Re: Labradoodle, Schnoodle, Cockapoo, Spoodle, Yorkiepoo

[Silver]

Wow- this is fun! Never used a message board before so enjoying the discussion! Actually, hybrid vigour (correct term is heterosis) is far from a myth. If you use the dictionary on the internet you will find, like me, that it is defined in the Concise Medical Dictionary as “”the increased sturdiness, resistance to disease, etc, of individuals whose parents are of different races or species compared both with their parents and with the offspring of genetically similar parents.”
Nearly all the pure breed dogs of today have only been around for less than 100 years (and, by the way, all started life as cross-breeds) In that time we have managed with our skillful breeding tecniques, to produce animals that have more genetic diseases and disorders (over 500 at the last count) than any other vertebrate on this planet. Many breeds are now endangered (the Kennel Club has just started a list of vulnerable breeds) and it is entirely caused by the original and small gene pool that was established with the founder dogs of a breed. This gene pool was seriously damaged with incestuous breeding to obtain set ‘desirable’ features. Only about a quarter of the dogs health tested are deemed good for breeding so you have just wiped out three quarters of what there was.
This is really serious and many breeds will disappear very shortly unless ‘new’ blood is introduced.
Shall I shut up now??? Sorry to go on but am really worried about these issues