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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Does anyone know if goldendoodles pick up the cancer gene? We lost our beloved Golden about two years ago. I can’t get another Golden because they all look so similar I’m worried the new dog would remind us too much of our old dog. We considered a Golden doodle but could never find clear answers on the genetic cancer link. [/quote]

There would be a chance.  But this is what gets me about the “only buy from an AKC ethical breeder” nonsense. “AKC approved” breeders have brought us Goldens that get cancer, Cavaliers that die from heart issues at a young age, Bulldogs that can’t breathe, German Shepherds with hip issues, etc etc.  They could breed these characteristics out, but they don’t, because $$.  They’re not going to tell breeders they won’t recognize their pups, even when they know the bloodlines are bad. There is nothing these breeders have over a backyard doodle breeder other than snobbery. [/quote]

Some breed standards are terrible—bulldogs, shepherds, cavaliers—and breeding to those standards produces problems.[b] Puppy farms/backyard breeders will not produce better dogs, however, than a good breeder. A good breeder has dogs with sport titles and show titles to ensure a well rounded dog. [/b]
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Sing it from the back. There are some breeds that should be entirely bred out (bulldogs, pugs, anything that can't breathe) but puppy mills and backyard breeding are not the solution to this problem. And yes, [b]good breeders do in fact try to breed out these negative traits and have a lot over a backyard breeder. [/b]

/Owner of a Golden where no fellow male in the line has died before the age of 16 at the earliest. [/quote]

You can say this, but that doesn’t make it true of the majority of AKC breeders. If it were, my many friends who paid a fortune for Goldens with AKC papers wouldn’t have lost them to cancer at a young age (see, also, Cavaliers with heart issues, GSDs with hip issues, etc).

I didn’t say that backyard breeders are the “answer.”  I said I’m tired of the holier than thou attitude of purebred breeders who have systematically bred dogs with known genetic defects that could be eliminated within one generation if the breeders were willing to abandon some otherwise valuable bloodlines.  As pp notes, in many cases, the AKC itself requires breed standards that are the problem. If the AKC and the breeders really cared about the health of the dogs (vs. money and adherence to some, in the end, arbitrary “breed standard,” they would refuse to breed dogs that they know to have these genetic flaws.  I will never buy another purebred Golden or Cavalier. If the breeders want to know why hybrids are popular, they need to look at their own breeding practices.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/

But the vast number of modern breeds—and the roots of their genetically caused problems—came about over the past two centuries, as dog shows became popular and people began selectively inbreeding the animals to have specific physical features. Over time the American Kennel Club (AKC) and other such organizations have set standards defining what each variety should look like. To foster the desired appearance, breeders often turn to line breeding—a type of inbreeding that mates direct relatives, such as grandmother and grandson. When a male dog wins numerous championships, for instance, he is often bred widely—a practice known as popular sire syndrome (pdf)—and his genes, healthy or not, then are spread like wildfire throughout the breed. As a result, purebred dogs not only have increased incidences of inherited diseases but also heightened health issues due to their bodily frames and shapes, such as hip dysplasia in large breeds like the German shepherd and the Saint Bernard, and patellar luxation, or persistent dislocation of the kneecap, in toy and miniature breeds.

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With the search for consistency yielding unforeseen flaws, however, who is to blame? Although the AKC sets the breed standards, it is principally a registry organization and has little control over the actual breeding process. Famula believes dog breeders hold the highest responsibility because they make the decisions about which dogs to mate. “In the end, breeders are the ones creating the next generation of dogs,” Famula explains. But researchers like Famula and Jerold Bell, a geneticist at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, note that breeding practices are greatly influenced by the puppy buyers who Bell believes are largely ignorant about genetic issues. “The public is completely unaware. They see a cute dog and are sold,” Bell says. When purchasing a puppy, buyers can ask for medical tests and family history of diseases; but this rarely happens. “Although it’s ultimately the breeders’ responsibility, if there’s no pressure from the buyer, the system won’t change,” he adds, emphasizing that most of the top 10 diseases plaguing all dogs are controlled by single genes which, when identified, are easy to eliminate in the next generation.[/quote]

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