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Mixed Breeds
Top Rated Mixed Breeds
- Bichon Frise / Maltese Mix
- Cavalier King Charles Spaniel / Poodle (Miniature) Mix
- Newfoundland / Labrador Retriever Mix
- Chow Chow / Golden Retriever Mix
- Rottweiler / Labrador Retriever Mix
- American Pit Bull Terrier / Boxer Mix
- Shih Tzu / Yorkshire Terrier Mix
- Staffordshire Bull Terrier Mix
- Bichon Frise / Poodle (Miniature) Mix
- American Bulldog Mix
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Match-Me
. He was literally unconditionally friendly, and every new person was a friend he hadn't met. He was the perfect lap dog, but also playful and ready for adventures.
However, my parents purchased him to be great with 5-year-old me, not for longevity. For a majority of his life, Buddy compulsively licked his feet. Constantly. We tried everything the vets could throw at us, but nothing worked and there were no environmental triggers. In hindsight, this was likely a symptom of Syringomelia, a condition wherein the skull is too small for the brain. It causes pain and neuroses, and a huge majority of Cavaliers are affected by this (over 60%). Additionally, when he was around 10, Buddy developed the problems associated with Mitral Valve Disease, a fatal heart condition seen in literally 90% of the breed.
Though we kept him as comfortable and well-medicated as possible, he slowly became more and more debilitated. His stomach grew larger and larger, filling with fluid due to the heart failure secondary to Mitral Valve Disease and causing pressure on his lungs that made breathing difficult and walking more than ten feet impossible. And this is with consistent vet visits for the entire duration of his life, the best dog foods on the market, and constant attention and care as his health failed. This is an example of the best possible outcome for health for the breed. We got him from a (comparatively) responsible breeder, which meant he lived to be 13 and only started to be effected by severe heart problems at age 10.
Although he was the perfect dog, I will never get another Cavalier. It is absolutely devastating to see such angelic dogs doomed to die of horrible health problems caused by irresponsible breeding. This review may come off as too harsh to some. But I wrote it simply because too many people are willing to ignore the willfully induced suffering of these dogs just because they are guaranteed to be beautiful and sweet.
If you buy a Cavalier, you will get an absolutely amazing dog. But you will also be supporting the continuation of a breed that has been selfishly bred without any regard for the quality of life of these dogs. And even if you purchase from one of the "reputable" breeders, this breed is so far gone that you will have to be prepared to watch your dog who loved humans unconditionally fall apart, unaware that those he loved so were aware of and complicit in the eventuality of his painful death.
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