I bought a dog from a co-workers mother, whom I absolutely trusted. The dog was not papered, but she assured me it was a purebred shih-tzu. They gave me pictures of the father, etc. I took a training class, and to my surprise, my puppy's mother and brother were there. That's when I found out that her dad is an "Imperial Shih-Tzu." I looked up this interesting term….. My puppy is a mutt from a runt!!!
Well, almost a year later, my puppy has hip dysplasia, which I was told was genetic. (I contacted my co-worker, who says her mom's dog has been recently fixed.)
My question– I think from now on I'd rather buy an AKC registered dog for health reasons. My husband says mutts are healthier and live longer because they are not INBRED like purebreds.
A professionally bred registered dog should be healthier, right?
~not against mutts, but I don't think I could deal with another new puppy knowing s/he has health problems and will only live 5-7 years!!!
~my dog was spayed, that's how we found out she has a genetic health problem.
Wow, these are all such great answers, I can't choose a best!
The CKC or AKC doesn't have standard for the quality. So you could be buying a registered pure bred and the dog could have health problems. The key is to look for a breeder who will give you a written health guarentee on the puppy preferably for atleast 5 years. Also health and genetic screening should be done on the parents and grandparents. Mutts inherit the hereditory defects from both Lines…ex. German Shepherd/Australian Shepherd Mix….The German Shepherd is known for blood disorders, epilepsy, dysplasia. Australian Shepherds are known for blindness, deafness, mylopthethy, dysplasia, liver problems…..so your puppy can inherit any of these defects. Plus you do not know the lineage from the parents or grandparents….
If you get a Pure bred dog with a health guarentee from a reputable breeder you will know what bloodlines run in the genes, you can see a health certificate/screening form for atleast 3-5 generations.
Goodluck
it really depends on the kind of dog to make sure it is healthy take it to the vet as soon as possible
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was the mother also a shih tzu? Cuz then she's still be purebred, just poorly bred.
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You can't make generalizations like this – mutts are random breeding and can be healthy or have all sorts of medical problems inherent in all or any of the breeds they are mixed with, you take your chances. It's ridiculous to say all mutts are healthier than purebreds – just an old wives' tale.
Well bred pedigree dogs are usually very healthy for the simple reason that they are well bred – by breeders who research the blood lines for genetic problems and breed for the good of the breed. Of course if you buy from a pet store or a back yard breeder – like you did the first time – you will likely get a dog with all sorts of health problems. The problem is not the pedigree, it is the lack of care of the irresponsbile breeder.
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hip dysplasia can be genetic but it can also just be a fluke…
I would not say mixed vs pure makes a huge difference if they are both poorly bred…. with a mixed breed from 2 poorly bred parents you risk health issues from both breeds..or how ever many types are in the mix… with a poorly bred purebred you will likely have alot if not all of the issues the breed has… if you take the time and research breeders..find a reputable breeder that knows the genetics behind their dogs and have had health clearances done on the parents..this is always a good start but can never guarantee your pet will not develop these issues…….
FYI..pay now or pay more later… in the world of purebred dogs you really do get what you pay for.
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The truth is that puppies, whether purebred or mixed, inherit genes from each parent. If the parents pass along the genes for a hereditary disease, the pups stand a good chance of having that disease. Hybrid vigor—the idea that unrelated parents produce healthier offspring—works only if natural selection is in operation. In the wild, a dog with clinical symptoms of a debilitating disease such as hip dysplasia or epilepsy would not be able to survive, and so would not pass on its genes. But in the modern world, with reasonable veterinary care and a constant food source, dogs with serious, even deadly, problems do survive long enough to produce lots of pups.
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mutts have better health because when dogs crossbreed the better genes make the dog but when two of the same type of dogs breed the genes could be bad.
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It depends. Some purebred dogs are more prone to health problems because of inbreeding. Recessive genes are more likely to come out. My breeder spent a TON of money getting his pups tested for eye and hip clearances. So I at least know a vet looked at my dog and assessed her.
I have never done a survey but it seems mixed breeds are smarter and more robust than purebreds.
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Any breeding can end up with puppies with defects, but usually ethical breeders do health testing and do everything they can to produce healthy puppies. They will cost more too though.
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A GOOD breeder is very careful about breeding only healthy dogs that don't have a family history of disease. However, the
"inbred" idea does have some validity, as some breeds have a tendency to be carriers of certain diseases or are selected to the point where the shape of their bodies is hazardous (short nosed breeds like pugs have a lot of nasal/sinus problems, bulldogs can't deliver puppies naturally most of the time). You are less likely to run into these problems with a mutt, but it doesn't protect you 100%.
With a mutt, though, you have no guarantee as to their disposition (personality, aggressiveness, etc…). With a purebred you can pick a breed with certain personality traits, energy levels, and other traits like less shedding or a particular size.
To find a GOOD reputable breeder, find your local "club" for that breed. This is a group of breeders that strives to breed healthy dogs with good dispositions. You can google "city/state (breed name) club" fill in the first two blanks with what is applicable. That will usually give a you a pretty good idea. AKC.com also has a breeder referall service online, but still check to make sure they are a member of their local club. Expect to pay more for a healthy dog upfront, but know that you'll have less of a chance of very expensive health problems later and you won't have to see your dog in so much pain. A good breeder is also a great resource for information on training, food, behavior issues, local resources and vets, etc…
Best of luck!
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The CKC or AKC doesn't have standard for the quality. So you could be buying a registered pure bred and the dog could have health problems. The key is to look for a breeder who will give you a written health guarentee on the puppy preferably for atleast 5 years. Also health and genetic screening should be done on the parents and grandparents. Mutts inherit the hereditory defects from both Lines…ex. German Shepherd/Australian Shepherd Mix….The German Shepherd is known for blood disorders, epilepsy, dysplasia. Australian Shepherds are known for blindness, deafness, mylopthethy, dysplasia, liver problems…..so your puppy can inherit any of these defects. Plus you do not know the lineage from the parents or grandparents….
If you get a Pure bred dog with a health guarentee from a reputable breeder you will know what bloodlines run in the genes, you can see a health certificate/screening form for atleast 3-5 generations.
Goodluck
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Any reputable breeder would get health clearances on the sire and the dam before pairing the two. Dogs with the proper health clearances are more likely to yield healthier puppies.
It's more difficult to predict quality in pups born from dogs without good health clearances. If hip dysplasia, deafness, or some other genetic defect is in a pup's heritage, it makes no difference if they are pure breed, mixed breed, AKC registered, or not.
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Purebreds are generally healthy if they came from a responsible breeder and not a backyard breeder (BYB). A responsible breeder does genetic testing on their dogs and don't breed any dog that tests positive for known genetic problems. Buying an AKC registered dog proves that the dog is a purebred, but the AKC are not the breeder police. An AKC registered dog does not insure the health of the dog. As far as mutts go, they may be healthier or they may have those same defective genes in their blood. Your best bet is finding a responsible breeder. The AKC website has a link for locating breeders, but ultimately it will be up to you to ask the breeder whether they do genetic testing, to show you proof of their dogs bloodlines and a responsible breeder will want to know about you! A responsible breeder isn't in it for the money, by the time they do all this testing and proper vet care they are LUCKY if they make a profit. They do it for the love of the breed, and they care a great deal about the home of their puppies will go to.
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I don't think it has anything to do with pure bred or mutt.
It has to do with breeding lines, and if the breeders are actually reputable, and breed only to better the breed.
Reputable breeders breed for health, and temperament.
The only way to guarantee the health of your dog, is to make sure the breeder has proof of health testing, including Hips and eyes.
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well you can tell your husband that not all purebred dog are inbred. if you buy from a reputable breeder that shows their dogs and does all the health testing for that breed then you can feel confident you are getting a healthy pup. a reputable breeder is breeding for that perfect dog to show so they want healthy pups. the pet puppy buyers get all the benefits of good breeding in there puppy as not all the puppies in a litter are show prospects.
if you choose to buy from an ad in the paper then you take your chances as these breeders don't health test there breeding stock and pet store puppies come from puppy mills. with the designer mix breeds that are so popular now you chance on getting the health issues from both mother and father in a puppy so you need to research both breeds for health issues. hope this helps you.
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A purebred from a responsible breeder is more likely to be healthier than a mutt, simply because resonsible breeders study the lineage of the dogs they breed. They test for genetic impurities. They breed dogs whose traits accentuate each other.
Purebreds from irresponsible greeders, on the other hand, are another story. Their parents are not health tested, and often the pups will end up with genetic problems, such as yours did. There's more inbreeding going on with irresponsible breeding than there is with responsible breeding. In any case, a mutt may be healthier than an irresponsibly bred purebred, but not a responsibly bred purebred.
I'd take a mutt over an irresponsibly bred purebred straight from a greeder anytime.
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There are 3 basic issues in "pure-bred vs cross-bred".
(1) Predictability
(2) Purpose
(3) Everything else.
(1) Predictability
The whole purpose of having a Closed Registry (the basic definition of "pure-bred" – it has nothing to do with whether a rescue worker or pet owner THINKS a pooch "looks like a pure-bred WotZit"). Over the generations, MOST carriers of unwanted genes have been culled out of the breed, and lines still risky for particular problems are mostly-known to the EXPERTS in the breed (newbies, of course, still have YEARS of study ahead before they know enough). Responsible breeders do not rely on the pedigree for that predictability, they use every diagnostic tool available – show gradings, obedience testing, character testing, "health tests" such as for checking hips, elbows, eyes.
People producing "pure-breds" have a huge task learning & checking on the good & bad in the single breed pool of their breed.
People producing "cross-breds" have an impossible task learning & checking on the good & bad in the two-or-more breed pools that they are combining.
Basically, all pure-breds ARE predictable – there will be slight variations, but every WotZit in a litter of WotZits wil grow up to be typical WotZits for size and behaviour etc etc.
Basically, the only thing predictable about a cross-bred is that it will grow faster than either of its pure-bred parents. If its parents are themselves cross-breds there is NOTHING you can predict about the off-spring – they will be weird mixes of the various ancestral breeds.
(2) Purpose:
The valid purpose of producing pure-bred WotZits is to to have more predictable WotZits, but with the stud supplying good genes where the brood needs a small improvement, and vice versa.
The valid purposes for producing cross-breds are
? to get a fast-growing slaughter generation in your beef-cattle or lambs or pigs or table-chickens.
? to combine 2 desirable features not currently found together in any pure-bred tribe, as is done when a guide dog school produces Cockapoos or Labradoodles to combine the low-allergenic coat of the Poodle with the high wish-to-please of the other breed.
? to bring a lost gene back into a breed, as with the breeder who out-crossed his Dalmatian to get a cross-breed that possessed one copy of the no-kidney-stone allele – all Dalmatians have 2 copies of the damaging kidney-stone allele – then in-bred and back-crossed in order to regain the Dalmatian type but with at least one, preferably 2, copies of the no-kidney-stones allele. See http://www.dogstuff.info/backcross_project_nash.html Also see http://www.steynmere.com/ARTICLES1.html for a breeder who used the same techniques to produce Boxers with naturally bobbed tails (all civilised countries ban ear cropping; most also ban tail docking).
The commonest reasons for producing cross-breds are:
* I stupidly let my on-heat bit.ch get mated by whatever was on the same property as herself, my own or a stray; PLEASE take these pups off my hands.
* I heard that "There's one born every minute" so I'm going to profit from those "ones" by catering for their stupidity by charging ridiculous prices for my "rare" pups with whatever fancy "breed" name I choose to supply. I might even open my own private Breed Registry so that other people doing the same thing will pay me to "register" their litters with me!
(3) Everything else:
High on the list will be how much background knowledge (if any!) about the genes they're combining the breeders of each type have.
High on the list will be the nature of the person doing the production, affecting how often they breed, how they raise the litters, how well (if at all) they check the prospective buyers & properties, the prices they charge, the Guarantee (if any) they supply, and whether they actually honour any guarantee.
Now, your husbands's faith in cross-bred longevity.
He is thinking of hybrid vigour, a proven fact. But mating a Poodle to a Labrador is NOT hybridization – all domestic dogs and coyotes and wolves come from the same gene pool, an ancient ancestor that was neither dog nor wolf. Over time, wolves became wolfier, coyotes became coyotier, and dogs became doggier. So cross-breeding brings together SOME alleles that were previously in separate gene pools, and that DOES – provided the new combination isn't damaging – result in a SMALL degree of increased vigour. But to get the full benefits of hybridization you must cross not just different breeds, but different species, as with the most famous hybrids, the mule and the hinny. And to produce them you MUST hybridize, as the progeny are invariably sterile.
Although that small degree of vigour from crossing 2 breeds of dogs (or of cats, or of sheep) DOES allow some of the progeny to live longer, he is likely to be shocked if he actually follows 100 cross-breds and 100 pure-breds through to their deaths.
He is firstly likely to find that the average age of ALL dogs at any time is less than 1 year – the death rate from lack of vaccination, lack of food & water, application of truck tyre or bullet, is horrendous during those first few months. And wanna bet that more pure-breds meet those fates than do cross-breds?
Next comes the actual breeds crossed.
If you cross 2 breeds that have average lifespans of 8 years (assuming they survive puppyhood), the offspring will have average lifespans only minimally greater than 8 years. If you cross breeds with very different life-spans, most of their pups will have lifespans in between the 2 parental breeds, but one might slightly outlast the longer-lived breed.
The most RELIABLE pooch for longevity is the pure-bred Pekingese. From memory, they average 18 years.
In-breeding is a 2-edged sword – if you in-breed on desirable features you get those features to their full degree. If you in-breed on undesirable features you get THOSE features to their full degree. So the proper system ought to be pretty obvious, eh!
Trouble is that so many "doggy people" are idiots, and they "paper-breed" instead of "doggy-breed". People who choose partners on the basis that they both have the same famous ancestor(s) are "paper-breeding". People who choose partners on the basis that both parents and all 4 grand-parents and most of the greatgrandparents displays the same desirable feature are "doggy-breeding" – they are checking that the desired genes are present, regardless of which distant ancestor they came from. Breeding is about GENES, not about names on paper. But those famous names on paper DO attract ignorant novices, eh!
Anyone who understands the process of meiosis that halves the number of chromosomes in the cell to produce 2 different sperm (or 2 different ova) which then merges with the other partner's gamete to produce a fertilised cell will understand that you can mate a litter-brother to a litter sister and get a litter in which one of the bitches is TOTALLY unrelated to one of the dogs – the statistical odds against it happening are horrendous, but it COULD happen (and, eventually, anything that COULD happen WILL happen). And so "paper-breeding" is futile – half of a famous ancestor's children failed to get a copy of a particularly desirable allele he possessed (they inherited his other allele of that gene), and from then on no descendant of his in that line possesses that allele. But the CoI remains the same, the degree of inbreeding remains the same – ON PAPER!!!
Back to in-breeding:
Apart from the genetic defects unwittingly collected by idiot "breeders" who don't do their research (plus those who research but the information needed was carefully kept secret by a previous breeder), in-breeding has 2 built-in defects:
(1) For several generations it lowers fertility. So people doing continued in-breeding MUST carefully select only children of the most fertile members of "generation X" when mating together "generation Y" to produce "generation Z", until they reach the stage at which fertility bounces back up again. In practise, most lines intermix in-breeding and "open" pedigrees.
(2) The immune system requires a degree of genetic variety in order to perform its functions. Unwise in-breeding therefore produces allergies, auto-immune deficiencies, and susceptibility to various viruses. But note that I stated "unwise" – in-breeding on a vigorous pooch who lived to 16 (in a breed where most die at 12-13) is unlikely to shorten lifespans.
In summary:
When buying from idiots, you run a risk.
A person who bases their breeding on "paper pedigrees" or "because the pair were available" or doesn't place any control whatsoever on who mates whom is pretty well guaranteed to be an idiot, genetically.
A person who studies bloodlines and insists that mates must BOTH possess certificates proving type & genetic health & trainability are likely to produce trouble-free pups nearly all the time.
But until such time as the effect of EVERY allele of EVERY gene is known and located on the genome map, randomisation and recessives WILL occasionally catch out even the most careful breeder. So judge a breeder by the overall production, not just the one or two best, not just the one or two worst
Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Friendly
"In GSDs" as of 1967
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mixed breeds ussually come from untested (and often unknown) parents.
many purebreds are not tested either. You see more unhealthy purebreds tho because of the amounts of people breeding and inbreeding for profit.. with no concern for health issues.
both mutts and purebreds from untested parents have the same chances of developing health problems. If the dogs are not tested, you have no idea what genes they are carrying.
Seek out a breeder who does do genetic health testing. You should research a breed to know what problems are common for that breed.
Health tests:
OFA is orthopedic foundation for animals. This is for orthopedic issues, such as hip displasia and luxating patella. I do beleive OFA does also keep record of epilepsy, thyroid and bleeding disorders, and also has CERF records linked to their database.
PennHip is for hip displasia.. it is considered better than OFA because it takes Xrays of the hips at different angles, and also considereds the flexability of the hips that varies among each breed.
CERF is the Canine Eye Registry.. this is to test for eye problems, including PRA and luxating lens. Because eyes change so much with age, CERF tests should be done yearly.
BAER is a hearing test
Optigen is a general genetic test.. what diseases tested for varies from each breed.
Pawsitive ID is another genetic test to help test for disease.
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