<story><title>Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/22/pugs-anatomical-disasters-vets-must-speak-out-even-bad-business</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>weavie</author><text>Not just Pugs. I had a German Shepherd. Beautiful dog, but everyone who I met who had had a German Shepherd in the past told me their dog had to be put down around 10 years of age due to their back legs failing.&lt;p&gt;Our dog didn&amp;#x27;t even make it to 10. She died of heart failure at 7. According to the vet this is another common problem with the breed.&lt;p&gt;I well never get a pure breed again.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Waterluvian</author><text>We got two spaniels (years apart) from the same breeder. Both died suffering of a number of abnormalities that became pronounced when they got older.&lt;p&gt;Later we found that the breeder was forced to stop altogether because the dogs were so consistently damned.&lt;p&gt;I can still hear what I can only describe as &amp;quot;screaming&amp;quot; by our first spaniel the night she came home after an emergency operation. She had to be let go that night. Nothing in my life has haunted me the same way. That was it for dogs for me. I have two wonderful cuddly cats and I&amp;#x27;m delighted by how genetically unremarkable they are.</text></comment>
<story><title>Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/22/pugs-anatomical-disasters-vets-must-speak-out-even-bad-business</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>weavie</author><text>Not just Pugs. I had a German Shepherd. Beautiful dog, but everyone who I met who had had a German Shepherd in the past told me their dog had to be put down around 10 years of age due to their back legs failing.&lt;p&gt;Our dog didn&amp;#x27;t even make it to 10. She died of heart failure at 7. According to the vet this is another common problem with the breed.&lt;p&gt;I well never get a pure breed again.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lightedman</author><text>Your &amp;quot;German Shepherd&amp;quot; today is nothing like the purebreeds from the WWII era. They were bred afterwards for looks, nothing else. The inherent intelligence remained and was left unchanged, everything else was selectively bred, so you get to enjoy cardiac failure and hip dysplasia as a result.</text></comment>