WVGSD
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Jan 2009
Location: West Virginia
Posts: 91 |
purebred dogs and health challenges
The breed that was highlighted with the condition called syringomelia is the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The premise made in the show was that, by breeding these dogs to achieve a certain appearance (big eyes), the breed now has a genetically transmitted defect that is due to breeding for the desired look.
Another breed that this program highlighted was the English Bulldog and the fact that, breeding for the current appearance of the breed, has made them prone to many health problems, breathing difficulties and they can almost never whelp naturally. They showed old pictures of what the breed used to look like when it was actually used for bull baiting. The heads were smaller, the jaws were more proportionate in size and the dog's chests were not so wide.
Generally speaking, breeds such as the larger sporting breeds, hunting dogs and working terrier breeds (earthdog breeds), do not see the same level of genetically-related challenges due to the fact that they still do what they were bred to do - i.e. they hunt, flush fowl or go to ground. The appearance of these breeds has not changed as dramatically over time as many of the smaller toy and non-performance breeds have. Breeds that still work have fared much better than many others.
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