog combination EVER! I knew nothing of beagles or of JRTs (other than their endless energy) and have found out the hard way about both breeds. I only ever joking refer to him as a "Brussel" (the Americans call this mongrel breed "Jack-a-Bees" :rolleyes:) and when people tell me they might consider getting one because Zeus is so gorgeous I tell them very emphatically NO! Sure, he is a bloody gorgeous, smily boy, but no. This is one combination of dog that should never have been created. I do love him to bits because he's lovely and smart as hell and he's mine, but I wouldn't wish this "breed" on anyone. And frankly, I think if anyone doesn't want a pure-breed based on health issues/temperament/whatever, then they shouldn't get a pet. We don't try crossing humans for the improvement of our species nor do we stop procreating purely because we may have some horrible disease hiding somewhere deep down our family tree. Hmm ... I don't know. Now I'm just rambling nonsense. Sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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