Malka posted this on Dogsey, thought it was worth adding here too: http://time.com/designer-dogs/ Interesting that they say how certain crosses are to alleviate certain problems with breeds - also interesting that when you speak to a lot of people with cross breeds they seem to think they are getting a healthier animal. Wonder if pure-bred breeders, breed clubs and societies are taking note?
I think this is a really neat chart. Thanks for posting! I have had mostly crossbreeds or mutts in my life time and the one time I had a purebred Golden Retriever, she sadly died of cancer at the age of 6...Maybe there is something to the mutts being healthier...but if I had gotten a mutt bred with the mother of my golden (who had the cancer gene) that mutt would probably have died of cancer as well...Guess its really personal preference.
I always heard mongrels were hardier dogs than pure breeds.maybe crossing them dilutes some genetic flaws??
Yes. I have heard that as well, fieldy. My mom swears by this as she says it widens the genetic pool. It is a sure thing that the dogs aren't related if they are breeding different breeds together. Mutt or purebred, I still love them all!
Interesting Article Are mixed and designer breeds really healthier? Not according to what many veterinarians see in their practices... and not according to a recently published five-year study of veterinary cases at the University of California, Davis. This research indicates that mixed breeds don't automatically have an advantage when it comes to genetic disorders. http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/07/05/pet-genetic-disorders.aspx 5YR Study The common assumption that a mixed-breed dog is healthier would not be true if both parents carried deleterious mutations for the same disorder. Few data have been compiled to Accurately assess the question of whether purebred dogs are at greater risk for genetic disorders, compared with mixed-breed dogs. In a study of dogs affected with hip dysplasia, no significant difference in prevalence was observed between purebred and mixed-breed dog. http://mercola.fileburst.com/PDF/HealthyPets/InheritedDisordersOfDogs.pdf
Designer dogs are a get rich quick scheme for BYB's & Puppy Farmers, they are not bothered if the adult dogs are ill or if the puppies are going to die before they are 1year old, all they see are the £ € $ signs in front of their eyes. Good pedigree breeders only breed healthy puppies & only select the healthiest adult dogs to breed from.
Pereg is a mutt. A mongrel of no known origin, as was her mother who was a stray picked up from the streets. And my mutt is 100% healthy. BUT My mutt has epilepsy so somewhere in her background there must have been a dog or bitch carrying the as yet un-traced gene for epilepsy.
Epilepsy is not always inherited.could be pure bad luck.and yes,cross dogs for different characteristics but not to make it a designer dog.that does annoy me ie its a sprocker so I'll charge mega bucks for the puppies.its like saying no other breed will do. I mean.. Sprocker..if you read the country mags your not a real gun person without one of these dogs! Ridiculous!
Personally, I can't understand what the attraction for designer dogs is all about. At least with a pure bred dog you have guidelines to work with which give some indication of behaviour and potential health problems. I've only ever owned one, what today you'd call a designer dog ... a Border Collie x Fox Terrier who inherited the worst traits of both breeds which I found very disconcerting because I could never tell, in any given situation, whether she'd react like a Border Collie or a Fox Terrier (I don't think she did either)! I know that one of the justifications for breeding designer dogs is that they're healthier but to me that's just an excuse. How can a BullPei (Shar-Pei x English Bulldog) or an OriPei (Shar-Pei x Pug) possibly be a healthier combination when they have so many hereditary illness in common? No doubt though there'll always be some idiot who'll pay OTT because the puppies look cute or because it fashionable to own one!
What worries me most is that these crosses are starting to be considered as breeds by the pet loving public. However, the parents of these 'Designer Dogs' are only rarely health tested, and there are very few that will have any written record of their parentage. As these in their turn are bred from, the next generation will be just as likely to share some breeding as any pedigree dog, (as any pet-owner bred crosses within a given locality are likely to have some common breeding). I am thinking in particular of the quite nondescript Min. Poodle who was on TV recently, having a party to mark his retiring from stud after siring something like 800 puppies to a variety of other breeds. The Australian chap who first bred the Labradoodle has stated that he wishes he could turn back the clock, and I hope that this fashion will fade as quickly as it has grown.
A designer dog is no more healthier than it's purebred parent's IF the parent's are carriers/suffering from a hidden genetic disease themselves. Hence why health testing is important even in cross breeds. Saying that I have no issues whatsoever with crossbreeds being bred as long as health testing is in place and the breeder is doing their best to raise happy, healthy, puppies. I'm coming across more and more breeders who are health testing.
for me its just a new way to make money. With a society that has a large population obsessed with celebs and the next trend sticking the designer tag on sells, saying paris hilton has one sells. people got wise to what they should ask breeders and what they should look for in a breeder and started to take more care about where they got their dogs from so this is how puppy farmers and byb have taken the edge back and worse of all they now get silly amounts of money as its "designer" or the latest fashion and they are now even claiming to be legit breeders doing a better service than pedigree breeders and people are believing it. Its just new way to get money out of people for basically a crap service and breeding without health testing and over breeding as there is no way to keep check on it.
Cross breeding and a million and 1 studies has already show dogs with poorer health over the huge myth of it expands the gene pool and make healthier dogs.
I own a "sprocker". I must remind you that all breeds came from cross breeds.However I do disagree with bad breeding; breeding just for money that can come from both purebred and crossbreed litters. The problem here is the growing number of backyard and puppy mill breeders. In my opinion people need to get a license to own a dog, or just to be educated better. It took me a full year to choose on a sprocker, after looking at both purebreds and crossbreeds.
