Monday, August 8, 2011

MUTT health vs. Pure Bred health - Who's the winner? You decide!

One of the reason we love our mutts is that they are almost always more healthy than their purebred cousins. Dogs that have been bred for generations to have certain attributes have that bloodline, but those attributes usually have to do with hair, size, and other factors, not the overall health of the dog.  

Mutts, be they designer cross-breeds or just dogs of unknown or unclear origin, are far less often afflicted with hip problems, anxiety, etc. We are not alone in noticing this. We saw this story recently on MSNBC, which talks about the whole phenomenon of designer dogs, including some of the big celebrities among both human and dogs. One line, especially, caught our interest.
“You’d think that the AKC is all for dogs being healthy, but they’re not,” says (Alana) Snook, who now breeds puggles and cavachons. “All they care about is their registration fees. AKC makes a lot of money off breeders.” Since she began breeding designer dogs, Snook says, “our AKC fees have probably gone down to one-fourth of what they used to be.”... but because there are so many additional 'breeds' that have been approved by the AKC they are actually making more money by bringing on as many 'designer breeds' as possible.  What's next we wonder. . . a Rusuggierard*? Now that's a picture of health and fun! BOL!
So if the organization that's in charge of the breed purity isn't worried about health, then who is?  That's the great part about mutts, but just one of the things. We love our mutts, and even if they get to be famous and have YouTube videos and more, we still think that they are loveable without all of that, and just because they are dogs. When you take a dog to a dog park, the owners all want to know what breed a dog is, but the dogs just want to play. They never stop to ask each other about breeding.
One other thing we know is that mutt health, and all dog health, is important and we hope you'll keep checking out MUTTeringsAndThings to find out about all things mutt.

*(Russian Wolfhound, Puggle, Terrier, Shepard mix)
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Carrie, with Tanner and Oliver said...

Overall, I have heard the same types of things in my many years as a dog owner. Conversely, my mutt had more allergy/skin irritation problems than any of my adopted "purebreds". The biggest issue that I have always heard complaints about with purebreds in the past was skin issues, so my mutt was apparently a fluke when it comes to that theory. My other two have healthy skin and coats.

The one thing that I have changed is my use of all-natural flea and tick control methods, rather than chemical top-spot drops. I fear the long term effects of those ingredients and found that even my mutt's skin problems improved when we switched to natural methods.

Reba Messina said...

Hi Carrie - Maybe your Mutt has more purebred in him/her than you know. I don't know what he/she is but if there's any Bichon in there then that breed seems to be susceptible to skin irritation. I'm sure there are others too. Good for you using all natural flea control. You are a good doggy mommy!