Mixed Breeds & Pure Breds?

Question

I have noticed alot of answers to questions pertaining to mixed breeds have been answered negatively. I am not a breeder nor do I have any interest in becoming one but, I wonder why it is considered by the majority to be bad thing to cross breed dogs, like puggles for example, they are really cute and if people want them why is it considered to a bad thing? I know you can get mixed breeds from shelters but, it may not be the mix one desires. Didn't every breed start as a "mixed breed"?

I am just curious ... :0)

Answer 1

Everybody says "all purebreds started out as mixed breeds." Maybe it's true in some cases, but that doesn't mean that past developments of breeds is parallel to today's designer mutts.

First of all, the breeders who went out to create today's breeds were master breeders. They studied and researched and traveled all over the country to develop their perfect dog. It wasn't just "oh, I think this and that would look cute together and have a cute name." Take the Doberman for example. This breed was created because a guy (Dobermann) wanted a dog who would protect him since he carried money on him. There were no breeds out there that suited his needs, so he thought through what he wanted in a dog: bold, alert, medium-size, short coat, intelligent, protective. So he searched litters, he examined different breeds. Sure, different purebreds went into it, but it wasn't a haphazard mixing. It was a very purposeful decision in order to create a breed that suited his needs.

This is hardly comparable to the dogs of today that just throw two dogs together so that they'll have a cute name and sell to the latest fad. I've never heard of a designer dog breeder doing genetic testing or choosing the dog based on health, temperament and other factors in an attempt to develop a new breed. I don't think designer dog breeders even have a goal. What do they want the "Puggle" to ultimately look like? This isn't purposeful breeding. It's breeding for money and it's wrong.

Second, throughout history breeds were always created because there was a need and no dog to fill it. In today's global economy, we have access to more than 300 breeds. Is there any job, any task, out there that some breed doesn't specialize in?

If there's a gap in the jobs of dogs and someone decides to create a dog to fill it, I have no problem with that. It happens today, though rarely. Take the Black Russian Terrier. A guard dog was needed to survive in Russia's harsh climates. But what need is the Puggle or Cockapoo or Labradoodle fulfilling that any one of dozens of purebred dogs (or even mixed breeds) can't?

Creating a new breed (and I'm not convinced that's the goal of any mixed-breed breeder) takes a lot of dogs and a lot of hard work. What happens to all those dogs that don't fit the final goal? We have a pet overpopulation problem and people aren't willing to let someone kill an entire litter of puppies just because it didn't fit his breeding goals.

If I see a breeder studying pedigrees, researching dogs, and spending a lot of time before adding a dog to his gene pool, he'd have my respect. If he's also created a dog that there is currently a need for and no dog exists, he'd have my full support. I haven't seen one yet.

Answer 2

puggles may be cute.. but no 2 are exactly alike.. they dont even look completely alike, nor do they have the same temperment. So whats the point of wanting a puggle, other than "its cute"? There are plenty of other cute mixes in the shelter that need homes.. all are one of a kind. Honestly, puggles just look like a typical brown medium sized mixed breed.. no shortage of those in the shelter!

There's no point in breeding more mutts while others die in shelters because of lack of homes. There is absolutly nothing special about purposly bred mutts. You cannot guarantee size, temperment, appearance, color, coat texture/length, or if it will be non-shedding in ANY of them.

If people want a specific trait, they can find it in an adult or young adult at the shelter, or look for a purebred that has that trait from a reputable breeder.

All purebreds were created with a goal in mind.. there was a task in mind that the dog needed to do, an idea on what the appearance should look like, and what size the dog should be. The person who created that breed bred certain breeds to accomplish this. Anything that was nowhere close to the ideal was culled.. anything that was a step towards it was bred back to something else. A purebred dog has to breed true for at least 6 generations to be considered purebred. Only healthy, tested dogs are used in the breeding program as well. Whats the point of breeding a new breed if all the dogs in its pedigree carry hip displasia after all?

These designer dog breeders are not doing that. They are just putting dogs together to make cute puppies for profit. Most "puggles" and other mixed breeds are only f1 and f2 mixes.. This is not the way you create a new breed. They almost never test their dogs for genetic health issues.

Answer 3

The prbolem is that a lot of people that are making these "cute designer dogs" are doing it for profit. When there are MILLIONS of mixed breeds all over the world in shelters who need homes. And yet, people will go out and pay THOUSANDS of dollars for a mix breed mutt, instead of saving a life. That's the problem. So what if someone is looking for a certain mixed breed? Just because something is the exact mix they want doesn't mean they can't rescue another dog.

I don't have anything against mutts. I work in an animal shelter and I see hundreds of mutts in a months time. Personally, one of my dogs is a mutt that I rescued from the shelter. But Seriously, some of these breed that people are mixing together are rediculous. Such as Pithuahua's (pit bull / chihuahua). What is the point to breeding such dogs? Money. That's the only reason people do it. And it's wrong.

Answer 4

There are way too many people breeding dogs that should be shot for the way they go about it.

If one has a high quality dog, Pedigreed & registered, the best specimen one could ask for, one would not breed to just anything. In trying to keep the blood line clean one wouldn't want to breed to a pet quality mutt. One would look for the best quality partner they could find.

Many AKC registered dogs carry so many faults because the breeder didn't use selective breeding practices. Many genetic faults are bred into these dogs & they should have been culled at birth.

Ignorance shows & if I were a breeder I would buy the best possible dogs, several thousands of dollars each. NO pet quality or mutts.

I have seen many a so called pure breeds that have so many faults that they are worthless. In grooming dogs some of the so call pure breed Poodles had genetic faults they no longer have the quality make up & the faults are quite obvious. Poor ear sets, over & under bites, poor angulation, structure faults, temperament faults. predispositions for all kinds of ailments.

Isn't trying to better a breed & produce high quality pups better than mixing all kinds of faults together to get some weird combination of lord knows what?

Answer 5

Well, in all the other questions about the subject, you should have found all the answers to your question!!!

People are NOT against mutts, mixes, crossbreeds...whatever you want to call them. People are against the breeding of these animals JUST for profit. THe "breeders" do NOT health screen the breeding stock, they LIE to puppy buyers and tell the things like:

Crossbreeds are healthier
Crossbreeds DO NOT shed
Crossbreeds have better temperments
AKC is going to recognize the "breed" soon

ALL these are LIES!! Cockapoos have been around for a LONG time and are not in danger of being AKC recognized!
Corssing any two breeds give you a kind of "pot luck". You cannot predict what traits...either mental or physical..each pup will have. Every pup in the litter can look and act different.
And the ONLY reason people are breeding these dogs is for MONEY!!!!!!!!! They do nothing that the two breeds that made them can't do. All the AKC breeds were created for a reason. Newfs work, Asuuies herd, Pyranese guard......each breed was created to DO something. Corssbreeds were not created for anything except to give a cute little name to and sell for $$$$. And if you are not starting out with the best stock in the first place...what is the point. You are just breeding crap.

Answer 6

I myself never owned a pure bred dog until 4 years ago. Before that I only had mutts. I have nothing against the mutts as such, but I am against those who breed them and make out that they are something special just so as they can charge the earth for them.

Truth be known most dogs are not of breeding quality whether they be pure bred or not. Even if it's 2 pure bred AKC dogs unless they are within standard and genetically tested they should not be bred. To inbreed 2 different breeds is not something that should be encouraged either when so many dogs and puppies too lose their lives in shelters each and every day because there are too many dogs already.

Answer 7

The thing is with all the mixed breed we already have in pounds where owners don't have them fixed and let them run wild people can't understand why people will breed what could be a full breed to just see what a chihuahua and pug look like people don't really want mixed breeds that is why hundreds of dogs die in pounds everyday also it is risking the health of each breeds and put the pups health in danger also sure they may be cute but have you saw all the cute pups that are in the pounds

Answer 8

Yeah lots of breeds started as mixed.. But those breeders actually did something with the breed.. They produced consistency, they wrote a breed standard, they got their breed recognized by a legitimate kennel club.. If the Mix breeders of today did the same work that the old time breeders did, well then Have at it and call yourself a breeder and you have your own breed.. Mixing the work of other breeders, and doing nothing else, well it's cheating.. You want a breed that's different than what's out there.. then go thru the proper channels.. Otherwise stick to mixed breeds from the shelter, or go for a purebred dog..

Answer 9

Nobody has a problem with mutts at all. I own a mutt and love her dearly, yet I am the first person to condemn breeding mixed breeds and the reason is that so many are living out horrible lives in shelters just to have their lives cut short by euthanasia because there are not enough homes.
Who in their right mind can sleep at night after breeding mixed breeds, when thousands are put down each day? There is no reason to be breeding designer dogs, when dogs just like them are awaiting execution in our shelters. It is not the dogs we object to at all, it is FOR the dogs that we raise a fuss because it isn't fair that so many are losing their lives so that people can make a profit selling designer dogs. These aren't fashion accessories that are being made in excess, but lives that deserve love and attention, not life in a crowded shelter only to be ended early with a needle.

Answer 10

I dont think it's so much about being against mixed breed dogs as it is against charging an outrageous amount for a "designer" dog (see mutt.). There are plenty in the shelters. Yes, breeding two breeds together may get you a dog who is POSSIBLY hypoallergenic...yes, you may get the "best" of both breeds...but you may also get the worst. There is no ability to "control" the mutt that comes out. Why not go adopt a great dog at a shelter instead of paying $800 for the same thing from somebody who decided to start playing around.