We all know tht purebreds hold high class in our society and treated with the lifestyles of the rich and famous...

I was just sent this, and couldn't watch after a third of it...

WARNING: not for the faint of heart!

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOUR TAKE IS ON THIS! PLEASE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1LyjlX4Mp8&NR=1

Inbreeding is a dangerous thing and purebred dogs are certainly that somewhere along their line esp with show quality.

I do at this point have only purebred dogs. I did buy our boxer but the other two, a chihuahua and great dane, were given to me. I do have my brother's dog while he is in the Air Force...his dog is a puttbull/catahoula mix.

Scary what people will do just for appearance of an animal

I personally would never buy a dog and I think mixed dogs are better than purebred dogs. Right now I do have a very beagly beagle even after I told myself I would not adopt a pure beagle. I love hounds and I love beagles but I really wanted a beagle mix. I found him and he needed a good home so we adopted him. He does have some issues that are probably related to being bred but I'm willing to deal with those small issues. I do hope major medical issues don't crop up later but we'll deal with those as they come.

There was quite a bit of discussion about that video on several of the email lists I am on..... it is originally from the BBC ......

The problem with purebred dogs is actually a societal issue..... and goes back to backyard breeders, commercial breeders and people being unwilling to wait.

I breed, every 3-4 years.... only when I want a puppy to show..... and the average wait time for a puppy from me is about 8-10 mos on average. So from the time a person contacts me and I say yes I am planning a litter, they wait 8-10 mos. I have an 8 page application and an even longer contract. If they wait.... they will get a puppy from a litter that has been extensively planned and researched. They will get a puppy from parents who have proven themselves worth breeding and adding their genes to the gene pool. They will get a well socialized, healthy pup.

However, lets be honest, how many people are willing to wait for 8-10 mos for a well planned, well thought out, puppy, and how many people are willing to pay for that well thought out well planned puppy when they can go to the newspaper or Craigs list and have a puppy tomm.

When I breed, I breed for the health and longevity of the breed as a whole. I am not just looking at the two dogs in front of me, but rather how will this breeding help the "breed". I personally am willing to take steps backward in conformation to go ahead in health and temperament and I have done it.

Inbreeding..... well that totally depends on what you are doing and whether you know what you are doing..... Inbreeding or what breeders call line breeding can be a really good thing IF you know what you are doing and you darned well better know whats in that pedigree...... because with a line breeding you can bring out some really good things if you double up on a dog that had really good health and longevity BUT you can also increase your odds of bad things happening if you don't know what is in that pedigree......

I have line bred on a several dogs in a pedigree.... but they are in the fourth and fifth generations back.... they were healthy and long lived dogs...... AND they were lovely dogs.... but to be honest that health and longevity is way more important to me than how they looked.

The problem is when people only care about winning......

The problem is when puppy people are unwilling to wait and go to the guy down teh street who bred his golden to his neighbors with no understanding of pedigrees or health testing .....

the problem is that every time someone says they rescued a dog from the petstore because he couldn't just leave him there and they paid money

the problem is that we are an instant gratification society and are unwilling to wait .....

The producer of that BBC documentary is a member of PETA (who you all should know wants to end pet ownership of all forms) and the Kennel Club (the british version of the AKC ) knew that there was goign to be a slant but they decided that it was better to talk to them and hope that they could get their view out there rather than ignore them and have it go crazy biased.... they were wrong.... and they realize that.... the documentary was slanted prior to the production and there was hopes because it was a BBC documentary that it would be balanced but it was not.

Purebred dogs from a responsible breeder are wonderful dogs..... but that requires the breeder to be responsible.....

mixed breed dogs (I love them) can and often are just an unhealthy as badly bred purebred dogs.... It all depends on the breeder ......

s

I have one purebred, a pug, I love her to pieces but I love my other mixed dogs as well, dogs are dogs,all can be lovable and healthy, all can be aloof and have health issues. Only one of my dogs was bought from a petstore, my mixed terrier who is antisocial and has a nervous skin condition. My half dal was chosen from a box on a porch labeled free puppies and she is the calmest freindliest healthiest dog I've had, Pixiesue, the pug was bred by breeders who then gave her to their daughter who then didn't want her and gave her to me. She's purebred and registered, has been quite healthy so you see why I say I love them all, just like kids

36... I know a lot of breeders do care and take pride in who they will mate with, and sell too.

I also know some of these dogs look nothing like their ancestors from the mid of last century!

I dunno, When I see videos like this it makes me wonder though!

I know I can't rely on everything the media feeds me, but it's hard when they have documentarys to show me. Of course, one or two cases doesn't mean the entire breed is like that..

I guess when it comes time to replacing my Jade I will do extensive research into what breed (or mix) I would like to own!

and that is the issue.... do your research.... and if you want a mix and can deal with the unpredictability of a mix then great.... offer a mixed breed dog a great home..... they really could use it.... my puppies will have no problems finding homes with folks who want, need or just desire predictable traits......

but if that is unimportant then a rescue mix is a wonderful option for a dog that really needs a home.

when I first got involved in purebred dogs we had lost a couple of wonderful mixes a few years earlier.... I searched high and low for some mixed breed dogs that suited our family.... we don't have kids but we did have a rabbit at the time... we have a cockatoo and two cats... so I needed a dog that would get along well with small animals.... and in this area finding a mixed breed puppy of breeds I would want was impossible to find and I didn't feel I could trust an adult rescue with the small animals in the house and that is why we went the purebred route....

and we are really pleased.... I would never ever criticize someone for going to rescue route.... the reality is that anyone who breeds needs to be involved in rescue.... for me it is a requirement of a responsible breeder....

Now that having been said....

people must do their homework and be willing to wait.... because until that happens nothing will ever change regarding commercial breeders and backyard breeders.....

and remember that just because a person shows their dogs and/or competes doesn't automatically make them responsible.... that is only ONE piece of the pie ...... knowing pedigrees, doing health testing, breeding only when they plan to keep a puppy, keeping the breeds best interest long term in mind are all equally important pieces.

s

this just came across my UK list

if anyone wants to listen they need to remember this is in the UK so add five hours so it will be at 5pm Eastern time......

The Kennel Club Answers Back on Live Webchat on 27th August at 12 noon
26-Aug-08 The Kennel Club Answers Back on Live Webchat on 27th August at 12 noon
Join Caroline Kisko and Dr Jeff Sampson from the Kennel Club as they answer your questions and dispel concerns over pedigree dog
breeding
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/2004/23/5/3

26-Aug-08 Questions about Pedigree dogs raised by the BBC Programme 'Pedigree Dogs Exposed'
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/2002/23/5/3

36, a lot of breeders that breed for shows believe they do it for the better of the breed, and they had interviewed one lady that would kill any pup that didn't have a bridge... so she'd kill perfectly healthy pups and keep those with a deformity because the Kennel club said its part of the breed... it's folks that openly admit to killing the pups that get my blood boiling!

I have no personal qualms against people who own purebred dogs, as long as they are not the brother-sister/father-daughter/mother-son kind of breeders who usually circulate the showrings.

I prefer shelter dogs. My current dog, a 12-year-old Chowchow, has been with my family for almost her entire life. She was abandoned by a breeder in our area shortly before the breeder got shut down for negligence. She is nowhere near show quality, and she's actually uncharacteristically small for her breed. But, just because she's purebred does not mean she isn't a great dog. Some purebred dogs have had just as bad lives as mutts.

Someday, I want to rescue a Great Dane. There are many, many breed-specific rescues out there that often get overlooked because people assume that shelters and humane societies are the only option. I scolded my boyfriend's mother because she spent $800 on their chocolate lab (who ended up eating her own papers anyways) when there is a labrador/labrador-mix shelter within an hour of here. I also told my boyfriend if we end up owning pets together after college that we are never, under any circumstance, buying a dog. Or a cat. We will always, always adopt.