20·
3 days agobecause if we’re going to do anything good as a species, it will be making sure our dogs outlive us
So, funny thing about this, is it’s not at all true. I have a friend who is a vet, and he quite succinctly clarified with some good journal articles that the real issue with dogs’ short lives is we just don’t care. If we had been breeding for longer lives at any point, they would have no issue with living for decades longer than their current spans. It’s never been a priority (and might even be a poor business decision) for breeders to focus on longevity. Even health is only a passing concern for their ‘working’ period.
Maybe humanity will become better. Someday.
There is more going on in the background with cat coat colors, genetically, than dog coat colors, genetically. While the variations are huge in dogs (here’s just one breed’s possibilities), it’s quite possible to know the chances of the offspring from what the current generation are and what their parents were. Here’s another look at that. Horses are another one where there’s enough going on that you can’t always tell what they’ll throw.