Dog hypothetical

[nancylebov]

If there were dogs bred/genetically engineered for healthy longevity, would you want one? Pay extra for one? Would you care if they didn't have a distinctive look?

This question came out of a discussion with a friend who's into futurism, but imho doesn't understand pet owners--he doesn't think there'd be much of a market for longevity dogs. On the other hand, maybe I don't understand pet owners, so let me know one way or the other.

My question about the distinctive look is based on the assumption that if you're optimizing one group of traits, you probably don't get to be picky about other traits so longevity dogs will probzbly look like small or medium-sized mutts. The other reason I'm interested in the effect of no visual markers is that you don't get automatic bragging rights by having what looks like an expensive longevity dog. I'm assuming that they'd be small or medium-sized because I've heard that large breeds tend to be short-lived.

Alternatively, if the tech exists to make longevity dogs, maybe it'll be in place to give them a distinctive appearance as well.

My notion is that you could tell whether you're getting a longevity dog by having the puppy tested before you buy it. If you've fallen in love with the puppy but it doesn't have the longevity gene(s), it doesn't cost as much.

Comments

The optimal size for dogs appears to be 15 to 40 pounds.

[mouseworks.livejournal.com]

Really small ones don't tend to do that well either. Of the large dogs, the greyhounds tend to live longest (10-12 years, sometimes a bit more). Very small dogs probably have less reserves; the very big dogs' hearts tend not to scale along with the body.

Parrot genes in the mix? I'm not sure why they live so long.

Re: The optimal size for dogs appears to be 15 to 40 pounds.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I've heard there's a corelation between longevity and traits that make you not a prey animal--size, intelligence, flight (bats are amazingly long-lived), poison, armor. You can't optimize all of these at the same time.

I haven't heard anything about how the larger birds live as long as they do.

I was assuming that the longevity dogs don't have anything difficult done for them--they just have the best dog genes and maybe a few minor tweaks.

They've gotten a 20% improvement in mouse longevity by increasing an anti-oxidant in the mitochondria.

Re: The optimal size for dogs appears to be 15 to 40 pounds.

[i-ate-my-crusts.livejournal.com]

Most of the red setters we've bred or owned have lived to 12-14. A couple have made it 16, like mine who died last July. 16 years is too short. I miss my dog.

I would definitely opt for a longer lived mutt - a companion that true should be around as long as you are, ideally.