‘Purebred’ Meaningless Without Background

Many people advised me not to write a column about dog breeding.

All questioned whether it was smart for any dog columnist to tackle the controversial subject.

Life isn’t interesting without risk, so I forged ahead. However, I did change my original tactic.

I intended to interview the country’s leading canine geneticists and dog breeders so you could analyze the data bantered about in the breeding debate.

But dog breeding is like religion. Attitudes toward it form deep in the human soul and psyche, molded by childhood and adult experiences.

Because breeding evokes the deepest elements of human nature - love, selfishness, compassion, greed, altruism and ego - I decided instead to tell you Lacey’s story.

She’s white with black patches on her back and hips and black freckles above her right eye and on the tip of her right ear; people often tell me she is the strangest dog they’ve seen. Her light blue eyes are almost white.

Lacey is a registered, purebred Siberian husky, yet a Siberian husky breeder said Lacey doesn’t meet the breed’s standard.

The comment didn’t surprise me. The breed standard is based on show ring qualities. Lacey is one of the rare racing-line Siberian huskies.

Lacey’s bones, muscles, lungs and heart are those of an athlete. Her well-documented pedigree shows ancestors that were bred for intelligence, physical stamina and the desire to pull and run.

When I announced to friends and family my desire to race purebred sled dogs, they were a bit surprised. Up to that point, my only dogs were rescued mixed breeds.

“But you can make money because people will pay for puppies with papers,” one relative stated.

The comment surprised and saddened me because I had learned three important things while searching for my sled dog team:

(1) American Kennel Club (AKC) papers mean nothing. Purebred dogs from puppy mills can get them as easily as purebred dogs like Lacey.

(2) The inherited health problems my mixedbreed dogs are experiencing come from years of purebred dogs being bred ignorantly and out of greed.

(3) There are several types of purebred dogs (a phenomenon most breed guidebooks fail to explain):

Pet store dogs mass produced in unconscionably inhumane puppy mills.

Cash-crop dogs bred by backyard breeders (average citizens with little knowledge of canine genetics and profit as their motivation).

Show-line dogs, some of which are physically and psychologically healthy, some of which are not.

Working-line dogs, some of which are physically and psychologically healthy, some of which are not.

Even when I shared this information with friends and relatives, some still could not shake the mesmerizing thought of an AKC-registered dog.

When I had Nakita - my first racing-line Siberian husky - spayed, some thought I was a fool.

When I paid several hundred dollars for Ajo, a phenomenal racing-line Siberian husky, already spayed, they were convinced I was stupid.

This summer I will decide whether to spay Lacey.

She is a great racing dog and family member. If I breed her, I will keep her puppies to add to my team.

But I have held a wonderful pure-bred dog whimpering in pain after having many tumors removed from her reproductive organs.

Her owners never had her spayed, so she developed a painful condition common in unspayed dogs.

“But she has papers,” her owners said.

xxxx