dog advice

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So about 13 years ago I adopted two muts, they were half doberman and half coonhound. Two years ago we had to put one of my beloved dogs down. Both of my precious pets have suffered artheritis. One had hip dysplaysia and now my other one has artheritis all down her back. We are trying different medications to help her, but I fear she won't last much longer. This has been soooo hard. My cats are healthy, one is 18 years old and the other one is 11. Not much heart ache with them. But my precious dogs suffering from genetic defects through centuries of inbreeding has made me realise I don't want to go through this again. I have been researching the internet on healthy breeds. A mut is usually the best health wise, but if the breeds they are mixed with aren't healthy due to genetics then I'm setting myself up again. According to what I've seen so far the Irish terrier is my safest bet along with a whippet. They are mellow to which I like. Then I saw something on Native American Indian Dog. They are beautiful, and the website says they have no genetic defects, but I don't think I buy that because of their size. Any thoughts?

Do you mean the Carolina Dog, or American Dingo? They were kept by Native Americans. Then they became feral, living in the Appalachian wilderness. Recently, they have been captured and re-domesticated. They look a lot like Australian dingos, which have a similar history. In other words, they're what all dogs would look like if we stopped selecting for physical traits and let them breed randomly. They're not big - only about 50 lbs.

http://www.carolinadogs.org/




Also, mutts are not necessarily healthier than purebred dogs. A lot of genetically related canine health problems are common in more than one breed. Some are common in a lot of breeds. Some are associated with a specific morphology (a certain size, for example).

The best way to avoid these problems is to purchase a puppy whose parents were screened for ailments common to their breed. This screening affects the cost of the puppy, but it can save you a lot of money in the long run, since vet bills can add up to a lot more than the cost of any purebred puppy.

So, to summarize, the level of professionalism exhibited by the breeder makes a bigger difference than the breed itself in terms of the animal's long-term health (with certain limitations, of course - large dogs don't live as long as small ones).

You should also keep in mind that dogs do not live very long, relative to humans. Thirteen years isn't young for a dog. I think the main thing is not how much they have been inbreed or domesticated but for what reasons. A poodle or yorky is bred for small size,shape,etc so you have negative health effects for the aesthetics. Huskies and malamutes on the other hand were bred to be strong,healthy,reliable,capable of pulling things through snow and so forth, i doubt they have nearly as many health problems. In my experience small dogs and show dogs tend to have problems while work dogs and less popular breeds tend to be healthy.

I'm sorry to hear that. Your dogs are at peace, now.

Those Carolina dogs are beautiful, I've never heard of them, so no they aren't what I was referring to, but I'll look into them. Thanks for the advice, I'm going to keep chekcing back. Although I know dogs don't live as long as I wish, it's the suffering in the name of their inbreeding that has me upset. My favorite dog in the world is a Great Dane, but would I own one.......I don't think so because then it would incourage the breeding that gives them the defects and plus the heart ache of watching them suffer because of the genitic defects. Maybe if I found one at the pound and I caved in and had lots of pet insurance. I still have the one dog and today she was walking normally, so maybe new meds are working, my husband,son and I are watching her daily so we will see. I hope people keep posting here. I won't rush out and get a new dog after I loose this one, but I want to be prepared when I do decide.

I'm sorry to hear about your dogs' troubles. You have my deepest sympathies

The best breed I can recommend in terms of temperament is the Golden Retriever. Not only do they make excellent family pets but they'll live fairly long as well (both of mine lasted over a decade - one was 13 when she died, the other 11 and a half).

The big problem with them as a breed is hip dysplasia, though. But if you get puppies from a properly screened source, that'll be a fairly negligible problem for a long time.