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Blog Entry 20 of 35 Ask the Dog Guy
The Dog Guy (me) answers questions about dog behavior/misbehavior.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~AsktheDogGuy

Designer Dogs
Contributed by: Dave Pearson   on 6/14/2008

Dear Dog Guy...

A lot of my neighbors are getting what they are calling designer dogs. Is that wise?

Baffled in Broomfield

Dear Baffled,

In reality, all dogs are designer dogs. Ever since the dog/human bond has existed, the human has been "designing" dogs to do their jobs. Every breed of dog that currently exists was "designed" by humans who were breeding dogs for traits that would assist them (humans). In January of 2002, the magazine National Geographic had on their cover a picture of a Grey Wolf and a Maltese along with the title "Wolf to Woof" Evolution of dogs.

It is an excellent article and a very good read. I highly recommend it to all as it takes a very complicated subject and makes it understandable to all. In the article it talks about how early humans domesticated wolves and bred them for traits they wished, be they herding, guarding, hunting, etc. "Humans transformed the wild canids into the first domesticated animal - the tamable, trainable, incredibly variable dog" is a prominent statement made in the article on the interior page speaking to "The Evolution of the Dogs."

The article also describes the breeding of a Boxer dog by a breeder to have short tails (They normally have long tails and are "docked" - cut off). It took this breeder only eight years and four generations to produce short tailed boxers who won awards. He did it by breeding boxers with tailless Welsh corgi's then took the offspring that looked most like a boxer and mated it to other boxers" "Breeds haven't evolved; breeders have just selected for certain features," says Jeff Sampson, a molecular geneticist who was quoted in the article. Without getting into the weeds of genetics, suffice it to say that when you see a Labradoodle, you're most likely looking at an attempt to blend the desirable traits of a Labrador Retriever and a Poodle (like the lack of shedding by the poodle). My early experience with dogs was with herding dogs (I worked on a sheep ranch). If one of the offspring did not do his job, the other dogs would kill it, hence keeping the herding gene pool pure. It sounds cruel and in some ways maybe it is, but it is effective.

There is less genetic difference between the various breeds and the wolf than there is between human races, yet there is much much more diversity in the breeds. "No other species display such diversity as the dog," says the article.

A Maltese and a Mastiff are essentially the same animal. "At the molecular level not much changed at all - the DNA makeup of wolves and dogs is almost identical," so says the article.

So... to your direct question, "Is it wise" for your neighbors to look for dogs with the traits they desire? I'd say it is, since all dogs are the result of such "designing."




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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Dave Pearson

Arvada , CO

Dave Pearson has posted 35 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 1/7/2008. Dave Pearson 's average blog rating is 5.
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