[AmyChristine]

I think that this is both interesting and true. I have two yorkies and I have an 11 year old high percent wolf and husky mix. I have never ever had any sort of health problem with my mix Kalaya and I think that wolf makes her about as far from a purebred dog as you can get. Her teeth are perfectly white. She still plays like a puppy and spends her days digging up mice and eating berries and apples from our orchard. She is unlike any dog I have ever known and most of her ancestors that I know of lived between 16 and 19 years, which is very old for a large breed dog. In nature there is a variety of potential mates and the sick ones do not make it long enough to reproduce and pass on the bad genes.

When you breed within a limited gene pool, like in the case of a pure bred dog, you are bound to turn up genetic problems. There are also far less breeders out there that do all the necessary testing for the breed than there are ones that do. And not always a test for every problem. I think that this is a big reason why when searching for a breeder you find someone that is breeding responsibly with knowelge of their breed and lines. And who's first priority is health. This will greatly reduce the risk of ending up with a sick purebred.