100 Years of Breed -Improvement

8/13/2019 100 Years of Breed -Improvement

1/3

http://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/100-years-of-breed-improvement/

100 Years of Breed ImprovementMus Musculus, Ph.D./2012/09/29

For the sake of honest disclosure, I will admit to owning purebreds (the pureness of purebreeds is adiscussion for another time) but I also have mutts. All the dogs Ive had since childhood had a few thingsin common, they were crazy, prey driven, ball-crazy, intense, motivated, athletic (crazy dogs are easier to

train) and none had intentionally bred defects. I would never buy/adopt a dog whose breed characteristicsexacted a health burden.(Asher 2009). That just incentivizes people to breed more of these intentionally

unhealthy animals.

The dogs on the left are from the 1915 book,Breeds of All Nationsby W.E. Mason. The examples on theright are modern examples from multiple sources. To be able to make an honest comparison, Ive chosenpictures with similar poses and in a couple of cases flipped the picture to get them both aligned in thesame direction. I had to skip some breeds I wanted to include because of the lack of detail in the olderphotographs.

It seems incredible that at one time the Bull Terrier was a handsome, athletic dog. Somewhere along itsjourney to a mutated skull and thick abdomen the bull terrier also picked up a number of other maladieslike supernumerary teeth and compulsive tail-chasing.

The Basset Hound has gotten lower, has suffered changes to its rear leg structure, has excessive skin,

vertebra problems, droopy eyes prone to entropion and ectropion and excessively large ears.

A shorter face means a host of problems. The modern Boxer not only has a shorter face but the muzzle isslightly upturned. The boxer like all bracecyphalic dogs has difficulty controlling its temperature in hotweather, the inability to shed heat places limits on physical performance. It also has one of the highest

cancer rates.
http://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/100-years-of-breed-improvement/http://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/100-years-of-breed-improvement/http://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/author/dogbehaviorscience/http://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/author/dogbehaviorscience/http://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/100-years-of-breed-improvement/http://archive.org/details/dogsofallnations00masorichhttp://archive.org/details/dogsofallnations00masorichhttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/03.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/02.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/01.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/03.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/02.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/01.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/03.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/02.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/01.jpghttp://archive.org/details/dogsofallnations00masorichhttp://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/100-years-of-breed-improvement/http://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/author/dogbehaviorscience/http://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/100-years-of-breed-improvement/


2/3

The English bulldog has come to symbolize all that is wrong with the dog fancy and not without good

reason; they suffer from almost every possible disease. A 2004 survey by the Kennel Club found that theydie at the median age of 6.25 years (n=180). There really is no such thing as a healthy bulldog. Thebulldogs monstrous proportions makes them virtually incapable of mating or birthing without medicalintervention.

The Dachshund used to have functional legs and necks that made sense for their size. Backs and neckshave gotten longer, chest jutted forward and legs have shrunk to such proportions that there is barely anyclearance between the chest and floor. The dachschund has the highest risk of any breed for

intervertebral disc disease which can result in paralysis; they are also prone to achondroplastic relatedpathologies, PRA and problems with their legs.

The German Shepherd Dog is also a breed that is routinely mentioned when people talk about ruined

breeds; maybe because they used to be awesome. InDogs of All Nations, the GSD is described as amedium-sized dog (25 kg /55 lb), this is a far cry from the angulated, barrel-chested, slopingback,ataxic, 85-pounders (38 kg) we are used to seeing in the conformation ring. There was a time

when the GSD could clear a2.5 meter (8.5 ft) wall,that time is long gone.
http://youtu.be/T1LjkGP091ghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/100-years-schutzhund-8f6i-dogs-of-all-nations.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/05.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/10.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/04.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/05.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/10.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/04.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/05.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/10.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/04.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/100-years-schutzhund-8f6i-dogs-of-all-nations.jpghttp://youtu.be/T1LjkGP091g


3/3

The Pug is another extreme brachycephalic breed and it has all the problems associated with that trait high blood pressure, heart problems, low oxygenation, difficulty breathing, tendency to overheat,dentition problems, and skin fold dermatitis. The highly desirable double-curl tail is actually a genetic

defect, in more serious forms it leads to paralysis.

Once a noble working dog, the modern St. Bernard has been oversized, had its faced squished in, andbred for abundant skin. You will not see this type of dog working, they cant handle it as they quickly

overheat. The diseases include entropion, ectropion, Stockards paralysis, hemophilia, osteosarcoma,aphakia, fibrinogen deficiency.

It is unrealistic to expect any population to be free of genetic diseases but show breeders haveintentionally selected for traits that result in diseases. Conformation breeders claim they are improvingthe breed and yet they are often the cause of these problems. If improvement in looks imposes a healthburden then it is not a breed improvement..

No dog breed has ever been improved by the capricious and arbitrary decision that ashorter/longer/flatter/bigger/smaller/curlier whatever is better. Condemning a dog to a lifetime ofsuffering for the sake of looks is not an improvement; it is torture.

Further ReadingDog Breed Historical Pictures.Breed-Predispositions to Cancer in Pedigree Dogs -ISRN Veterinary ScienceThe Price of a Pedigree Dog breed standards and breed-related illness - Animal Welfare Group (PDF)A healthier future for pedigree dogs (2009) Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (PDF)A healthier future for pedigree dogs 2012 update APGAW (PDF)

Pedigree dog breeding in the UK: a major welfare concern? RSPCA (PDF)

REFERENCESAsher L, Diesel G, Summers JF, McGreevy PD, Collins LM. (2009). Inherited defects in pedigree dogs. Part

1: disorders related to breed standards. Vet J. 2009 Dec;182(3):402-11.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v485/Pietoro/Dog%20Breed%20Historical%20Pictures/?start=0http://www.hindawi.com/isrn/veterinary.science/2013/941275/http://www.onekind.org/uploads/publications/price-of-a-pedigree.pdfhttp://www.onekind.org/uploads/publications/price-of-a-pedigree.pdfhttp://www.onekind.org/uploads/publications/price-of-a-pedigree.pdfhttp://www.apgaw.org/data/sites/1/PDFs/a-healthier-future-for-pedigree-dogs.pdfhttp://www.apgaw.org/Data/Sites/1/pdfs/Dog-Breeding-Report-2012.pdfhttp://www.apgaw.org/Data/Sites/1/pdfs/Dog-Breeding-Report-2012.pdfhttp://www.apgaw.org/Data/Sites/1/pdfs/Dog-Breeding-Report-2012.pdfhttp://www.rspca.org.uk/ImageLocator/LocateAsset?asset=document&assetId=1232712491490&mode=prdhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19836981http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19836981http://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/07.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/06.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/07.jpghttp://dogbehaviorscience.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/06.jpghttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19836981http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19836981http://www.rspca.org.uk/ImageLocator/LocateAsset?asset=document&assetId=1232712491490&mode=prdhttp://www.apgaw.org/Data/Sites/1/pdfs/Dog-Breeding-Report-2012.pdfhttp://www.apgaw.org/data/sites/1/PDFs/a-healthier-future-for-pedigree-dogs.pdfhttp://www.onekind.org/uploads/publications/price-of-a-pedigree.pdfhttp://www.hindawi.com/isrn/veterinary.science/2013/941275/http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v485/Pietoro/Dog%20Breed%20Historical%20Pictures/?start=0

Documents

100 Years of Breed -Improvement