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I must admit my view on breeds has changed over the years. I grew up in a dog household and we had many pedigree dogs, all bred by professionals with all the paperwork. Mostly German Shepherds and Border Collies. They were all wonderful dogs with fantastic personalities. I have also owned many cats including a Himalayan Persian, I dearly loved all my cats.
When I was younger my family was quite successful at dog shows and competitions so I also have experience of the workings of these events and how the animals are really treated by many owners.
I believe that breeds and pedigrees should end. It's a selfish practice of breeding animals purely for looks or one function, with no thought to the long term health problems created by doing so.
Pugs and Shih-Tzu's have to suffer death by suffocation because their functioning airways have literally been bred out of them in favour of a different shaped head. Long sausage dogs suffer debilitating and painful problems with their spine which can eventually paralyze them. German Shepherds / Alsatians have problems with their spine, rear legs, and hips, I saw many of them die this way. The list of problems caused by selective breeding is as long if not longer then the list of breeds.
Conversely mutts or non-pedigree dogs which are naturally mixed have very few of these problems, they typically have stronger immune systems, no trademark predictable deformities, and they are just the same loving individuals with their own unique personality. There is nothing less loving or weaker in character with a non-pedigree dog, it's just that pedigree animals are a status symbol.
As a child I just couldn't understand it, why would people pay far more money to buy an animal they knew would be sicker and that would suffer more simply because people wanted it to look a certain way. People tend to think of non-pedigree dogs as being dirty or worse in some way, perhaps full of fleas and disease. But any pedigree would suffer the same fate if left homeless and hungry.
I love all dogs but my favourites are the ones that love to play and have a bit of a cheeky personality. My number 1 dog in the whole world was a German Shepherd that I grew up with, he was massive! He was so big that my school friends called him "The Bear". He always had energy when he was younger and we played all day when we could. He was also really gentle. One time he got a grape that had fallen from the table, we panicked because grapes can make dogs sick, but all he did was run away with it and started to toss it in the air sometimes catching it, but mostly not! He never even broke the skin of the grape but if he ever needed to he could probably snap an arm. When he died I lost a best friend and I still miss him now as an adult.
My thoughts on cats are very similar, basically I don't really support the concept of breeds and they are all awesome in their own way,