Please tell me about Designer dogs' health problems.

[HeatherAnn]

I'm doing a piece of English language coursework and it involves writing a comment piece for a newspaper on a current issue. I've chosen the news about the 50 pups recovered and issues surrounding puppy farming and designer dogs.

Can you please tell me common mixes and the problems that they frequently have?
Thanks in advance

 

[CorvusCorax]

Poodle crosses, Bichon crosses, JRT crosses, Chihuahua crosses, Pug crosses.

So anything those individual breeds could be amplified rather than cancelled out.

Skin/allergy problems

Ear problems (related to above)

Luxating patella (slipping kneecap, basically)

Breathing problems (in flat faced breeds such as pug)

Heart problems

Epilepsy

In larger crosses and puppy-farmed labs, hip and elbow dysplasia.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Oh plus puppy farmed dogs can have character issues as they are raised in an industrial style in big sheds from dogs of questionable characters themselves (if they have a uterus, they will be bred from, that's about the only requirement) who were also raised the same way, so little in the way of socialisation, getting used to everyday household/yard scenario/noises/human contact, so you can have a lot of genetic or environmental shyness, fear aggression etc which you would not normally find in a dog reared in a home environment.

 

[MurphysMinder]

Not a health problem as such, but the fact that you don't really know what the pups are going to turn out like can cause issues. For eg, if someone falls for a chihuahua x JRT that is is just like a slightly bigger chihuahua, they might decide that is the dog for them, then when they have a pup from the same cross they could well end up with a dog that is really just a smaller JRT with all the terrier instincts .

 

[Dobiegirl]

http://home.comcast.net/~NoPuppyMillsVA/Poo-dogs___Designer_Mutts/poo-dogs___designer_mutts.html



I know its an American site but everything you need to know is on there, it also dispels the myth of Hybrid vigour that so many of these breeders use and the non shedding as a ruse to sell to people with allergies.

 

[stencilface]

Google scholar is your friend

http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar...eds+health+problems&btnG=&as_sdt=1,5&as_sdtp=

 

[stormox]

I know there is a brilliant site run by Cambridge veterinary school, vet.cam.ac.uk which identifies all the known problems in pedigree dogs. And nearly EVERY breed has several possible inherited problems.
I wonder has any study gone into crossbreeds or 'designer dogs' in this way? Do they really have more problems than the pedigrees?
I would assume that if you cross two breeds which can have the same problem, you are just as likely to get that problem in the resulting progeny as you would if you had mated two same-breed individuals.
But if both parents had been health screened for problems you would be less likely to get a problem in a mix breed litter as there would be less chance of throwback problems as there would be less chance of shared ancestors?

 

[StoptheCavalry]

Not a health problem as such, but the fact that you don't really know what the pups are going to turn out like can cause issues. For eg, if someone falls for a chihuahua x JRT that is is just like a slightly bigger chihuahua, they might decide that is the dog for them, then when they have a pup from the same cross they could well end up with a dog that is really just a smaller JRT with all the terrier instincts .

Not a health issue as such by my pug x JRT looks like a pug but has the energy and instinct of a JRT, not such a great face shape for getting down holes though. My other french bull dog x pug looks like neither so not quite what we expected but both are completely healthy (for now, touch wood!!) but they came from private homes not from a puppy farm so I imagine they got a slightly better start that some.