Elyse Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 Aren't all the genetic problems with the husky due to recent poor breeding of the modern world? Weren't they pretty well and pure while they were working dogs? No; actually hip dyslapsia has decreased in properly bred Sibes in 'recent' years. The study is about 20ish years old, but it probably still remains true for responsible breeders. Source: http://www.shca.org/shcahp4d.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutsibe Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 Aren't all the genetic problems with the husky due to recent poor breeding of the modern world? Weren't they pretty well and pure while they were working dogs? Breeding practices only allow genes that are existent to be expressed. There were a limited number of dogs (can't recall how many, but it was a small original gene pool, and then some years later as I recall, a very few more imports) imported that formed the foundation for all the Siberians in the US. Any recessive genes that were in that gene pool will likely have been preserved. You can breed 'normal' to 'normal' for generations, and have a recessive either not show up, or, as pet puppies often are not checked for genetic issues, may remain unnoticed. Breed 2 dogs that have a given recessive, and it's quite likely that at least some of the puppies will have the condition show up, whether it's an eye disease or hip dysplasia. If there are no genes for any negative problem present in either dog, no negative conditions will be shown - very good, very talented breeders will sometimes breed very closely related dogs to each other (siblings, or parent/offspring, for example) with spectacularly good results. To be successful in that, you MUST know what genes, both good and bad, are in the dogs' backgrounds - you have to have very firmly in mind what the parents, their siblings and parents, and other influential dogs in the pedigree's strengths and weaknesses are/were, and be able to make really good predictions as to which genes are likely to be present, and which are likely to be expressed... Poor breeding simply exacerbates the problem, as poor breeders tend to not care that there are 'bad' genes present in their gene pools, and are more interested in either money, egos or both, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maury Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 Considering we've had three coyote attacks on small children in as many months in the town I live in- I'm gonna go with no on this one ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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