In today’s column, domesticated cats & dogs are discussed.
Let’s say I wanted to create an entirely new breed of dog or cat (the hundreds (thousands?) of current breeds just don’t do it for me).
How would I go about it? How long would it take?
Also, is it possible to trace each breed of cat & dog back to it’s origin (that is, when the very first one appeared)?
This is completely unhelpful to your question and utterly tangential, but I always wondered how the Amerinds would have fared against the European invaders if they had domesticated animals, not only for their obvious usefulness in agriculture and long-distance movement but for familiarity with diseases. For example, if the llama or even the coyote or such had been bred over generations into a huge domestic animal. Certainly plausible, since the familiar horse started out as a much more pathetic and puny animal and only after generations of breeding did it get to be the barrel-chested monster so many people adore today.
But trying to provide an actual answer, being GQ… it would take hundreds of years. Sorry, you’re out of luck, but maybe your descendants can carry on your work.
Don’t know about all breeds, but the Ragdoll cat has pretty easily traceable origins, since it was first bred in 1963.
I’m pretty sure the Devon Rex cat was first “discovered” on a farm in Devonshire sup[/sup] England in the past 50 or so years. It is/was a genetic mutation that bred true.
No, you could do this quite quickly.
Because a “breed” is pretty much whatever we humans decide to recognize as one. There are no real biological or species type differences there – your new breed of dog or cat would be fertile with other existing breeds.
So if you have the money or influence to get a lot of humans to recognize the new “breed” that you’ve produced, then you have created a new breed.
For example, in horses, the National Show Horse breed is basically a 1/2 Arabian, 1/2 Saddlebred cross. No doubt such cross-bred horses have existed for a long time. But some years ago, a group of breeders (with money & power) decided to give them a new name, and call them a new breed, and they put money & effort into creating a registry, classes & shows, etc. for them. And so they made this into a new “breed” of horse.
That’s really all it takes.
Cross existing breeds of dog until you get what you want, give it a name, and use your money & influence to get the American Kennel Club to recognize it, and boom, you have created a new breed.
Damn, I thought you wanted to know how to make for dog or cat bread. I have a great recipe for poodle baguette.
I’m too lazy to look it up, but IIRC, the golden retriever was started in the 1800’s by an English dude, Lord Tweedmore or some such, from some other hunting breeds. When our golden would misbehave, I used to tell her: “Lord Tweedmore would be sooo disapointed in you!”
I did look it up - it was Lord Tweedmouth.
I don’t think anyone has yet answered the question at hand.
Step 1: Decide what you want in the breed
Step 2: Search for animals liek what you want. They won’t be really close, but as long as they have some of the features you want.
Step 3: Get them to have sex. A lot. And keep a records of which ones mated with which, so you know the lines of descent. You probably want to segregate them so they breed only with the ones you want them one.
Keep culling the ones you want and be prepared to use a lot of inbreeding. The time it takes depends on what features you want.
http://www.vgcats.com/vgc_comics/
Heh heh heh.
Warrrrrk! Wark! Wark! Wark!
new slang term: “Warking!”
“You and me baby ain’t nothing by chocobos
So lets wark all night and go eat donutholes!”