I saw on tonight's news about an Afghan hound that has been cloned in Japan if my memories correct.
The news talked about how cloning could bring an end to hereditary problems like heart disease or hip deceases in dogs.
What are your thoughts on this and do you think we will one day see this as a pick your colour and type if you follow me.
Can cloning really produce the perfect dog?

Nope

the perfect dog is the one you waited for weeks to be born,then the 1st visit full of excitement
then the watching them grow till they come home with you,the keeping you awake,messing in the house,being picky with every meal you put down.THEN is all clicks into place and youve shared years of your life with your dog,cried together,laughed together and just been together.

How can cloning even come close to that.

Some health problems are there because of raising,over walking etc even a cloned dog will suffer in an inexperianced home.

Hi Carolyn

I have to agree with you. The news made it seem too perfect and I would hate to see this take place if the chance ever came.
Like you I believe that cloning will not create the perfect dog. Can you imagine a world full of people and dogs who all look the same :( One of me is bad enough :-D

From what I understand about cloning is that, because the reproduced cells are from an adult, they've already undergone a lot of the natural aging changes. So if you clone a three-year-old (for example) dog, you get a puppy whose cells are already three years old. So its lifespan is three years less than the dog it's a clone of ...

I think it's a very expensive way of producing what could be done naturally in the first place.

Well carolyn, they are not cloned as adults. There genes are just cloned and a gentically made puppy in like a capsule is born so you can still see them grow =/.

Would you rather see normal and HEALTHY cloned dogs or thousands of people buying dogs from BYB's that will more then likely be unhealthy. This way , everyone will have good bred dogs without the complications of find the "right" breeder, which usually leads people to buying from BYB's.

Yes,

I can see it now, hundreds of puppies on shelves in stasis just waiting to be born for their new owners :(  Pile 'em high and sell em cheap!  I'm sure the backyard breeders are shaking in their shoes - not!!

The whole point of having a dog is that it is NOT a washing machine or a handbag, it is a living breathing animal and has all the good and not so good bits intact.  Which bits should they genetically engineer out??  The humping?  The potty training?  the inability to speak and understand plain english?  Coat Shedding?   Why not just buy a stuffed toy??

If the whole point of having the dog is to be naturally bred then why doesn't everyone just buy puppies off newspaper adds , why spend 1500 bucks on a dog with a good pedigree?!

Q. why spend 1500 bucks on a dog with a good pedigree?!

A.  So that it will have the temperament you would expect of the breed, it won't grow twice as big or half as small, it will have the correct coat and colour, and the energy levels you expect.  So that it will actually look like the breed and will have been socialised properly and not be scared of everything/attack everything, everyone and end up PTS at an early age.  So that it will have been given the correct nutrition before and after birth, enabling it to grow correctly.  So that its mother will not have been bred every season until she collapsed, and has had all the health tests necessary to ensure both her health and the pups, and the correct care during pregnancy.  So that you don't get ripped off and pay 1500 bucks for a pup when the average price for the breed is 800 bucks.

If you're not worried about what your pedigree looks like (too big/small/wrong colour/coat, wrong shape etc. ) why not just go to rescue and get a mongrel?

It says in the newspaper they transferred 1095 embryos into 123 surrogate mothers, which lead to just three pregnancies, one of which aborted. The other puppy born died at 22 days.

I think the normal method of reproduction is somewhat cheaper and more efficient! :)

I notice in the Telegraph report that the Professor says he has no intentions of using this to create pets that the aim is to assist in the breeding of rare species which sounds a whole lot more wholesome...... but I can't see how that will tie in with the wastefullness of it, how many rare species have 100 surrogate mothers lying around.  I also note he is the South Korean Prefessor who claimed to have cloned human babies last year, well wasn't that met with fairly universal scepticism and doesn't this, infact, seem like a bit of a step down ?

If that were true why was the cloned sheep dolly aging faster than normal and having health problems?  A clone is a copy so it cannot be better than the original, ad we all know that copies are often not as good as the originals and if dolly is an example this seems to be the case with nature too.

I would like to know how on earth a 'perfect' dog is going to be genetically engineered, if you take out enough ingredients you don't get cake, you get scones ;) I doubt an animal will be much different LOL  ( doggy scones )

Dill i understand :P , the original post says that the cloned dogs have healthy genes and are as healthy or healthier then a dog with an awsome pedigree so that was my arguement. I actually did pay 1400 for a champion show american bull dog :p

I didn't think American bulldogs were an AKC recognised breed?

Why on earth would they choose to clone an Afghan?  How could they possibly know if its brain was functioning correctly?  :D
Dawn.

(Ducking for cover, from Affie owners, including my boss!)

Manny,

I doubt very much if anyone could guarantee any dog has perfectly healthy genes ;)  until the dog passes away, and even then it might only mean that the particular ill-health (for want of a better expression) to which that dog was suseptible simply didn't manifest itself, whether because of excellent care on the owners part or lack of precipitating factors.  There are many conditions affecting dogs which only show up if the dog is put under considerable stress or other factors come into play ;)  Does this mean that the animals used to clone the dog were tested for every genetic problem known to affect dogs?  I seriously doubt it ;)

It would seem that you have fallen into the exact problem my other post referred to, buying a supposed breed which is unrecognised by the main Kennel Club of your country and paying an absolute fortune for it :(  In fact I haven't been able to find any reference to any organisation which recognises the american bull dog and is also recognised by the AKC :( :(

Just watching it on Newsround Now.... bored so watching kiddies TV!!

The person in the white coat dealing with the pup was treating it as an science project not as a beautiful pup , and was getting annoyed with it being a bounding playful puppy, cause it was misbehaving for the cameras.... made me cross.... how she was dealing with it, or more the look on her face.

Yes its very sad how some treat it as just an experiment and not as a living breathing dog :(
When they discover a problem I bet they hide it away from the cameras and of course we will not see or know what they do with this pup :(

My understanding for the reasoning behind creating a cloned dog in S Korea was enable research scientist to look into human diseases by being able to clone dogs on speck to be used for vivisection.

The same as in the UK that some companies breed beagles that are purposly bred and pathogen free for vivisection. For those that are not aware their body parts are sold individually to companies that pay massive high prices to enable them to be used for research.

Personally, I am disgusted with the whole scenario whether a dog is purposly bred or cloned the fact that it is being used for vivisection is clearly wrong.

Even if it was being bred (cloned) as a fashion item I would still be against it there are far too many dogs bred world wide that are wanting homes and destroyed without cloning and experimenting in the process causing no doubt further suffering. What a waste of time.

Dont forget in Korea a dog is a food item too - read into that what you will.     

This whole affair is disgusting.  I think that it would be a VERY good idea to NOW write it into the rules of showing that cloned animals CANNOT be shown. Call me cynical but I dont believe for one minute that these scientist want to use this research primarily to aid in finding cures for human diseases (which for me still wouldn't make it right) when you can already order clones of your cats in the states at $30,000 a pop!!!
I really feel for this poor pup and I'm afraid I dont believe he will ever lead a normal, healthy life :( I also feel for these poor bitches that are carrying these cells while they are treated to stimulate zygote production...Most of which are unsuccessful at varying stages of the process (including after birth) - Its physcological cruelty at the very least AND it affects all breeds (the bitch carrying this pup was a lab)
I am deeply offended and disturbed by the recent reports that suggest Afghan hounds are not intelligent enough to be as affected as some other breeds by this process and I would expect everyone on this board - as lovers of dogs - to avoid such comments whether joking or not :(
Sarah

OOPS!  directed at me, what a shame Rozzer, Affies have a much better sense of humour! a joke it was.
Dawn.