SquirrellyDan said:
ChemAg15 said:
IMO, when it comes to dogs "mini" is synonymous with "inbred".
Isn't that essentially true for all pure bread dogs, at least on some level?
I would say what OP is talking about falls into the category of "designer dog". Which to me means that it is a dog bred for a specific physical quality that people will pay a premium for. Silver labs, English cream golden retrievers, mini heelers, etc arent bred to improve the breed. They're bred to be super cute as puppies and unique as adults, which drives demand and the price up. So they often come from breeders that are doing many litters a year (read: puppy mill) to churn a profit. The overall health of the animal suffers because it is not the priority in breeding.
Pure bred dogs are a bit different because there is a much larger gene pool to pull from. Breeders are often trying to breed better dogs so they can win competitions. They do fewer litters and put more time and effort into each litter. If you buy from a reputable breeder you're more likely financing their hobby as opposed to lining their pocketbook.
That being said, there are definitely some dog breeds that are more inbred than others.
