“Dog by committee” – the best breed of all!
Seattle Plastic Surgeon (and former genetics geek), Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder blogs about hybrid vigor.
This weekend I took my dog, Stella, to the park to get her share of doggie socializing. I’m always amazed and amused by the huge variety of doggie shapes and sizes, colors, coats, faces, tails, ears and personality. They make us humans seem downright monotonous, and in fact, genetically we are pretty monotonous.
The doggies I seem to be drawn to (my Stella included) are mixed breed dogs. They have what geneticists call hybrid vigor and always just seem cuter and more interesting to me. They are often more healthy with fewer breed specific issues such as hip dysplasia, deafness, achondroplasia (that’s what makes a wiener dog a wiener dog), cataracts, etc.
And guess what? Mixed breed people often have the same “hybrid vigor” as mixed breed doggies. Seattle is a bit of a melting pot with a lot of ethnic groups – Pacific Islanders, Asian, Indian, Native American, Scandahoovians, African, Middle Eastern, etc.
I remember seeing a young man in the emergency room (skate boarding victim) who was a mix of African, Native American and European. He was one handsome dude and the scar over his right eyebrow will only add to his appeal.
Take home messages – Hitler was wrong about the superiority of “pure races”, don’t marry your cousin, and mixed breed dogs are a bargain.
Thanks for reading! Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder
@lisalynnsowder
