"The largest number of dogs in the US consists of those of mixed
breeding (mutts, curs, crossbreeds and so on), and as would be expected
since they contain mixtures of most, if not all, breeds, they have far
and away the most diseases. These dogs are reported to have 220
diseases. In a way, it surprised me that they had so few disorders,
because------since they are a mixture of all breeds - one might expect
them to have all diseases of all breeds. It may be that they do have
many more disorders, since they are often left out when we report
diseases by specific breed."
Billie



Especially when people are combining breeds for "designer" dogs where both
partners might carry the same health problems. It should actually be easier to
get rid of known genetic defects in purebred dogs because the records ARE kept.
Of course, that takes honesty on the part of the breeder of the affected dog in
keeping those dogs from being bred on! I agree with Karen in using the limited
registrations as another way to control who gets bred to whom and when.
Lynn Stacey
Director of Reference Services
Baker College Library of Flint
810-766-4240