The Victorians got on a moral high horse,
determined to differentiate their dogs from
the cruelties and vulgarities of lower-class dog fights, baiting and other
"sports." So they invented the dog show. After the first one in 1859
at Newcastle-on-Tyne (just hunting dogs--pointers and setters), a subculture of dog shows
developed quickly, emphasizing pedigree and breeding just as human society of
the time did. Eugenics--the belief that humans could be improved by selected
breeding--was in vogue and eugenicist Francis Galton (a cousin of Charles Darwin)
used dog breeding as an analogy. Stud books were created (a record of pedigrees
of dog, owner and show results), and professional breeding was launched.
And breed they did! Ratting needed small
terriers like the Jack Russell; fishing, sports and maritime work required the
webbed feet of the Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever or the Portuguese water
dog.Dogs were
bred for flat terrain, for mines, for war and for ladies' laps. But by the late
20th century, though many dogs still
worked as service dogs, farm dogs, police and military dogs, a
lot were unemployed and on the dole: what, after all, could a coon dog do in
Toronto when doing his work could bring a city bylaw official down on him? By
now, though, human lives and canines were inextricable; we needed the dog for
emotional sustenance and so dogs became
family members.
As increasing prosperity allowed dogs to become more of an aesthetic choice,
selective breeding emphasized selling qualities. More and bigger facial
wrinkles. Larger eyes. Bigger dogs. Shrunken designer ones to fit in designer
handbags. Dog shows, always part entertainment, became even more showbiz and
slightly weird. The poor standard poodle had his bottom shaved into the
"continental clip" rather than the English saddle cut; German
shepherds look terrific in the ring with sloping backs like a missile ready for
launch, but those lowered rears unbalance the body and strain back legs. The
Cavalier King Charles spaniel's head was bred to make the eyes more prominent,
the nose shorter. In fact, ever shorter noses made several of the dog breeds
look as if their faces had been bashed into a cement wall, while the Cavalier
spaniel's smaller skulls had insufficient room for the brain, leading to
syringomyelia, a condition where the cerebellum gets squished into the hole at
the bottom of the skull leading to the spinal cord. Together with all the
breathing and overheating problems associated with the brachycephalic breeds
(bulldogs, Pekingese, Boston terrier, pugs, Shih Tzu), the health of these dogs was compromised, but buyers loved
those cute faces.
Legitimate breeders, a largely caring
profession, were aware of these problems but some gave in to public demand, and
then some modifications started winning at dog shows. Easy to see now how breeding
was going wrong, but it's Monday morning quarterbacking: the times were not
focused on pet health problems except by a few. All breeders love their own
breed and some got "kennel blindness" to what was happening. Even
today, many bulldog fanciers insist their breed is just fine, though many
airlines will not fly a bulldog for fear its breathing difficulties result in
more deaths in the air, and bulldog heads have often become so large that
normal birth is not possible-heads are too big to get through the narrowed
pelvic structure.
When classified ads went online with Internet
sites like Craigslist and Kijiji, the dog world tumbled. You could buy a
"Shih Tzu pup with vet's certificate for $250" instead of a
registered breeder's $2,000-plus. Then there was the friend who knew a guy who
could get you any pup you want for half the going rate. Many new owners were
unwittingly subsidizing "puppy mills"--volume breeders who keep
bitches in cages and breed them time after time until they're of no use and are
killed. Pups are taken from their mothers too early, squealing and unknowing,
and stashed in unhealthy conditions.
Some operations are big, some are just
amateurs using up a bitch or two at a time. Private home addresses are often
used to front them and ads tell of "home-raised" pups. Even price is
no guard: some will charge the same as a registered breeder. Laws against
animal cruelty aren't usually effective. Who knows only the CKC can register
purebreds when the seller gives you "papers" with a vet's attestation.
(Note to would-be puppy owners: check out the CKC site tkepuppylist.ca.)
In 2008, the BBC broadcast an investigative
documentary called Pedigree Dogs Exposed.
The documentary was somewhat over the top but after it aired, sweeping health
issues under the carpet became much more difficult. Three independent reports
in the U.K. followed. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals report, "Pedigree Dog Breeding in the U.K.: A Major Welfare
Concern?" found that the small gene pool of some purebred dogs exacerbated inherited diseases and
unnatural anatomical structure. The short limbs of dwarf breeds could cause
legs to curve or create difficulty and pain in movement; larger breeds suffered
from osteochondrosis, joint damage and hip dysplasia. Those cute skin folds on
faces and floppy long ears are home to dermatitis and eye problems.
last part 
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