Hm, well having googled, it does seem that a lot of genetics expertise is going into breeding a non-allergenic service dog with the temperament of a labrador and the shedding properties of a poodle, which sounds like a sensible thing to aim for. I don't know if it's dander or what, but apparently people find poodles less allergenic. And it must be possible in principle to get cross-breeds to breed true eventually, over many generations of back-crossing, or how could we have got all the true-breeding breeds that we've created over the centuries?
Also re the collie pups: just because there are lots of unwanted any-old collies doesn't mean there can't be a demand for high-quality animals. My shepherd friend sells pups bred from his working dogs for lots of money because of their bloodlines. Presumably shepherds would just pick up collies for free from shelters if they were all equivalent, but they aren't. So if this guy was being interviewed on Crufts, I assume his animals were rather superior, and thus it seems at least possible that they were valuable gifts for the charities concerned...
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-03-14 08:57 pm (UTC)Also re the collie pups: just because there are lots of unwanted any-old collies doesn't mean there can't be a demand for high-quality animals. My shepherd friend sells pups bred from his working dogs for lots of money because of their bloodlines. Presumably shepherds would just pick up collies for free from shelters if they were all equivalent, but they aren't. So if this guy was being interviewed on Crufts, I assume his animals were rather superior, and thus it seems at least possible that they were valuable gifts for the charities concerned...
Neuromancer