Comments on: Extreme makeovers of the bulldog kind http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/05/18/extreme-makeovers-of-the-bulldog-kind/ Blogging by a team of pet-care experts. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:26:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Laura http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/05/18/extreme-makeovers-of-the-bulldog-kind/comment-page-1/#comment-67506 Laura Fri, 18 May 2007 23:04:23 +0000 http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2007/05/18/extreme-makeovers-of-the-bulldog-kind/#comment-67506 Thank you, Gina, for that closing comment! If dog breeders really do what they do for "the love of the breed," then why do some morph their breeds into creatures not designed for long, healthy, productive lives? Coming up with veterinary procedures to combat the damage helps the animal, but it doesn't really solve the problem - namely, the judges, breeders, and fanciers who forget to consider sound physiology as they decide how a breed should look. I'm thinking here about the bulldogs who can't give birth, as you noted - plus the collies with heads so narrow their brains don't develop, the Pekes with eyes so bulge-y they literally pop out of their sockets under anesthesia, GSDs who can't help but slink because their back legs are shortened to the point of disfigurement... okay, you get the idea. I *love* purebred dogs, and most breeders ARE responsible about the soundness of their dogs. But it makes me so sad and so angry to see dogs doomed to lifelong discomfort or worse thanks to someone's preconception of what they ought to look like. Thank you, Gina, for that closing comment! If dog breeders really do what they do for “the love of the breed,” then why do some morph their breeds into creatures not designed for long, healthy, productive lives?

Coming up with veterinary procedures to combat the damage helps the animal, but it doesn’t really solve the problem - namely, the judges, breeders, and fanciers who forget to consider sound physiology as they decide how a breed should look.

I’m thinking here about the bulldogs who can’t give birth, as you noted - plus the collies with heads so narrow their brains don’t develop, the Pekes with eyes so bulge-y they literally pop out of their sockets under anesthesia, GSDs who can’t help but slink because their back legs are shortened to the point of disfigurement… okay, you get the idea.

I *love* purebred dogs, and most breeders ARE responsible about the soundness of their dogs. But it makes me so sad and so angry to see dogs doomed to lifelong discomfort or worse thanks to someone’s preconception of what they ought to look like.

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