The title is pretty much it. Putting aside issues of cost and the ethics of breeding more dogs when there are so many homeless ones already; if you could, would you want a baby clone of your current pet when he/she dies?
I think I’d take a clone of one of our current dogs, Mirabel, who is just the best dog ever. She’s so sensible and easy to live with, just a really well-rounded, nice dog. It would be weird, but she’s such an awesome dog. Then there is the hilariousOlive, who I just love to pieces, and it would be neat to see her without the history of abuse. Might take one of her, too.
No, I would not want a clone. To me, the pleasure and reward of having a companion dog involves the individuality of the animal’s personality, quirks and all. The dog I now have is the best dog I’ve ever had but I have said that about every dog I’ve ever had because the 70’s song by Stephen Stills seems appropriate when he sang, ‘Love The One You’re With’.
Nah. I love my Dolly to pieces but she’s got some joint problems, a heart murmur and a lot of fatty tumors on her. I would not want to pass those issues on to another dog, although we’re dealing with them just fine. It kills me that my baby is sick, I wouldn’t want to have a new baby that I know would suffer the same things.
Definitely. I love my two dogs to death, they have no health problems, and appear to be pretty happy with their lot in life. I hate it that their lifetime is so short, and would gladly have clone after clone after clone in Duncan Idaho fashion for the rest of my life.
Shame on you, Renee! Poor, unloved Sylvie! I’m going straight to your house after work and dognapping her.
As for cloning my own dog, I love Ramush to death but I don’t think I’d want to clone him. I couldn’t guarantee the same wacky personality. As for Mirabel and Olive, I’ll take one of each if you’re cloning them…
If they had the same personality and temperament, absolutely. My dogs are the sweetest, dearest dogs ever and the world would be better with more just like them. My neighbors thank my dogs for choosing their yards to poop in.*
If I could’ve clone my heart dog, Shane, I so would have. Even it the “new” Shane would have been a different animal.
Wouldn’t it be fun to see if a fear of tubes is genetic? To see what she would have been like she had been raised from a brand new pup by me, instead of picked up at a second hand store? To see if the new Shane could convince me she was too stupid to sit on command for a year until we introduced pepperoni?
Sylvie is such a nervous little thing, though. She has anxiety issues. Great dog and easy to live with, and of course we adore her, but I don’t think she’s got the excellent genes that the other girls do. Mirabel should be her own breed of dog. Every single person (total of about five) that has ever dog-sat for us has told us that if we ever want to give her away, they’ll take her.
Well, these are magical clones that are exactly the same as your current pet, then.
I am confused, though. How can a clone be significantly different from the original? Obviously I need to brush up on my clone science, because I thought that clone meant “genetically identical>.”
I agree, except for the “no” part. Getting a clone of my dog wouldn’t be the same as getting the same dog back. But it would be the same as getting a second dog of the same breed and lineage. My current dog is a Pyranese/Border Collie mix. He’s absolutely gorgeous, well-tempered, and in excellent health, despite being a large dog who’s going on fifteen years. In short, he’s got excellent genes, and a clone made from those genes would likely also make an excellent pet.
It does, but not all traits are genetically determined. In humans, fingerprints aren’t genetic - identical twins have different fingerprints. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something similar at play when it comes to markings (and perhaps color) in dogs and cats.
Great Og, no! I might have to slaughter the one I have if she can’t get it through her pea-sized brain that she needs to poop outside, and stop eating her own and everybody else’s poop. Sweet natured, but dumb as a box of hair.
