imaqtpai asked:


I know a lot of breeds have a miniature, toy, etc. How do they downsize a dog like that? I don’t really get how you would do that unless you somehow went in and altered the genes. Is that what they did? How come all dogs don’t have the ability to come in miniature or a different size? There is only a select few that do.

I have always wanted a golden retreiver because I love the breed and their personality and such. But I prefer small dogs and if they made a miniature golden retreiver I think I would go insane! Anyone know why the can’t do this with this breed and many others?

I think miniatures of dogs are absolutely adorable by the way! I have a Miniature American Eskimo and I love it so much. Everyone thinks it’s a Pomeranian and since I have a Pomeranian as well they think they are the same, lol.

MARION

4 Responses to “How do they breed dogs in different sizes?”

1. p_i_turtle_sanders on May 16th, 2009 9:30 pm

   Miniatures are created by progessively breeding smaller and smaller members of the breed. They are artificially selected based on size.

   Dwarf breeds, like basset hounds for example, are not miniatures, and were created as a result of a mutation.

   Breeding for miniaturization, while currently a popular fad, is not a good thing for individual breeds. Miniatures, although generally heatlhier than dwarf breeds, still have more health problems than regular sized dogs. IMO, purposely breeding dogs for size along, when there are already so many small breeds in existance, is irresponsible. Why don’t you research existing small breed dogs- many of them are very friendly and outgoing and would be personality-wise the equivalent of a small golden retriever.

   Good Luck.

2. ottoman on May 18th, 2009 4:31 pm

   Crossing the breeds so many times to get a smaller dog
   ..the golden retriever would lose it’s identity ..will not look the same…

3. nesmith52 on May 21st, 2009 8:06 pm

   My sister’s family have an English Golden Retriever or maybe it is just called an English Retriever. Anyway, its about 1/2 the size of a regular retriever and has short curly hair instead of straight hair. It is a beautiful dog named Maddy and she looks just like a golden retriever except smaller and she is trained to retrieve birds when they go hunting. She is still young but does great at retrieving so they must be very smart dogs. Look them up on the internet and maybe you can get one. Not a miniature, but a much smaller version for the house and super intelligent.

4. SHELLIE C on May 22nd, 2009 7:55 pm

   All breads have the capability to be miniaturized. How they do it is take the smallest of different litters and breed them. If this is continued through the generations, you have a miniature.