According to Wikipedia “Purebreds, also called purebreeds, are cultivated varieties or cultivars of an animal species, achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be pedigreed.” In other words, if a German shepherd mates with another German shepherd, their pups will have similar characteristics to their parents and not to other breeds in their gene pool. However, just like human babies may have congenital defects due to their parents being related, breeding from too small a gene pool, especially direct inbreeding, can lead to the passing on of undesirable characteristics. It may even cause a collapse of a breed population due to inbreeding depression. Therefore there has always been a debate about when to allow ‘outside’ stock for breeding purposes as this can improve the overall health and vigor of the breed. Purebred animal breeds are also susceptible to a wide range of congenital health problems. Then why do humans demand for purebred pets? Why is an animal, whose ancestry has been recorded, considered a better pet than a mutt? These questions are simply beyond me, especially after knowing the ill effects of pure breeding. My article is going to focus on the effect of this, especially on dogs.

Genetic conditions are a particular problem for dog breeds that do not accept any outside breed or blood. Most kennel clubs make a dog breed with its parents or siblings, which is morally as well as genetically disgusting. Some of the most common conditions arise from inbreeding. These include hip dysplasia, seen in large breed dogs, von Willebrand disease, a disease that affects platelets that is inherited in Doberman Pinschers, entropion, a curling in of the eyelid seen in Shar Peis and many other breeds, progressive retinal atrophy, inherited in many breeds, deafness, and epilepsy, known to be inherited in Belgian Shepherd Dogs, German Shepherd Dogs, Cocker Spaniels, and St. Bernards. Many dogs are bred with exaggerated features to please dog show judges! In reality, not only do ‘purebred’ dogs riddle with genetic diseases, but dog breeds are not even a real thing! We have made them up! We often talk about dog breeds as if nature created them that way and as though every mutt were just a mix of different purebreeds. But in reality, mutts are healthier than the so called ‘purebreds’ and pure-breeding is a sort of genetic manipulation humans made up just to amuse themselves. 90% of all dog breeds have been created in the last century! Because our ancestors thought that dogs should live upto our arbitrary standards, even though it causes them to get sick and die.

In 2008, the BBC ran a documentary on the health problems in pedigree dogs.A summary of the main points of that documentary are as follows:

• 60% of Golden retrievers die of cancer.
• 1 in 3 of King Charles’ Spaniels have skulls that are smaller than their brains!
• Great Danes are so huge that their hearts cannot support their bodies!
• Male Dalmations have difficulty in urinating due to stone formation.
• Bull dogs are a total genetic failure and are victims of borderline animal abuse! They can barely breath due to their squashed noses, their heads are so big that they can only give birth through caesarian, their tails can become ingrown, they have hip dysplasia and their average life expectancy is 6 years!
• The Bull Terriers have respiratory diseases due to their oversized snouts, supernumerary teeth and are compulsive tail-chasers.
• The Basset Hound has suffered too many changes to its rear leg structure that has made it stand so low that its stomach nearly touches the ground! It also has excessive skin, vertebra problems, droopy eyes prone to entropion and ectropion and excessively large ears.
• The Boxer have an extremely short snout, has difficulty in breathing, has lower hindquarters and has difficulty controlling its temperature in hot weather. It also has one of the highest cancer and many of them suffer from seizures.
• The Dachshunds are prone to dwarfism and do not have properly functional legs or necks for their size. There is barely any clearance between their chest and the floor.
• The mutations in German Shepherd Dogs serve no purpose but have made it an imbalanced breed that is more prone to cancer.
• The St. Bernard is oversized, has difficulty breathing and has too much skin due to which it quickly overheats and cannot work like thebreed was meant to. Their common diseases include entropion, ectropion, Stockard’s paralysis, hemophilia, osteosarcoma, aphakia and fibrinogen deficiency.
• Pugs have high blood pressure, heart problems, low oxygenation, difficulty breathing, tendency to overheat, dentition problems, and skin fold dermatitis. Even their double curled tail is a genetic defect that leads to paralysis in serious cases.

When new born puppies don’t fit the ridiculous and harmful breed standards imposed by us humans, who like to play God all the time, they are culled by the breeder. Completely healthy puppies are euthanized, just because they don’t look perfect. This is sick. The next time you feel like bringing a pup home, pick up a stray or adopt one from the animal shelter. But I beg you to not ask for a ‘purebred pedigreed’ dog, because that is just wrong and against the laws of nature.

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FOOD HABITS OF A DOG

We all know that Nutrition is an essential requirement for a healthy, developing body during ALL stages of one’s lifetime, the same however is applied for canines as well. To take into consideration food habits of a dog, one must take all the necessary precautions whenever one decides to adopt a canine of their choice. As a pup or as an adult it is imperative that the owner takes into consideration all the facets and apply the same for the growth of their relative canine. Consulting a good veterinarian could help you chase your problems away if you are not too sure about what to feed your dog with. Assisting pet owners in understanding dog’s eating habits and ways to correct the imperfections can be best done with an expert in this field.

EAT YOUR AGE:

Every dog owner on this planet must realize the fact that just like a baby requires breast milk when they are growing up, and require different vegetables and fruits during their adult life for proper nutrition, every dog while going through different transitional ages in their lives also require the same attention and require for different types of food to be provided to them as and when they reach that stage. There are generally 3 stages of a canine’s life if one has to segregate it like that, the three stages being:

1. Puppy Phase
2. Middle Life
3. Adult- Grown up

Puppy Phase:

In many people’s opinion, the puppy phase is the most integral and vital phase of age that requires for dog owners to be vigilant in what goes in to the system of one’s dog. This is that age when a dog makes up their own food system and develop food habits that might stay with them throughout the rest of their lives, habits that cling on to them forever. In order to follow that up with a healthy course, the owners must be aware of whatever their pups are binging on, there is a tendency for little pups to bite, chew and even at times- destroy that they find around them- from furniture, to shoes and socks to your favourite piece of accessories. Identifying the same and training your dog to eat healthy requires for incentives to be brought in from the owner’s side in the form of acceptable forms of food.

Food like the following can prove to be very healthy for your growing pup:

• High quality balanced dog food- All-time favourite PEDIGREE works the best.
• Natural food stuff such as fresh human-grade raw meet (cut up, diced pieces of lamb)
• Raw bones
• Cooked meat like boiled chicken/lamb for occasional use
• Cooked pumpkins, carrots

• Chemically treated grass

GRASS ALLOWS FOR HEALTHY GROWING UP A PUP

Human grade raw meet must not be fed on an occasional base as over eating of the same might lead to natural deficiencies. Raw bones must only be provided when the dog has reached at least 2- 4 years of age allowing for their jaws to chew and bite in to the bones. Providing them with the same must be checked up with a veterinarian at the time it is being provided in every possibility.

The Following food stuff must be avoided in all circumstances:

• Onion, garlic
• Chocolate, coffee or caffeine of any sort
• Bread dough
• Avocado
• Grapes, raisins
• Fish on an constant basis
• Cooked bones
• Any nuts- macadamia nuts especially
• Fatty trimmings
• Toothpaste, chewing gums, baking goods, unripe tomatoes

MIDDLE LIFE:

When it comes to comparing your average-sized grown dogs, and young, growing dogs there can be many differences that must be inculcated in the diet for the middle-aged dog. This would require frequent visits to the veterinarian and good consultation if you would like to substitute commercial branded food of your dog with that of a cooked meal. This stage allows you to identify if the dog is facing any sort of disabilities or problems in any part of their body in accordance to which a strict diet must be followed till the disease has been taken care of. If it is an incurable disease being spoken about, that might require for you to follow up with more than a single vet and more visits till the life of your furry canine.

TREATS MAYBE GIVEN ONLY OCCASIONALLY WHEN TRAINING A DOG

If your dog is healthy and home cooked meals are what you are going to provide the dog with, then the following must be taken in to account:

• Cook up cheap cuts of meat which may be a bit difficult to find at first but allows for tripe to build up the strength of your dog. Cooking up liver, kidneys, heart, lungs might prove to be a very smelly affair, and must be done occasionally allowing the dog to have a variety of food stuff be provided with.
• Rice and a vegetarian meal with some meal that is a take-in may also be provided with.
• Roughage like brown rice can prove to be very useful.
• Mild pilchards once in a while allows for dogs to pick on fish food as well, which may be very nutritional for certain canines.

The following food stuff must be avoided:

• Hot chunks of meat might burn your canines tongue, let the food be cooled down in all instances
• Onions, pepper must be avoided in all cases.
• Dogs must only be provided with big and raw marrow bones as others could lead to choking or getting stuck in their throats.
• Bland vegetables like cabbage and cabbage like vegetables such as cauliflower, brinjals, and celery must be kept away at all times.
• Beans and lentils are also not suitable as they may ferment in the canines gut.

ADULT- GROWN UP:

This is the last phase of your dog which requires you to visit your vet almost every other week and making you remain vigilant for any sort of “unwanted signals”

All you can probably provide your dog with is lots and lots of milk and bread, the bread which should be soaked up in milk to a very good extent making it easy for the dog to be able to chew it and swallow as well. Fruits like mangoes must be avoided particularly as it might lead up to knots in the stomach of a dog.

There is no exhaustive list for an adult dog and food stuff that might be provided to them which is why it is harder to identify and provide for the same.

Canines that are your are your responsibility and must be treated with the same love and affection that you provide your own family members with so as to avoid any sort of unwanted situations and losing of your canines even before you would like for it to, which is why proper nutrition and healthy food stuff with rich ingredients must be provided with.

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