Best practices for when your date obsesses over dogs?

I keep seeing this argument but the real reason most cat breeds resemble wild cats now closely than dogs with wolves is down to the fact that, not only have dogs been domesticated for longer, but they've also undergone selective breeding for a larger percentage of the time they've been domesticated. Dogs were bred for specific qualities which usually came with structural changes eg corgis were beneficial for herding cattle as they were less likely to get a fatal kick, daschunds were useful for flushing rabbits out of warrens, the list goes on and on. Cats on the other hand were allowed to get on with it with very little intervention as their only purpose was to keep pest populations under control. Now they're being selectively bred you see similar issues occurring such as brachycephalia in persions, debilitating arthritis in Scottish folds, large cat breeds like maine coons suffer from hip dysplasia. Incidentally this is all happening in rabbits too. They just haven't quite caught up to the same level as dogs yet but given time they probably will. The average breeder of animals isn't responsible. They do it for breed standards, ignore health

/r/Dogfree Thread Parent