Freya Lorelei (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} freyalorelei) wrote, |
Ironically, Cricket the teenydog with oodles of health problems? Is a mixed breed (aka mutt!) adopted from a shelter. She's 3/4 Chihuahua, a little under a third Dachshund, with just a splash of Pug. Being a mixed breed does not make a dog exempt from genetic disorders...it just makes the disorders in question more difficult to predict. And many breeds (like my beloved Whippets) aren't as destroyed by popularity as, say, Cocker Spaniels and Poodles, and have relatively few genetic issues.
And sorry, I just...get kinda defensive when people question why I keep the pets that I do. Hamsters get zilch respect and are looked on as more of a beginner pet, training wheels before moving onto "real" pets like dogs and cats, that no one gives them credit for having truly a fascinating biology and colourful history (the first Syrian hamsters were smuggled into the U.K. inside a scientist's pockets! Trufax).
