Today is National Mutt Day
What
is a mutt?
It's
a mongrel dog.
Um...okay,
I'll bite. What's a mongrel dog?
It's
a dog of mixed breeds or unknown pedigree. (A pedigree is the record
of descent of an animal that proves that it is purebred.)
The
dogs that you find at animal shelters and at the Humane Society are
generally “mutts.” Although having a purebred dog is very, very
important to some people, other people love their mutts! Today is the
day to celebrate them.
Some
people will celebrate the day by going to an animal shelter and
selecting a mutt to take home and adopt into their family. Some will
share photos and stories about their beloved pets—perhaps on the
National Mutt Day Facebook page—and some people will donate
money to shelters. |
| Some people have started dog shows especially for mutts. Here is a dog that took one of the prizes at such a show! |
Breeding
v. no breeding...
Many
animals and plants have been carefully bred, with controlled
reproduction to select for desired traits such as long floppy ears
(beagles) or plump, sweet kernels (corn). Breeding dogs and farm
animals and other pets and crops has been going on for centuries. And
of course you can see the results in such breeding by the
breathtaking variation of dogs with a range of sizes
from 4 to 43 inches tall.
People
tend to think that doing the same sort of intentional breeding with
people is a bad thing, but of course people do select their mates
according to the traits they like, such as honesty and kindness and
sunny smiles.
But sometimes the words bred and breeding
are used with people, in sentences like these:
“You can tell that Jennifer has good breeding.”
“Mark is a well-bred lawyer.”
“That boy has no breeding.”
In
these cases, we aren't really talking about genetics; instead, we are
commenting on upbringing. In other words, we are saying that Jennifer
and Mark have good manners and seem to have been raised by good
parents, but “that boy” is ill-mannered and probably wasn't
raised well.
Also
on this date:
Republic Day in Laos 
