Designer breeding creates problems for dogs

The Labradoodle is part of a growing trend for crossing two different purebreds. Some resultant new breeds suffer from serious health problems due to their unusual characteristics.
Photograph by : Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun

Moe Milstein, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, February 06, 2006

In a previous column, I wrote about the escalating popularity of "designer dogs"-- dogs created by the breeding of two different purebreds. It's a fad resulting from the conjunction of celebrity association, novelty, and a very high "cuteness quotient" evident mostly in the naming of these crosses -- Puggles, Schnoxies, Snorkies, Chorkies . . .

Of course, this is great fodder for the media, and not a week goes by, it seems, without a newspaper or TV show presenting yet another version of the story. Last week, the National Post devoted a whole page to the story headlined: "Doodle or Schnoodle." You see what I mean.

Accompanying the article was a photo of a Puggle, and therein lies a problem and a story that none of the articles has yet addressed.

The photo reminded me of the actor Jeff Goldblum in The Fly. In the film, the genetic material of Goldblum and a housefly are accidentally combined. The new creature has Goldblum's head and the fly's body. Obviously, a poor mix -- a Golden Fluml perhaps? Although the Fluml might be a hit on H. G. Wells', The Island of Doctor Moreau, it's clearly not a workable new species--and that is the point.

The photo accompanying the Post article showed a dog with a full-size Beagle head on a small Pug body. Not everyone's notion of beauty perhaps, but not necessarily a problem for the animal. However, looking at the rest of the dog with a veterinarian's eye, we can see that this particular hybrid will live a life of unrelenting pain and disability. Its front legs are bowed outwards and its elbows are pointing sideways. Worse, its carpal joints (anatomically the same as our wrist joints) are so deviated as to resemble seal flippers,and that, indeed, is how this dog will walk -- like a seal on dry land.

What is unacknowledged by the designer-dog breeding industry is that many of our purebred dogs arose as a result of mutations held tenuously together by close interbreeding. Breeding two fragile genetic specimens together does not necessarily produce a normal dog. It may produce a dog with multiple problems.

In the midst of this carnival of cuteness, no one seems to have asked the question -- who benefits by these genetic manipulations? What does this new body type mean for the dog? Will those adorable over-sized eyes of the Pekingese, Pomeranian, or Chihuahua lead to chronic eye problems and blindness in the crosses -- as they often have for the purebred? Will the overlong back of the Basset and Dachshund crosses make the spinal problems and paralysis of the purebreds more common? What will be the effect of combining oversize parts with undersized bodies?

Many, if not most, of the problems veterinarians see in their practices are the result of faulty "design." The astonishing plasticity of canine genetic material allows the most amazing configurations of living material. We have stretched and shrunk their ears, enlarged or narrowed their eyes, shortened or lengthened their limbs, flattened or elongated their noses, made their bodies tiny or gigantic, their brains intelligent or stupid.

The history of dog breeding has been directed toward producing specimens that either please human's esthetic sensibilities, no matter how extreme, or animals that can pursue certain activities like hunting or herding. In the process we have created animals that serve us well and provide us with loyalty and affection. We have also made them completely dependent on us. In return, we owe it to them to make sure that any meddling we do with their genes will benefit them at least as much as it benefits us. The least we can do is to make sure that we give them bodies that are free of pain and dysfunction. Many of the new "designer dogs" fail to meet those objectives -- cute or not.

Dr. Moe Milstein runs the Blueridge-Cove Animal Hospital in North Vancouver.

Blueridgevet@yahoo.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2006