4 ms·

There are acknowledged problems with pure breeds of all kinds, but not all pure breeds suffer from such extreme problems. It's possible to find a breeder with a

• aaronbrethorst 10y ago
  There are also many thousands of mutts in need of a good home for free.
  • city41 10y ago
    and mutts, by their very nature, are far more genetically healthy than pure breeds.
  • kibwen 10y ago
    Not sure why this was downvoted. "Free" isn't quite right, there are usually still nominal fees associated with adopting from a shelter, but compared to purchasing a purebred it might as well be free. I've owned mutts my whole life, mostly medium-large dogs that you'd expect would suffer from hip dysplasia and so on, but they've all lived to ripe old ages and they've all been smart as a tack. Hybrid vigor is awesome.
    • mod 10y ago
      I have a mutt and a purebreed (Anatolian Shepherd). The Shepherd isn't even a year old yet and she looks like she has trouble standing up when she's been laying down a while. Maybe her legs just fell asleep, I don't know. She was free. Some family has them to keep with the livestock, and they bred them--I took the runt. The mutt looks mostly boxer to me, the pound said boxer/shepherd mix. She's beautiful, very smart, and loyal, and just incredibly quick outdoors--best dog I've ever met. Anyway, just my one data point.
• paulddraper 10y ago
  Virtually all pure bred dogs have have genetic issues. A "pure" gene pool can only get smaller, never larger.