
The evolution of dog breeds - igonvalue
http://priceonomics.com/endangered-dog-breeds-and-the-market-forces-behind/
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douglasisshiny
Reading through this, I was kind of annoyed that the author hinted at the fact
that today's English bull dog was a bull baiter ("But they didn’t quite look
like the jowly little gremlins waddling around the world today. Can you
imagine any bulldog you’ve ever met taking on a bull?"). While in fact bull
dogs were much more like today's American bull dogs. Further down, there's a
picture of an English bulldog with the caption "An American bulldog named
'Spike'."[1]

I find it curious that an article about dog breeds incorrectly identifies an
English bulldog as an American bulldog. A simple google search of the two
breeds shows the very clear differences.

1\.
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/cmichel67/13829224774/in/photo...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cmichel67/13829224774/in/photolist-8UQVVH-8LXY33-4PdxXP-
oUiF89-8rdeVc-8UU1eW-bVsgNW-8xVUh3-oso5br-4P9T7c-gGirxx-
gGhK2p-4Pdy3H-4Pdy9T-6ED8NY-4Pdy76-6LcrRv-8rgn7b-8rdeTx-n53oHU-n51GLk-n51H8n-n51yCi-
anD6XS-88DC3p-7iDf9j-7izk1Z-6U9ZNP-h4WWBV-8qongJ-8J3XjX-8eP3So-
ctmiXj-4jMmtM-9vvEqP-5iVyse-ctmJxG-nRftRW-5eS3ps-4mYarR-WgfJM-
jiGGyA-4t7x3C-514PZ-5edaCW-7SLx7C-qCQXh-6viK6J-4kLdXp-dU9ioW)

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zupatol
Strange that he mentions a 101 Dalmatians film in 1985. I can't remember that
and wikipedia knows nothing about it:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_and_One_Dalmatians...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_and_One_Dalmatians_%28franchise%29)

The 1961 film was actually rereleased in 1979. That fits better with my
childhood memories.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSF3qlTNbOA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSF3qlTNbOA)

~~~
mawburn
It says it on the wiki for the actual movie.

>It was re-issued to cinemas four times: in 1969, 1979, 1985 and 1991.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_and_One_Dalmatians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_and_One_Dalmatians)

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PeanutNore
In some breeds you will still find breeders who, although they are breeding
AKC registered dogs, are breeding for function rather than form. Retrievers
are the obvious example - there are hunters who are using those dogs for their
original purpose still and breeders looking to satisfy them. Unfortunately, in
some breeds there is a divergence between "show lines" and "working lines",
and a lot of judges are looking for traits that aren't really present in the
"working lines" or much more exaggerated in the "show lines". This isn't so
much a problem in the breed that I'm in - the dogs are bred just as much to
excel in the lure coursing field these days (and, in Russia at least, for
running down actual rabbits and other small game) as they are for the show
ring. It might be that the breed's relative unpopularity is in some ways an
asset - it's not found in either the top 10 or the bottom 50 breeds. Probably
because keeping these dogs is not for the faint of heart.

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gpvos
Side note: the article contains quite a few language mistakes, mostly missing
small words like "of" or "for":

 _> This is probably a side effect over breeding_

 _> you can find plenty of dogs that were simply disappeared economic reasons_

These mistakes are very easy to miss while scanning an article fast, as I (and
presumably many other people) are nowadays wont to do with the enormous
overload of information on the net.

I would not be surprised if these words would much less used in the middle-
term future.

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omurphyevans
There's a v amusing sketch about Crufts and the rise of the dog show by John
Finnemore:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG0BGqOKer8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG0BGqOKer8)

I've tried to talk friends out of getting problem breeds such as bulldogs,
considering so many dogs are left in shelters, but to no avail. To breed an
animal to extinction for fashion is an extremely odd thing to do, when you
think about it...

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michaelochurch
Dog breeds are a weird artifact. I don't view it as a bad thing that so many
of these human-created breeds are going "extinct". Actually, they go
pseudoextinct. The animals do fine, they interbreed with the general canine
population and their descendants are mutts. If you've ever met a dog, they're
quite OK with that. They have no concept of "breed" as far as we can tell and,
if they do, they probably find mixed-breed animals more attractive (not that
dogs are selective in that regard). We should be OK with it, too. Mutts live
2-3 years longer and are, unless you're after a specific aesthetic or breed
profile, generally better dogs.

I wouldn't mind, honestly, if the practice of breeding animals for profit went
extinct. We have too many good animals who are killed in shelters for no good
reason. (We should stop that too, preferring TNR, but one issue at a time.)
That's far more heartbreaking than the possibility that some weird-looking
creature that wouldn't exist in nature and requires almost cruel human
interventions (see: English Bulldogs, who now require C-sections) will not
have descendants, or will have descendants of a more hybrid nature
(pseudoextinction).

I think that dog breed is such a thing because of confirmation bias. So many
people say, "oh, I got a French Bulldog and she's the sweetest thing ever" or
"my Golden is smarter than I am" and I'm sure that they do have great dogs...
but I have awesome cats and they're just regular mutt cats. As long as the
animal is properly socialized, mixed-breed is best if you're just looking for
a good pet.

~~~
aaronbrethorst
I had a French Bulldog, and she was indeed the sweetest thing ever. (Still is,
in fact, but she lives in California due to a set of complicated
circumstances.)

I have never known another dog who was in such _need_ of being in constant
physical contact with me. Admittedly, part of it probably had to do with her
being a rescue, but still: Frenchies are extraordinarily affectionate.

That said, I would never buy one from a breeder. The fact that bulldogs are so
inbred that they require artificial insemination and c-sections to reproduce
says that it's time those breeds go extinct. If I had the opportunity (and the
proper time) to get another rescue Frenchie, though, I'd do it again in a
heartbeat

For your viewing pleasure, my little girl, Moxie:

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8104303829/in/s...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8104303829/in/set-72157630593075360)

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8292373427/in/s...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8292373427/in/set-72157630593075360)

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8403846731/in/s...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8403846731/in/set-72157630593075360)

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8590965099/in/s...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8590965099/in/set-72157630593075360)

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8609317262/in/s...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8609317262/in/set-72157630593075360)

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8658684108/in/s...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8658684108/in/set-72157630593075360)

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8776664388/in/s...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8776664388/in/set-72157630593075360)

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8773349885/in/s...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/8773349885/in/set-72157630593075360)

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/10078258256/in/...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronbrethorst/10078258256/in/set-72157630593075360)

~~~
aryehof
Your photos of Moxie brightened my day a little. Thanks!

~~~
jmhobbs
Shameless self promotion, but if you like French bulldogs, we've got a ton to
look at on Pack - [http://packdog.com/breed/french-
bulldog](http://packdog.com/breed/french-bulldog) :)

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davidgerard
PIT OF DESPAIR, Birmingham, Tuesday (UNN) — A South Somerset Atrocity Terrier
named Soberhill Black Medik Markenbrow Beatrice Vraibleu has beaten 25,000
canine rivals to win Best of Show at this year's Crufts in Birmingham.

The event, held in the Gladiator Pit at Birmingham's National Exhibition
Centre, attracted more than 143,000 freak-show ghouls and failed concentration
camp doctors.

Soberhill Black Medik Markenbrow Beatrice Vraibleu is owned by top breeder
Diana Mosley-Mengele, 48, of Gloucestershire. "It is unbelievable. This dog
has done so well. It is the greatest accolade you could wish for. We may have
to think about retiring him now because there is nothing left for him to do.
Of course, we can't breed from him, because the genitalia have been entirely
bred out of the line in order to allow the extra legs to grow in."

Second place went to a one-year-old pit bull terrier called Thatcher, who, in
a virtuoso display of the breed's skills, ate one of the judges.

Dog breeding in the UK is concerned with every detail of a dog's appearance.
"The perpetual haemophiliac bleeding from the snout must trickle along
approved lines," said Miss Mosley-Mengele. "In addition, the lifelong
whimperings of pain must be pitched between 3000 and 5000 Hertz. I had to
drown four bags of culls on this point in the last month alone."

Other events in the Arena yesterday included the Flyball Team semi finals and
finals, the Agility International Invitational and a parade of Obedience
winners. Particularly good showing in the Obedience trials came from those
dogs who helped in corraling their fellow canines and assisted their owners in
the vital genetic and surgical work needed to further the show-dog hobby.

Victoria Stilwell, star of the TV show Cull The Unterhünd, set a few hearts
aflutter around the show whilst filming a special episode of the popular
programme and personally chopping up bloody hunks of cull to throw to the
aspiring Crufts entrants.

Crufts was established in Argentina in 1946 by public-spirited recent German
immigrants who felt their skills and hobbies were no longer welcome in their
homeland. This year's event has been overshadowed by accusations that the show
is cruel, with animal charities and the International Criminal Court in the
Hague expressing their concerns. Show organiser the Kennel Club is putting
measures in place to deal with the problem, starting with kidnapping PETA
activists and mincing them for dog food.

PICTURE: Soberhill Black Medik Markenbrow Beatrice Vraibleu, the South
Somerset Atrocity Terrier who won this year's Crufts. Note the exquisite and
much-prized ulceration patterns on the flank.

[http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/UnNews:Crippled_diseased_...](http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/UnNews:Crippled_diseased_genetic_fetishisation_wins_Crufts)

~~~
DanBC
Linking animal cruelty to the holocaust? Really?

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macho_pikachu
I'm desperately trying to come up with an anecdote that combines DEA raids
that begin with canine murder, dog insurance, swatting, gated communities,
Michael Picket of the secret service and Aaron Swartz fame, and stem cell
research.

I'm usually good at this but the requisite savoir faire eludes me.

*mutt comment. Of course its downvoted./

