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Originally Posted by QuickSilver  I think Woogie's examples a few pages back on how certain health problems were eliminated with judicious cross breeding make a lot of sense.
Dog breeds are essentially artificial. Part of the reason there are appearance standards at all is because there really isn't another way to determine what breed a dog belongs to. When the registries started, it seems pretty clear it was, "if it looks like a [duck] and quacks like a [duck], then it's registered as a [duck]." And that point when the registeries started is also arbitrary. Fifty years earlier or fifty years later, a somewhat different set of dogs would have qualified.
It seems to me that that judicious use of all tools available should be used to perpetuate strong, healthy breeds. This may not apply to yorkies, but maybe it applies to some other breed types.
Mardelin, I know you are extremely experienced in this area. So you know that getting health issues out of the gene pool is generally not that simple. Otherwise, liver shunt wouldn't exist. |
Liver shunt is a whole different ball of wax. As well as Leggs Perthes, PLE, etc. Dr. Tobia's studies did not provide any concrete information on LS on how it is passed on. All that is known is that at any given moment it can rear it's ugly head; even 9 generations down the road. And until genetic markers are found for any or all inherited diseases we are shooting in the dark.
While it is always recommended to test our breeding dogs, it only informs us that the breeders that are being tested do not have said afflictions, however it doesn't guarantee that they aren't carriers.
Bottom line is that if one is embarking on breeding, it should be done responsibly. Breeding for health/structure/temprement should always be at the forefront.