Posted: 7/30/2016 1:18:20 AM EDT
| Time to start looking for a new dog since our beloved English Mastiff passed at age 7. Anyone know of breeders that have goldens/labs coming up? I love the mastiffs, but I'd like to have a dog that will fetch and hopefully live a little longer than 7 or 8 years old. Probably not a hunting dog, more of a family dog is what we're looking for. |
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Yes, correct. Looking to not have some of the health issues that plague both breeds. Many of the problems are common to both breeds. You won't avoid them by mixing the two. In fact, you may run into a higher likelihood of problems, as a breeder willing to mix the two is less likely to be responsible enough to actually test their breeding animals for health problems common to either breed. "Hybrid vigor" is a myth when it comes to dogs for the most part, and only applies to recessive traits that are seen in only one of the breeds used. For instance, the pushed in face of the pug can cause respiratory issues, but crossed with a beagle, the muzzle lengthens enough to minimize those problems. Labs and goldens are similar enough in form and share most of their common health problems, so nothing will be "fixed" by mixing the two. If you want a retriever with less chance of health issues, find a reputable breeder of one or the other, one who has a history of testing their dogs and producing healthy, long-lived animals, or choose one of the less common, healthier retriever breeds, such as the Flat Coated or Curly Coated Retriever or the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. If you want a mutt just for the sake of having a mutt, go down to the shelter and pick a likelable one out of the pens. They have plenty to choose from and are overrun with puppies, especially in the spring. |
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naamah is correct. The biggest reason mutts were generally more healthy is because they came from long lines of free breeding and because survival of the fittest...the mutts with health problems didn't thrive and produce pups. Sickly dog of breed A x Sickly dog of breed B = sickly pup. The only other way specifically seeking out a crossbreed vs a purebred helps with health is if the entire breed is suffering from reduced fertility and other health issues due to extreme inbreeding or extremely narrow gene pool. That's not going on with goldens or labs. If you want a healthy golden OR a healthy lab, find a breeder who is #1 purposely avoiding mating of close relatives #2 screens for medical problems (good hips proven by X-ray, test for genetic diseases, etc) and then breeds healthy to healthy only. |
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My mostly golden mutt died of lymphoma in May. Our oncologist told us that was a myth. Quoted:
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Yes, correct. Looking to not have some of the health issues that plague both breeds. My mostly golden mutt died of lymphoma in May. Our oncologist told us that was a myth. mine died in December of 2013 with the same illness 
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