Unemployment Among Purebred Working Dogs

My husband Scott, who seems to be a bountiful source of fodder for this blog, was talking about purebred dogs and pondering if people should be discouraged from having one as a family pet. I countered that I thought it was a bad idea  to buy any dog from someone who breeds dogs with the specific intent of selling them; but with all the purebred rescues, they should be considered for adoption. And don't look now, but that creature we got from the Dane County Humane Society 3-1/2 years ago—the one that burrows under the covers and whines because she doesn't have a diamond collar—is a purebred Treeing Walker Coonhound.

Scott then started discussing the origins of purebred dogs and their development by "selective breeding". Of particular note is that most breeds were developed to do some kind of work—herding sheep or cattle, hunting pheasants or quail, retrieving ducks from the water, hunting rabbits or coons or wolves, killing rodents in the barn, protecting livestock, guarding estates and monasteries, pulling carts and sleds, police and military work, and more.

It appears that most of those purebred "working dogs" are now in some state of unemployment from the job they were originally bred to do and, like our coonhound Jazz, are lying on the sofa, not helping pay the mortgage. Do you really need to pay a breeder the big bucks for that? (Hint:  Whether you want a purebred, or the ever-dependable "mutt", see your local shelter or rescue organization.)