Design catastrophe! Dogs breeding contributes to growth in the number of unhealthy and stray dogs!

To obtain the desired genetic characteristics many of «ideal» dogs run through inbreeding for production of similar genetic individuals. This means the inherited health problem will pass on in these dogs. Dogs are said to be the ancestors of gray wolf (Canus Lupus Lupus). It is so hard to imagine that a tiny Spitz is really connected to a wolf, but years of breeding and genetic manipulations gave us a lot of breeds’ phenotypes that we have today.

Many dogs’ communities and enthusiasts of dog shows tend to conform to breed standards. Judges at such shows reward prizes for the specific features of each breed, specified by common breed standards.

German Shepherd is a good example. These dogs are often bred and brought to high level of compliance with the standards of breed, emphasizing specific desired features, namely the small hind legs, very long back, raised front part and shoulders. In attempts to develop these features by all means people ignore the aftereffects of such genetic manipulation.

Such ignorance cause serious genetically inherited health problems in dogs. As problems with back, bad limbs coordination, pelvic and hind legs complications, hip dysplasia and epilepsy.

This does not mean that all German Shepherds have poor health. Many of the original breed types, which were not subjected to the strict selection, are quite healthy and particularly suitable for police service.

Dogs for the demonstration purpose and prize winning are usually bred with a focus on a particular feature and more likely suffer from the consequences of genetic problems. You can often observe German Shepherds at the exhibitions, characterized by nickname «dog-frog»because of severe deformity and incoordination of the hind limbs from the desire to develop genetically improved dogs with longer and more sloping back.

One more example of «designer» dog, brought to the critical state, is a Pug. Pug was a victim of continuous selection, which gave a more flattened shape of the face with almost missing protruding part of the snout. As a result of strict artificial breeding Pugs suffer from chronic problems with breathing, enlarged and bulging eyes. They are often prone to infections injuries and their curled tail is also the result of spinal deformity.

Many breed members are known to often fall faint from heat stroke due to inability to recover its breath and come back to normal, as other dogs do. Only in the UK alone most Pugs were bred by the close reproduction. Among the thousands of Pugs in the country, only a few of them possess the genetic individuality. Pug is a perfect demonstration of how dangerous selection can be for the external cosmetic appearance of dogs.