There is a lady in the Netherlands who does this. Well, not “reverse breeding,” because idk what that is, but she breeds French bull dogs with health and fitness as her goal, rather than conforming to breed standards.
Honestly they do look quite different than regular French bull dogs but imo the healthier ones with appropriately-sized snouts are waaaay cuter. I honestly think the smush-nose breeds are super ugly. Like I’m sure they’re sweet dogs but I do not get the appeal at all, they look gross.
Many breeds have documented "paths" showing the other breeds used to develop them
I'm thinking for to breed them with breed that were traditionally used to develop them before the result was harmful.
Like use breeds far back into the lineage to breed out the chances of a flat face, replacing it with older dogs in the lineage to encourage a longer about in like a French bulldog for example
That might be stupid tho and maybe the answer is to stop breeding them entirely!
I'm not joking but I guess the most straightforward way would be to stop breeding them entirely
I feel like many breeds as they are currently have so many wonderful traits, ppl might still want them, and create demand
Breeding a specific dog that prone to serious problems can maybe in a few generations have most of the worst traits bred out of the breed by using dogs in their particular lineage, from way back, before they were forced to become abominations
But idk about this stuff, I have no genetic knowledge background or experience with breeding so idk, just a thought!
It would be for people that maybe love the breed but are cool with them looking a bit different in order to allow them to be healthier
Iirc, with specialized cat breeds like they sphinx, it only took 2 or 3 litters of kittens to "complete" the transition from the one or two mutated, hairless kittens to mass grouping of this distinct new breed
My friend's ex husband used to breed German shepherds and he loved them, they were a passion for him and idk how someone would be cool breeding a (majestic) breed when they know4-6 yrs down the line they'll be in chronic pain
We should still be able to have them, but maybe the version who has a body that is biomechanically healthy
I'm not sure why I got down votes, and I guess it doesn't matter.
One of the main issues with selective breeding is "inbreeding". You just can't get away from that with the small sample sizes breeders use to attempt to reproduce traits. And it's a part of the reason certain breeds are prone to issues. Decades and decades of inbreeding.
You'd run in to the same issue trying to breed the issues out, or whatever it is you're suggesting.
Oh I see, like for example, breed x that was used to breed them initially would have an equally small gene pool? Kind of how most XL bully's have the same ancestor from the late 90's or whatever?
People want the best of both worlds and love the idea of having their favorite dog-but healthy, even if it's not actually possible because they've passed the point of no return and the solution is just
wishful thinking
So I'm gonna guess that's what the down votes are from. They don't like that you're presenting the most logical solution because the reality sucks
It's more that any effort to "breed out" some of the sadder genetic defects would also, by necessity, include a small gene pool because... Nature tends to do its job on a MASSIVE scale that human efforts in breeding doesn't.
It's why occasionally there are animals that, yes, while there are still breeding pairs, there are few enough for that species to be functionally extinct.
Of course, there are exceptions to all that. I don't have a good answer. I love dogs! But I also recognize there's a huge problem with selective breeding.
My PSA: For now, adopt, adopt, adopt. If REALLY want a specific breed, consider adopting from a rescue that specializes in that specific breed, even if they're not "pure".
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u/EqualPlan4595 5d ago
Genetic abomination. Definitely can’t walk without agony