Do mix breed dogs have less medical problems?

@isawu2 (97)
Canada
June 18, 2009 4:56pm CST
I have been having this discussion with on of my neighbours who has a pure-breed dashound and seems to have all kinds of medical problems. The 2 pure breed Shitzu's in our complex have problems too does anybody know why this happens with pure breeds?
2 people like this
3 responses
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
18 Jun 09
I have always believed mixed breed dogs ot mutts as well we here in Australia call them are stronger healthwise, I just think because of the mixture they become stronger, I would never have a pure breed dog or cat for that matter.
@GardenGerty (157427)
• United States
19 Jun 09
Mixed breed animals tend to have fewer health problems, you are correct. The way I understand it, breeding for a true breed concentrates all the weak genes and does not bring any fresh genetic material to strengthen the blood line. I am sure someone on here should be able to tell you better. That is why mutts are great pets. I know that dachshunds have lots of back problems. I did not know about shitzus.
• United States
19 Jun 09
Genes come in pairs, one from mom and one from dad. Many gene are what we call recessive. A recessive gene can be hidden by a dominant one. So if an animal gets a defective gene from mom, often the one from dad can pick up the slack and mask the defect. But if it gets the defective one from both the defect will show up in the individual. (This is over simplified and not all genes are on a strict dominant/recessive relationship, but it gets us started) When we create a breeding pattern to select for certain features of an animal (short legs, good sense of smell, long ears, speed, or whatever) We stand a good chance of accidentally also selecting for other genes. We also limit the gene pool so these genes are more likely to show up in the individuals. This can be seen in Dalmations who are prone to epilepsy, German Shepards who are prone to hip problems, and many others. There is also the issue as in the case of bassette hounds, Shitzu, pugs and others where the feature that is artificially selected for is detrimental for not genetic reasons. For the "long dogs" they will have back problems becuase of the length of the spine and the sag it will get in the middle. For "short nose" dogs, they will have sinus and breathing problems because their noses are the way they are.
@Kiro77 (5)
22 Jun 09
Pure breeds are not the problem, the problem is bad breeders. If you get a breeder who mates a healthy male to a healthy female pure bred or not, you get a healthy litter. If you get a greedy breeder who is more concerned with profits than health testing, you get unhealthy puppies.