h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

yup... And everbody on either side of the argument has their own deeply rooted and loudly touted beliefs, espcially, I've noticed, with things like tail docking... The pro-dockers are incredible, it's like an organised religion where they brainwash you at a young age to believe half-truths and out of date ideas because that's what you're taught, and never to question!

Thankfully horse docking has pretty much stopped though in the US walking horses and so on still have their dock muscles cut and played with to give an unnaturally high carriage... But those poor things are treated so horrifically it just upsets me to think about it...

Ugh, welfare eh? It's in the eye of the beholder innit!

I agree that the shapes of some breeds look deeply uncomfortable. I once saw the skull of a bulldog, with its prognathous jaw, and it really brought home to me why they have so many problems with eating and breathing.

A lot of the more well-proportioned breeds have problems too, of course. I guess that's a result of the small gene pools that are used to keep breeds pure. Like the congenital back leg weakness in alsatians.

Incidentally, it occurred to me the other day that it's been a good decade since I last saw a mongrel. They were all over the place in the seventies. I wonder if this is a result of increased neutering, or of the fact that dogs don't wander around on their own much any more.

(Sorry, Robyn: simulpost.)

Not a problem...

It's an interesting observation... Could be a lot to do with fashion too... I suspect a lot of people are more aware of how their dog reflects on them and perhaps there's an unspoken belief that having a purebred dog makes you a more discerning person?

(personally I'd have a well trained scrappy mongrel than a poiled pedigree any day, but there we go... I'm more of a cat person myself anyway!)

There are some beautiful breeds out there. If I ever decided to get a dog, I'd be torn between personal aesthetics and the fact that I've heard mongrels have longer life expectancies. Not that I'm actually fit enough to own a dog, but in *theory*... I've got a real soft spot for the tall and graceful end of the hound spectrum.

My Buster was a mongrel, and there are plenty of them still about - perhaps its where we go to walk our dogs. I rarely see mongrels when I'm out and about walking my dogs, or training, but locally they do seem to be around.

Unfortunately Buster had enough GSD to give him that back leg weakness, although he eventually died from an undiagnosed heart condition.

The problem with inherited problems goes back to the Kennel Club again. They need to take a stand and refuse to register puppies from parents which either haven't been checked for problems or have failed checks. If they did that, then the puppies couldn't be sold for such high fees, and hopefully the breeders will get their act together. It may mean that for a time there would be an increase in the number of unwanted puppies, and maybe even adult dogs, but if we can get rid of the breeders who only do it to pay for a family holiday rather than for the love of the breed then that would be a great start.

I've just ordered 'Ceser's Way', so we'll see what gems that has when it arrives.