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Selective Breeding Research Paper

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The Science Behind Selective Breeding in Dogs

“Man’s best friend has gone through over 100 years of breed “improvement,” or pure-breeding — but have progressively become more and more unhealthy for the sake of appearance. The “Science of Dogs” blog looks into how pure-breeding has physically affected dogs since 1915, comparing older photos of dogs with recent ones. The Bull Terrier, for instance, now has a mutated skull and a thick abdomen when it once was an athletic, healthy dog.” (The Negative Effects of Pure-Breeding in Pictures (Science of Dogs, Bowdoin Daily Sun)

According to Dictionary.com selective breeding is the intentional mating of two animals in an attempt to produce offspring with desirable characteristics or for the elimination …show more content…
For example, Dachshunds have been bred to have longer backs leading to a tendency to have ruptured spinal discs which in turn can lead to paralysis or chronic pain. As well as Chihuahuas being bred to have larger heads in relationship to the body resulting to Chihuahua puppies have to be born trough cesareans, because the puppy’s heads are too big for natural birth. There are also instances of open fontanels (“Chihuahua molera”), which is seen as a breed characteristic. When it comes to pure breeding and inbreeding there is many defects that come with it. “Defects include a higher risk of cancer and tumors; eye and heart disease; joint and bone disorders; skin, immune system and neurological diseases; and even epilepsy. There is no need to panic, though. You just need to be aware of the risk of defects in your prospective new purebred puppy, a risk that is much higher than in a mix-breed puppy.” (Problems Common to Purebred Dogs, Petmd) “Constant pain and suffering can be the consequence of deliberately trying to keep and intensify breed characteristics.” (Consequences of irresponsible breeding for dogs, Bert Stoop) According to the Carol Beuchat PhD if you breed purebred dogs, and you don’t want your puppies to have problems you have to understand that: it's not because of environmental toxins, it's not because of vaccines it's not because of

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