Same with Persian cats, poor things

A lot can't breathe so they they need to have surgery.

Spoiler: they can't. :( Same with Frenchies. An employee at my vet's office adopted an abandoned Frenchie and she (the dog, not the employee) has required three surgeries so far in order to enable her to be able to breathe properly. :(

76 years old and all my dogs have been mixed breed rescues.

At least Dalmatians can give birth normally and don't have to have c-sections like 80% of Frenchies and pugs (and other brachycephalic breeds.) Plus, IIRC, ethical Dalmatian breeders are choosing to breed only dogs that do not carry the deafness genes (i.e., dogs with bilateral hearing.) And since Dals are also prone to hyperuricemia, some breeders are participating in a "backcross" project where Dals are bred to English Pointer(s) in order to weed out the genes that are causing hyperuricemia in Dals. The "crossbreeds" are bred back to purebred Dals, and IIRC, after 5 to 10 "purebred" breedings, the pups are considered purebred Dals again. But because people are idiots re: brachycephalic dogs and think they're "cute", few breeders are doing similar projects with pugs and Frenchies, so the poor dogs continue to suffer.

Human intervention CREATED dog breeds

I disagree with your opinion re: the vast majority of purebreds (as most don't have horrible genetic issues), except for the brachycephalic ones (people seem to think they are "cute" and do not give a single poop that these dogs suffer massively) BUT I loathe the "American show line" of German Shepherds with their disgustingly roached backs (which causes suffering to the doggo.) My GSD (back in the 90s) was from German "working" lines and had a straight back. People nowadays seem to think the roached-back GSDs are superior. It breaks my heart. Most breeds don't have tons of genetic issues - some notable exceptions are Dalmatians (which ethical breeders are working to fix) and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (and that was due to a massive genetic bottleneck/inbreeding.) Ethical breeders participate in "outcross"/"backcross" projects in order to weed out the harmful gene(s).

There is a house around the corner from us with a pug breeder, and there are often litters of very excitable puglets in the yard when we walk our dogs. Our dogs don't even react to them. I don't think they register them as other dogs.

Yes. But then breeding will eventually stop. No demand, no NEW supply.

You don't adopt dogs from breeders, you buy them.

There is a difference between adopting and buying.

Love doesn't heal or fix their breathing issues, their croggled/crowded teeth, or their bulging eyes that can cause proptosis, scratched corneas, and painful entropion. Nor does "love" cure skin fold dermatitis, brachycephalic airway obstruction, or complications while under anesthesia. Pugs are also three times more likely to become obese than other breeds, and their life expectancy is shorter than similarly-sized small breeds of dog. Unless the owner can afford the drastically expensive surgeries to fix their teeth and their obstructed/constricted airways, the dog will suffer, no matter how much "love" their owner lavishes upon them. Pugs are also prone to hip dysplasia - nearly 64% of Pugs in a 2010 survey had hip dysplasia. And we're not even going to talk about the fact that over 50% of pug bítches have to have c-sections and CANNOT GIVE BIRTH NORMALLY due to their brachycephalic skulls. So they do not just have "breathing problems".

They haven't been around since "ancient times" FFS, they've been around since the 1800's. But if you actually look up pictures of them and do three seconds of research before making stupid sanctimonious posts like this you'll see that in the 1800's they had normal snouts, they were taller, and didn't have rolls. In other words they were reasonably healthy dogs, not the deformed monstrosities we breed today that can't breathe, get skin infections, ear infections, go blind, deaf, and almost all die in totally unnecessary pain for the sake of human vanity.

Inbreeding has NOTHING to do with the current pug's brachycephalic skull. Even if you analyze the breeding pair's genes/sanguinity and breed two "0% inbred"/genetically unrelated pugs, their puppies will still have breathing issues, croggled/crowded teeth, and bulging eyes that can cause proptosis, scratched corneas, and painful entropion. The puppies will still have skin fold dermatitis, brachycephalic airway obstruction, and complications while under anesthesia (because they cannot breathe properly.) They will still have hip dysplasia (64% of pugs in a 2010 survey had hip dysplasia) and will still be THREE TIMES more prone to obesity than ANY other dog breed. They will still have a FAR shorter life expectancy than other breeds that are the same size as pugs. And they will STILL have to have c-sections 50%-80% of the time, as the females CANNOT give birth normally because the brachycephalic skulls get jammed and stuck in the birth canal during labor.

A breeder can't help but promote inbreeding. All purebreeds are inbred. All of them.

r/woooosh