Question by Onika: Mixed Breeding with a Purpose?
Well, I was chatting with my mentor and some of her show buddies and we were talking about those who mix breed for the hell of it, versus those who mix breed for a purpose.

Here is an excerpt from a dog forum I’m apart of talking on the very same subject:
“There is a far difference between throwing two dogs together and calling it “a new breed”, and actual breed creation. For the past decade of so I have been researching the idea of building my ideal dog from existing breeds and selective breeding.

I want to create an area-guard dog the size of a small horse, but largely free of problems like hip and elbow dysplasia, as well as the drastically shortened lifespans many of the giant breeds have. I want something massive, healthy, and long-lived. Also with a moderate length double coat: something that can function well outside, but doesn’t become matted like a long-coat breed.

As such, I’ve been studying all manner of existing breeds to see if what I want already exists. No sense in reinventing the wheel. I like the Caucasian Otcheva(sp?) and Tibetan Mastiff, but dislike the long coat. If I could find short-coated representatives of the breed my search would be over. Alas it has not yet been so…

So, I start looking at dogs that have aspects of what I want, and working on how I would start interbreeding. It is a lot of theory right now because I do not have the resources to begin in practice; and I’m still researching bloodlines of pure dogs for this.

I want to produce an estate guard that would actually serve to protect my investment of GSDs. I’ve had 2 dogs stolen at shows, I want to know that while they’re kennel’d at night I have my own varient of guard dogs on patrol.

But it will take a long time, and in the end I may never even do it.

Either way, that is how a breed’s creation begins: FUNCTION then FORM.”
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I personally agreed with the poster. And I’m just wondering YA!s take on the subject that seems very controversial in these days were people are trying to profit from designer disasters.

Best answer:

Answer by Bri
I totally agree with you, because that’s how a lot of breeds we have today came about. But people who just, “oh this dog is cute and this one is too lets breed them”, are stupid. But modifying a dog to better it with getting the proper tests done and such is ok.

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Question by Nimistad: My Dog is favoring her back left leg….?
I have a 7 year old standard size poodle. It started two days ago when she would lift her back left leg up and did not put weight on it. She would actually run around on three legs. Today she is walking on it but it is shaking. I have scheduled a vet appointment but wanted to see if any one knew anything right now. I did not know if hip or knee dysplasia was prominent in this breed.

Best answer:

Answer by brussel sprout farmer
Hmm… It might be something stuck in her pads on her paw. I would still go to see a vet though.

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Question by Halcyon: Does anyone have an American Bulldog?
I have an American Bulldog who is three years old. For the past couple of days he hasn’t been eating as he normally does. He leaves his breakfast alone and barely touches it when it comes to dinner even when we add in a little bit of his dinner portion (rice and some other stuff). Today he left his breakfast alone again and didn’t even touch. It came to about seven o’clock PM so we decided to throw out that food and give him plain rice. He ate that.

Today he also began to have some trouble getting up after he sat or laid down. He can barely jump anymore either. When he first begins to walk he has a little trouble but then afterwords he walks fine with a little bit of a shake in his hind legs.

I’ve researched a little bit online and saw that the American Bulldog breed is affected by hip dysplasia. My mom is going to take him to the vet to see what is wrong tomorrow.

Does anyone have an American Bulldog? Has your dog been through this? We take him on walks whenever we can and we have a yard as well that we play with him in. Could it be his diet or should he be taken out more?

Best answer:

Answer by CC
American Bull dogs are big dogs and they are prone to hip dysplasia, you should have him checked out by the vet, best of luck. Oh, and I have an American Pit Bull Terrier

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Question by Halcyon: Does anyone have an American Bulldog?
I have an American Bulldog who is three years old. For the past couple of days he hasn’t been eating as he normally does. He leaves his breakfast alone and barely touches it when it comes to dinner even when we add in a little bit of his dinner portion (rice and some other stuff). Today he left his breakfast alone again and didn’t even touch. It came to about seven o’clock PM so we decided to throw out that food and give him plain rice. He ate that.

Today he also began to have some trouble getting up after he sat or laid down. He can barely jump anymore either. When he first begins to walk he has a little trouble but then afterwords he walks fine with a little bit of a shake in his hind legs.

I’ve researched a little bit online and saw that the American Bulldog breed is affected by hip dysplasia. My mom is going to take him to the vet to see what is wrong tomorrow.

Does anyone have an American Bulldog? Has your dog been through this? We take him on walks whenever we can and we have a yard as well that we play with him in. Could it be his diet or should he be taken out more?

Best answer:

Answer by CC
American Bull dogs are big dogs and they are prone to hip dysplasia, you should have him checked out by the vet, best of luck. Oh, and I have an American Pit Bull Terrier

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Question by Cassie-Dane & Bully Breed lover: what do I do about this…?
OK. I will admit. I was stupid from buying my puppy from a petstore and I will aknowledge that I made a big mistake and whatever
BUT.
I bought my puppy from a pet store called ‘pets and more’ in IL. she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia less than a MONTH after her first birthday. so the pet store is like ‘oh I’m sorry, but we cannot do anything about this…you should have gotten her diagnosed before her first birthday-and we could have givin you a refund or get you a new dog’
and another staff person I talked to said ‘o well I can contact the breeder for you’ and took my information. then a few weeks later after not hearing from them I called back. that SAME girl said ‘O well the manager should have done that she will only be here until 3 tomorrow’CLICK…leaving me pissed off.
so I looked up the ‘breeders’ number. and I talked to HER
and for one…she claimed the pet store never contacted her. and THEN she was like ‘well I cant help you out-the mom doesnt have anything and
neither does her brother that we have here. bye’
so I am stuck thinking ‘B*tches!’ but I am told that I cannot stop people from buying puppies from there because it is ‘illegal’ to do so.
and what am I supposed to do about my ONE YEAR OLD GREAT DANE
who has hip dysplasia?? the surgery would cost twice the amount that we got her for. what am I supposed to do about this???? I cant pay for a freaking surgery!!! I give her MSM with Glucosamine from NATROL. and the vet tells me thats the most I can do for her.

and she is obviously still in pain

I’m freaking pissed.
and so obviosuly (in my eyes) this chick is a BYB. what do I do to spread the word? without getting in trouble for breaking some sort of stupid f*cking law??
you are so not helpful Nicole..if you didnt see in the beginning I admitted to being stupid.
and screw you. how would you know if I’m not responsible? I’m 16!! and I DID research the breed. ugh. I just answered a questoin about people like you.

would you like me to tell you that you should give your dog away?

B*TCH

Best answer:

Answer by ♥PomMom♥®™
Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to hold them responsible. That is the downfall of buying from pet stores – you never know where they came from and what the health problems are going to be.

I made the same mistake as you did. I bought a Min Pin from PetLand and she had problems throughout her life. She eventually had to be put down due to an enlarged heart. Many of us live and learn.

Just warn people. This is a good place to start. Educate your friends, family and co-workers about pet store puppies. Word of mouth goes a long way.

ADD:
My Min Pin had severe luxating patellas on both of her knees which required surgery. It was very expensive, but she didn’t deserve to die because of some irresponsible person.

Call around to different vets. Here is a link to some places that may be able to help.
http://www.help-a-pet.org/home.html
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/what_you_can_do_if_you_are_having_trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html
http://handicappedpets.com/services/PetFinancialHelp.html

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Question by Just Me: My 7 year old Chocolate lab please at least try and help!?
My 7 year old chocolate lab has hip dysplasia. Shes also bow legged i dont know if thats part of it but this is what the vet told me. As Well as Arthritis in her knee the same leg. she walks on 3 legs. and she cries and whines we give her the pain med’s the vet gave her. and she still feels a whole sh!t load of pain. My mom says if theres nothing we can do, were going to have to put her down. if it has gotten worse. i want to know if there is something else we could turn to because my dog is my life. so can you help me out? PLEASE!

This is Roseanna and I http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d78/Skaterchicka21/m_6d4ff408f87e4a4cb155b073dc053398.jpg
Thanks for all the comments about how beautiful my Rosey is. =D We have taken to her to a puppy massage therapist and she would touch her until we got her another xray. The want to test to see if she has cancer in the leg. but the risk of this could mean she couldnt walk on that leg again.
I know some of you are thinking just put her down think about her pain. but i really want to make sure that is the 100% best option for her. because we cant reverse it. She swallows the pills by her self. she even shows you her mouth after wards -Bratty dog- we have a heating blanket and a bed she lays on. i just wanted to know if there was some way to fix it but all the surgeries and the biopsies could mean she could loose the use of her leg permanently. Which would be bad because then id really have to consider putting her down. I wish Life didnt have pain. Roseanna Doesnt deserve This. No dog or human does. Thank you for your input it means alot to me. =)

Best answer:

Answer by JenVT
Try acupuncture. We have had great success with it and it is only about a visit. The first six weeks we went every week, but now we only go once every six weeks.

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Question by Cloud Riders Pet Parent: My soon to be 3 yr old yellow lab limps?
My soon to be 3 yr old yellow lab limps after running at the dog park.and will limp for a couple of days then is ok on his regular 3 walks a day. We will walk a couple of blocks to do his business and I don’t notice a limp of his right hind leg. Today I was shoveling snow and let him be off leash while I was doing this and he ran around the front yard really hard and I stopped him and put him in the house and then after resting he got up and started limping on the same leg. I have noticed that if he runs like he is tearing it up, later that day or night he will limp for a day or two then he is ok. I took him to the vet when I first noticed this in Dec of 2007 and she did all these range of motion stretching and bending and wasn’t worried so much about hip dysplasia gave him Rimadyl for a couple of weeks. I couldn’t afford the xrays so I don’t know for sure. Should a bearly 3yr old have arthritis? He lays around alot except when we go for our daily walks, ? deconditioned?

Best answer:

Answer by twinklecutie2000
wat is a soon

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Question by Eric S: I HAVE A 5 MONTH OLD G.S.D NEED help?
First of my dog “thor” is a 5 months old.sable GSD. hes 53.5 pounds
this is my first puppy btw .. ok SO ya i hear about this hip dysplasia problem and this worries me i notice a little sway in his walk but hes in no pain he loves to run and jump and play but im really worried please help me out and give me sum Information and some solutions im really worried, another thing to is hes a big puller when it comes to walking and i need some advise on how to stop that .. and need to no What coller and leash i should buy him
thank you SO much for your time
-Eric.

Best answer:

Answer by Kristen
I have a golden retriever. He has bad hips. The vet told us to just keep him excercising so his muscles will stay stronger and this prevents hip displasia. We also get him happy hips which really help. For the pulling try a chain leash and if your dog wants to sniff let it. This reduces the pulling somehow. You could try giving your dog a ball to carry when you walk it too. Than all they care about is the ball and don’t think aobut pulling. Hope this helps!

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Question by Julie D.: OK guys, I never ask any stupid questions, so here goes?
Since I know there are sooooo many stupid questions here everyday, I thought I’d join in. Keep in mind, this question is ONLY to lighten things up a bit and to see what kind of off the wall answers happen to come in. (I think I’m allowed to troll ONCE in 3 years, right?….and most of you should know that I’m NOT a troll) OK folks……What would I get if I decided to bread my NUDERED female ENGLISH Bulldog with Hip Dysplasia, to my male SPADE Cavalier King Lhasa poo? Ready, set, GO-and be creative!

Just in case….What tool do you use to do your dog’s nails?
Add: Lucy….ya think? Really?
Add: Jerome, I think there are a couple of things you didn’t pick up on.
Add: You guys are great. I think my computer is about to blow up! Launi…..started drinkin a little early today? jk

Best answer:

Answer by Clo Clo
you would get frog guts!

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Question by lifeguardangel: 5 month old pit bull with diarrhea and gas he also has a limp in his left hind leg.?
I have a 5 month male American Pit-bull Terrier. He has had bloody diarrhea that’s mucus in form and extremely bad gas. Both his stools and diarrhea are very potent. This has been going on since I bought him from the breeder. (he was 9 weeks). At times the diarrhea is explosive and he can’t control his bowels. He has also developed limp, which started over a month ago. I have taken him to the vet over 6 times. I’ve brought him to 3 different vet offices because I was not satisfied with their answers. The vet we normally go to has tested his stools 4 times and no worms or parasites ever showed up. I check his stools every day to see if I see anything. The next vet he was brought to also did several fecal tests and nothing came up. Then lastly the third vet tested his stools and did blood work and came up with Guardia as the cause. This was treated with 10 days of Metronidazole. Before this he was treated by the other vets with Albon and flagyl he was on this twice. He was also treated with Loperamide to control the diarrhea but that didn’t help what so ever. He was also treated with an antibiotic.
I asked the original Vet if it could be IBS. He agreed that it could be and that we should try different kinds of food. Which we did, we even put him on rice and chicken broth and nothing seemed to help. The 3rd vet said no it couldn’t be IBS. While he was on the Metronidazole everything did clear up but now it’s coming back. Except the limp that is getting worse, and even while on the meds it never cleared up. I was concerned that it could be hip dysplasia since he does do that “bunny hop” and seems to be more stiff when he is getting up from a nap. I asked for x-rays and the vet said wait it out a month or so. This was after it had been going on for almost 2 weeks. I even told the vet I just wanted the x-rays in advance and didn’t care if I was wasting money. But he wanted to wait. It’s probably going to be another 2 weeks till he sees him again. I’m not sure what my next course of action should be, I’ve already spent over 0 on vet bills and he just turned 5 months last week. I also should add he is growing normally and always seems to be happy. He doesn’t act litharge and even though he limps he still wants to run and play. Other then the limp he doesn’t seem to be in pain and the vet did range of motion tests on him and he didn’t cry. This dog is never out of my site and I’ve never seen him fall or get hurt. He’s not allowed on the couch of bed. He developed the limp before he figured how to jump up on the couch. I’m at my wits end I have no clue where I should turn but this doesn’t seem normal to me. I’ve contacted the breeder several times and she was understandable and wasn’t sure what the issue could be. These weren’t back yard breeders they appeared honest and legit I did my best to research them. He is up to date on all of his shots and was dewormed before he was brought home and I believe he was also dewormed by one the vets. I know I put out a lot of information but if anyone knows what this could be please share your thoughts with me.
We live in Dover Delaware
He is on a grain free food

Best answer:

Answer by Dogmabitesmanonleg
Have you tried a holistic vet? A lot of times they can help when no one in the traditional field can figure out what’s wrong. You’ll have to do a search, since I don’t know where you’re located.

There’s a couple of sites I know of dedicated to using natural methods to help people and pets so you might want to look around on there and see if there’s any information on there that will help. Links below:

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