Thursday, July 16, 2009

Is that a dog?

Scooter here is still 6 months old, but is only 3 inches tall at his shoulders, and weighs less than a stick of butter. He isn't expected to get much bigger, so is competing for the title of World's Smallest Dog.

I am not sure if that is even a dog...maybe they should be in a different category. There is a dark side to this kind of trait selective breeding. This article from the LA Times cautions that while they are cute, these dogs can have serious problems. In addition to fragile tiny bones, as their heads get smaller, but they still need to house the same number of teeth so they have lots of oral health problems. They are popular at puppy mill enterprises, because I guess raising a bunch of dogs the size of butter sticks is easier than big dogs like me. None of this is Scooter's fault though. He is a cutie for sure, and I wish him the best.

Some people really want a small dog though, and that is ok. But instead of going to a breeder or puppy mill just search for "small dogs" in need of homes on Petfinder.com. I am sure there is one for you!


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