The "Dumbing down" of certain breeds..

RD

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#1
What do you all think of "modifying" certain breeds to suit the general public?

For the past few days I have been talking to people who believe that dogs such as Pit Bull Terriers should be "bred down". This means, breeding out the breed's natural inclination to challenge another dog, as well as its strong prey drive and fight drive. This, they say, will help the breed be more widely accepted by society.
The same is said with Border Collies. "Oh, they are far too energetic to be apartment dogs, so let's breed them to be more mellow!" Is a BC that falls asleep in the field and lets the sheep get away -really- a Border Collie?

The people say "Oh, but then there will not be problems with BSL!"
That may be true, but why have different breeds if you ultimately try to turn them all into Golden Retrievers?

I want some opinions on this... Do you agree with the "breeding down" of breeds such as Pit Bulls, just so they are accepted by society?
 

GSDFan05

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#3
Ack, what has happened to American showline German shepherds is a tragedy....not to mention the other working and herding breeds that have had the brains bred out of them for the show ring...like Renee said, don't get me started, I could rant forever...
 

RD

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#4
Renee- Ohh yes, I do. ;)

I post this, because some of these people who claim to love the breed so much, are willing to take away its very essence order to prevent it from being banned or scorned by society. I don't understand this mindset, and I was hoping for some insight from people who think this way as to -why- one would want to do such a thing.
 

bogolove

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#5
I am interested to see if anyone really would want to do that. I can't imagine why one would take the characteristics out of a breed just so they can make it an "apartment" dog. To me that is rather self centered and the kind of person who shouldn't own a dog in the first place. If they don't like this or that about a dog, then they should RESEARCH AND FIND ANOTHER BREED THAT BETTER SUITS THEM instead of suggesting ignorant ideas that have little thought behind them. Well, or at least, little intellect behind them.

Sorry, didn't mean to get on a tangent here. ;)
 

Richie12345

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#6
I personally think there is nothing wrong with breeding to make pitbulls "nicer" (which the whole thing is just bull). I have no problem with it, but I still want some pure bred Pitbulls for a gaurd dog later in my life.

I think this will make dogs more popular.
 

poeluvr

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#7
for people who want to breed down a border collie for apartment puposes i say this_ if u live in a apartment geta maltesenot a energetic border collie
 

EliNHunter

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#8
Richie1234 said:
I personally think there is nothing wrong with breeding to make pitbulls "nicer" (which the whole thing is just bull). I have no problem with it, but I still want some pure bred Pitbulls for a gaurd dog later in my life.

I think this will make dogs more popular.
Richie -- you're contradicting yourself, here. There's nothing wrong with breeding pits to be "nicer" but the whole thing is bull? But you want pure bred pits for guarding later in life? The trouble is, there are bad breeders of every breed of dog. And there are good breeders of every breed of dog. Pits are very nice dogs -- if bred, socialized, and raised CORRECTLY. It's the scumbags of the world that do bad breeding for meanness, fighting, they're awful to their dogs, etc. etc. that has given the breed a bad name. So, in a way, this is already happening. Breeding "nicer" pits and the nasty @sses that breed the "meaner" pits (and then it's the breeder's/owner's fault, not the dog's).
 

poeluvr

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#9
the whole thing i think is dumb dont you ellinhunter, leave them alone, its selfish to change a dog so you can stick a big dog in a place he'll never be happy....apartment...besides what happens to the dogs , that their breeding down, it may not be yet as xcalm or nice so when they keep breeding them what happens to the other dogs
that may sound confusing i mean: say you wanted a "nice" pitbull, you bred two togther, that had nice temperments to make a nice dog but not nice enough. once youve bred it with another "nice" pit bull and now you have that puppy what are you doing with the other 4 dogs, that werent nicce enough for you...this is how dogs end up with shelters....it sounds the exact same as someone breeding two maltese's together to make babies to sell. once they are about 8 and cant breed any more they get put in a shelter...its just dumb. your screwing with dogs personalitys, if you want a border collie to be calm, just get a calm dog
 

EliNHunter

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#10
LEA said:
if you want a border collie to be calm, just get a calm dog
Perfectly stated, LEA. We need to QUIT MESSING WITH OUR BREEDS! If you want a tiny little border collie that needs no work, doesn't shed, and is perfectly happy being a couch potatoe, FIND ANOTHER BREED!
 

Richie12345

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#11
EliNHunter said:
Richie -- you're contradicting yourself, here. There's nothing wrong with breeding pits to be "nicer" but the whole thing is bull? But you want pure bred pits for guarding later in life? The trouble is, there are bad breeders of every breed of dog. And there are good breeders of every breed of dog. Pits are very nice dogs -- if bred, socialized, and raised CORRECTLY. It's the scumbags of the world that do bad breeding for meanness, fighting, they're awful to their dogs, etc. etc. that has given the breed a bad name. So, in a way, this is already happening. Breeding "nicer" pits and the nasty @sses that breed the "meaner" pits (and then it's the breeder's/owner's fault, not the dog's).
I am horrible at explaining things, so you probly misunderstood me, sorry. Everybody thinks that Pitbulls are mean, and horrible dogs. It's just because there are bad people in this world that treat their dogs badly. I know and understand that.

My point is, I don't really care if someone breeds a Pitbull with some other dog so then it will become a socially accepted breed. I just don't want them to diminish the original Pitbull that my friends and I grew to love.

I guess what I am trying to say is... instead of dumbing down or modifying , why not just make a new breed. That's just my opinion tho, I am just a kid, so I am probly not the most knowledgeable, lol.
 

EliNHunter

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#13
Richie1234 said:
I guess what I am trying to say is... instead of "breeding down", why not just make a new breed. That's just my opinion tho, I am just a kid, so I am probly not the most knowledgeable, lol.
No, you are very smart for your age when it comes to dogs! And the "making a new breed" happens all the time. How about the Labradoodles and Goldendoodles that are quite the rage right now? But get this concept into the inept breeders' hands, and it's disaster. That's how we've gotten into these different "sects" within a breed. For instance, a Lab and a Std. Poodle's first offspring are the ONLY dogs that are supposed to have the traits they're striving for. How many backyard/recreational breeders do you think are out there that don't know that?
 
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#14
No way, especially not with a border collie!! I can't imagine what Tippy were like if she were *super* calm all the time. I think I'd just about die. :D
 

bubbatd

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#16
Again...it goes back to the breeder....I would love to prove a point, breed the meanest female I could find to the meanest male I could find !!! I could still produce the nicest, sweetest, off spring ever.! It all starts from the day they're whelped ! Of course I'd have to know the female and have her trust me before this could happen.
 

Richie12345

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#17
bubbatd said:
Again...it goes back to the breeder....I would love to prove a point, breed the meanest female I could find to the meanest male I could find !!! I could still produce the nicest, sweetest, off spring ever.! It all starts from the day they're whelped ! Of course I'd have to know the female and have her trust me before this could happen.
Yes, but if you were to pull that off I still wouldn't think the public will change their opinion. They would probably be stubborn and not trust pitbulls or any other dog considered to be vicious.
 

Richie12345

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#18
gaddylovesdogs said:
No way, especially not with a border collie!! I can't imagine what Tippy were like if she were *super* calm all the time. I think I'd just about die. :D
Yeah, border collies have a great personality
 
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#19
They sure do. My girl can be nice and calm in the house, but once I open the door, she's ready to zoom, once I pick up the leash, she's ready to go. I love it when she gets all silly and zoomy, it's nice to watch her having fun zooming around the yard.
 
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#20
bubbatd said:
Again...it goes back to the breeder....I would love to prove a point, breed the meanest female I could find to the meanest male I could find !!! I could still produce the nicest, sweetest, off spring ever.! It all starts from the day they're whelped ! Of course I'd have to know the female and have her trust me before this could happen.
I think that breeding dogs of certain breeds (such as pit bulls), which are known to be more dog-aggressive, should have good personalities. I don't see the point in breeding two aggressive dogs, because there's a good chance you'll end up with aggressive puppies, too.
 

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