Don't Ask For Advice If You Don't Want To Hear It!

I get so aggravated with people who ask for my advice because I "know a lot about animals" (family's words, not mine), and then get upset when I tell them what I think based on what I know.

Case and point... we were at the local fairgrounds which has a flea market. People commonly bring their dogs with them, they're allowed, and it's a great day for all to be had. However, when people are bringing their 6 week old puppies, they're asking for trouble.

As I was poking through a pet booth, a lady brought up her 6 week old white (!!!) purebred Aussie Shepherd and was gushing over it to everyone around her. She asked what I thought of the dog, because she was going to breed her. I told her I would under no circumstances breed the dog because it's white, also known as "fatal whites" and can carry a slew of genetic problems (including deafness and blindness). She seemed upset, not at the news, but with me for pointing it out. (Not to mention that I'm pretty sure all-white Aussies are not considered up to show par....)

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If you don't want to know, don't ask.

I thought the stuff about genetic problems and blindness/deafness is a myth for shepards. it only applies to boxers, danes and dogs like them. It's related to the Merle gene and the Harlequin gene. I beleive someone here explained it all to us. Wait...never mind. I was thinking german sheppard.

How on earth would you get an all white aussie sheppard? Maybe albino?

If you breed merle on merle, about 1/4 of the puppies will end up being fatal whites, who more often than not have problems with blindness and deafness. If she'd had any other type of dog, I wouldn't have had a clue, but I did a lot of research after we adopted our pound puppy (who's an Aussie Shep mix) to see what to expect with her.

:sad: I guess that's some indication of what type of breeder the pup came from. Not only its colour, but the fact that it's 6 weeks old and was taken from Mom. Should have asked her who the breeder was. When she asked if you wanted a pup, you could have said, "No, I just wanted to know who to avoid!" :evil: