Mix Breed Dogs
75Hound Mix
Mutts as Pets
Mixed breed dogs can be called a number of different names, as they are not a breed, they do not have one standard name. You may hear mix breed dogs being refered to as mixed-breeds, mutts, mongrels, and crossbreeds.
Mix breed dogs are the most commonly the effect of unwanted and unexpected litters. In many cases, the dogs end up in shelters and pounds. And sadly, but more commonly euthanized.
Mixed breed dogs can make great pets, as in most cases they get the genes from both, or all, the breeds involved in its making. And, most of the time they inherit the good stuff versus the bad. (But, of course, that is not always the case.)
Many mixed breed dogs have great temperaments. You may, also, find that many of these dogs are easily trainable, as well. Sometimes, these mongrels may have behavioral concerns, but with time, care, love, and training, you can easily turn them around.
You may think that the mutts at the animal shelter are there because they're bad and uncontrollable, but in reality, they're there because they didn't have the right owner, at first. Yes, there truly is one right owner for every dog. The right owner would have worked with the dog's jumping problem, or corrected the digging and excessive chewing concerns. But, most of the time, they take the easy route, and surrender the dog.
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Common Mixed Breed Dogs
When attempting to classify a mixed breed, they tend to fall into three major categories: lab mix, shepherd mix, and terrier mix.
You Lab mix tends to encompase any black or yellow short haired dog.
You shepherd mix tends to include any short to medium haired black and brown dog.
But, you terrier mixes, tend to be a tad more complicated as terriers can range from small dogs with wire hair to medium sized dogs with short hair. Most terrier mixes tend to have some Jack Russell, Boston terrier, rat terrier, and other true terrier breeds in them. But, a lot of the time, any small dog mix or a mixed dog, in general, can just be classified as a terrier. Because there is such a variety of small dog breeds, your "terrier mix" can range in all sorts of sizes, colors, temperaments, and so on...
Designer Dogs
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Designer Breed Dogs
It's rather sad when people start calling mixed dogs "designer breeds," where in reality, you're just paying a pretty penny for a mixed hybrid dog. Not a breed, as no dog registry will register these dogs. Well, the Continental Kennel Club may, but they're not a true dog registry, as the AKC, UKC, or the Canadian Kennel Club.
A real breed must have a standard. So breeding a poodle with a yorkie gives you a poodle/yorkie mix, not the fancy "Yorkiepoo" that people will pay $600 or more for.
These, so called, designer dogs, can be found at tons of shelters and rescues worldwide, and they'd be gracious if you brought them home to love and care for. But, people insist that these labradoodles are special...
In reality it's truly you're choice...
But remember, when you check out a little of the cute goldendoodle, and notice that part of the litter resembles a poodle and part resembles a golden retriever, that's a mixed litter. It has no standard. It is not a breed.
Pictures of "Designer Dogs"
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Pictures of the "designer dogs" can be found at flickr.com.
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You are correct in that all dogs come from a mix of breeds.
You are also correct in that you cannot 100% guarantee temperament based on breed, but it can give you an idea of what to expect. Although, yes all dogs are different.
Let me put an end to this DOG nightmare, ALL DOGS IN THE WORLD ARE MIXED BREEDS, there it's settled. Just as humans have an origin dogs also have an origin; however through socialization and breeding the concept of MIXING comes in. Coming from one gene pool one could say we are not truly MIXED but inter-raced or interbreeding, whichever way you want to view it. If the Dobermann was bred to be a protection dog from a variety of dogs with a protective trait, then it’s reasonable to say that all dogs are MIX BREEDS; or does time play a role in it becoming a pure bred, well I beg to differ.
Another thing I want to dismiss is the claim that temperament can be presumed if the breed is pure bred, that’s a bunch of Nancy stories. Not even a pure bred dog temperament can be answered for at times, hence the inner workings of a dog’s gene, its conditioning and personality is what deliberate the reaction of all dogs. Yes the trait maybe more obvious because the dog has been around for some time now, however if you can’t answer why your relative was caught taking drugs whom you know all your life. Then temperament should not be an issue, but something to be observed and react to as deemed necessary.
i love the begal mix damation
Thank you for putting a good word in for mixed breed dogs! They usually dont get the credit they deserve. I have only had mixed breeds and I always will. Every dog, no matter what it is, is so capable of love and companionship. But alot of people dont realize that of mixed breeds.
Impossible to compose a full list of mix breed dogs. There are too many possibilities, and there are too many different variations. There wouldn't be a way to say, yep that one looks identical to mine with all the same traits.
I have looked at every singal website that I know of but can you have like a list of mixed dog breeds and picture of them
Hi Whitney, thank you for swell write. the dog (elliot) and i both went over the hub and he's satisfied knowing that there are other hubbers writing about mixed breeds also. he thought i was the only one. great hub! peace, greg z
I DO NOT like the way Mixed Breeds are being treated. As it is I have a mixed breed and there is nothing wrong with them at all. They are animals just like the rest, we should not treat them any different then how we treat people. People with mental or physical disabilities can not help it and I dont think its right.
I agree to reputable and responsible breeders, who generally have the full litter sold before they've been born, but there arn't many out there that people are willing to spend the money on.
You can still adopt pure bred dogs from shelters. There are many breed specific rescues out there that cater to specific breeds if you will not have a mix breed dog.
There is nothing wrong with a mix breed though.
Mixed bred dogs tend not to have some of the problematic traits that a purebred does. Still, what I love are great danes, and I will never buy a dog that is not a purebred dane. Besides... When you choose to adopt from a shelter versus a RESPONSIBLE breeder (Note I say someone who is reputable, who is showing their dogs and only breeding winners as outstanding examples of the breed standard and working to improve the breed, not a backyard breeder only in it for the money, caging tons of dogs and running a puppy mill...) you are enabling back yard breeders to go on doing what they do. Because their logic is "Well heck, if I can't sell all the pups while they are small and cute, I just dump them at the shelter! Somebody will adopt them! Next breeding!" I refuse to support that, and thus I refuse to adopt from shelters. I support responsible breeders.
No one said anything was wrong with mix breeds. Most of the time mix breed dogs are easier to train than pure bred dogs, and in a lot of cases, they can be healthier in regards to hereditary illnesses.
all dogs are special in there own way!
just because a dog is a mix breed does not mean its a mutt!
thoes people that are insulting and mistreating mix breeds,
dont its not fair becaue these dogs were never asked to be
born, would u like it if some one mistreated and insulted
ur pure breed?
no,i dnt think so! so please respect dogs, no matter if
they are pure breeds or not!
I have a Rotweiller Catahoula Kerr mix. The only "problem" is that he itches all the time. He is as smart as whip and he would drive my car if I let him.
Stephanie, I never said anything bad towards mix-breed dogs. I said some may have behavior problems, but most are easily trainable. I never said anything about the health of mix breed dogs. I never said anything bad about them.
The only thing that I said was that "designer dogs" cannot be considered a breed, that they ARE mixed breed dogs. That's it... I think you're jumping to conclusions about my opinions and statements, as there was nothing for you to get truly offended by. I mean, I even gave a reasonable price for the Yorkiepoo example ($600), as I've seen much highre priced Yorkiepoos and I've also seen much higher priced Yorkies. Granted I'd never pay more than $100 for one of the mixed "designer dogs" and that would be at a shelter or pound, but some people do, thinking they're truly special, which they're not. No offense to anyone with these dogs.
No one ever said that you couldn't find purbred dogs at the shelter. I've seen hundreds in my past 5 years volunteered. I actually have a hub I'm working on about adopting dogs from shelters, and this point will be a part of that hub.
Why would you buy a dog you can find at a shelter? That's my only problem. I've bought purbred dogs (yorkie and APBT) and I've adopted mix-breeds. But, I'd never purchase a mix-breed dog, even if it's sold as some special hybrid dog. Yes, I feel that it's stupid, and no I'd never do it. But, I never said this in the article until YOU just brought it up. All I said was that they're mix breeds, not pure-bred dogs.
By the way I don't recall ever seeing a Yorkshire Terrier for $2500. The highest I've see is $800. I'm not sure where you got that price from. But whoever is selling yorkies at that price is scamming people, and that's even if the dogs have 100% champion bloodlines. It's still a rip off.
This hub was not to bash "designner dogs" by a long shot. It was to talk about mix-breed dogs. I do need to extend this hub with more health and behavior concerns, but there's really not much else to say about mix-breed dogs.
Stephanie, I'm not even sure if you've read the hub before you jumped to all these conclusions about what it said, because it didn't say touch on the subjects that you've mentioned.
Whitney05,
I guess I just get upset because people seem to think that mixed breed dogs are less worthy, inferrior dogs. These dogs can be just as wonderful, if not more, than some purebreds. If I am not mistaken ALL dogs came from the same place. The purebreds were not magically put here like they are today.
I personally do not have a problem with educated, experienced, loving dog breeders breeding mixed-breed dogs. I get the impression from everything I read that people are overgeneralizing a bit about mixed-breed breeders. Yes, there are probably a lot who are in it just for the money, but I bet you don't have to look very far to find purebred breeders who are also in it for the money. Despite that fact no one ever seems to talk about that. I have a problem with any breeder who is just in it for the money whether they are breeding chipoos or Chihuahuas.
Some of the mixed-breed breeders actually are doing genetic testing and trying to create a standard that may in fact some day become another breed. Again, no one ever talks about that. I just don't think it is fair to over-generalize against all mixed-breed breeders because of the bad ethics of some.
Why is it that people who buy a purebred for what I would consider an outrageous price (we wanted a Yorkshire Terrier when we got our chipoos, but couldn't afford the $2500 price tag associated with it) congratulated and commended and people who buy a mixed-breed dog are bashed beyond belief for not adopting one from a shelter. Last time I looked on petfinder.com I found a bunch of purebred looking dogs. Why shouldn't people who want a purebred purely for a pet also go to the shelter first or face a lifetime of ridicule? If the people want a pet, they should be able to choose any pet they want. If they want a dog for a specific task like most of the purebreds were bred for then they will likely get that breed. Today a good majority of the purebreds are bred only for pets and not for the reasons they were originally developed. Another thing is that lots of purebreds can be found at a local shelter also.
Stephanie
http://www.designermixes.orghttp://www.purebredpups.org
Your description of mixed breeds is very well explained….thank you
I totally agree with you about dog 'crosses.' Mutts are mutts, and while I love mutts (I currently have a 106 lb mastiff mix), they are definitely NOT supposed to be sold for $500 just because someone slaps a cute name on them.
There are purebreds, and there are hybrids, and never the two should be confused!
Stephanie, I'm sorry you felt I was bashing mix breed dogs. That was not my intention. I love mixed breedsI have two myself. My intentions were not to bash the hybrid dogs either. It's great you love you mixes. I just stated a fact that most "designer dog breeds" can be found at your local shelter versus pay way to much for a dog with nothing special about it. Today, I was browsing the adoptable dogs in a local shelter of mine, and they have a pug-beagle mix for regular adoption fee. But, I bet I can go to the pet store or to the paper and find a puggle (pug beagle mix) for at minimum $300-$500. I think it's just ridiculous to buy these "breeds" when they aren't breeds at all but mix breed dogs. There's no standard for them in ANY registry, so no one has a right to call them a breed. There may be or 2 breeders in Australia that have a true labradoodle to which they've been breeding generation over generation to create a standard versus a litter with puppies varying half with poodle traits and half with lab traits.
If you could please specify where I was bashing and not truth telling please do.
The chipoo, labradoodle, goldendoodle, puggle, yorkiepoo, etc. are nothing but marketable names for greedy people to make money with. People think they're getting a real breed, but there's no such thing as it. Sorry. Truth.
What I was bashing is the title of "designer breed" not the mix breeds themselves.
I really dislike all of the bashing about mixed-breed (or whatever you want to call them) dogs. I own two chipoos (chihuahua-poodle mix) and they are the best dogs I have ever owned. Check out there pictures at www.poodlemixes.org, just look for Lacey and Logan.
Love the hub and love dogs.
I love your writing. Very nicely put.
I love the Goldendoodle. Mixed breed dogs have always been my favorite. All of mine are Heinz 57's except for one retired yellow lab guide dog. I agree with funride above - mixed breeds are among the nicest and smartest dogs I've known.
informative,nice hub.Keep writing.
I also love them
Great hub
Great hub.
In my live some of the nicest and smart dogs I´ve "known" were mixed breed dogs ;)
I supose many of us are mixed breed too! :))
Great hub! I love this! The chipoo is too cute =]
neibourguy 7 months ago
And you are right also Withney05, thanks for your comment.