I know what you mean laura, and sadly yes, after so many generations of breeding away from the greyhound cross, the health problems would probably come back to a certain degree I can only think that doing an outcross every so many generations might be the answer. I doubt that would be a popular idea either though, probably go down like a lead balloon

what a brave post CBT ! if i had said it i woulda been shot on sight!

Its all true, they are a very healthy breed, and one of the most ancient. (the ancient egyptians had something that resembles the greyhound/saluki) and we know they orignated from that part of the world. i think its a wonderful idea, but breeders would surely just say it would ruin the 'lines' of their breed. also if you have the originals and add one greyhound, the 'bad' recessive gene (causing the probelms like bad skin allergies for example) would eventually just come back out again, one 'injection' of new blood isnt going to help.

that is where careful and consciencious (sp) breeding would have to come into play, say the cross was for example a labrador, the dog used for the greyhound cross would have to be an outstanding specimen of the breed (preferably from working lines as those labs tend to run lighter and fitter anyway) and would need to come from a long line of health tested dogs with the lowest hip scores possible, that would minimise the chances of problems re-occuring, but yes, a bit more than a small dash of greyhound would probably be needed in reality, but i thought Id start off small as I was expecting most people to be disgusted with the suggestion, thought Id break them in to my idea gently

PS I can get away with making suggestions like this cos everyone thinks Im bonkers lol lol