Owning a Mixed Breed Dog

It's important to note that all dog breeds are man-made creations; dogs were traditionally bred for specific functions. All existing dog breeds began as mixed breeds, either by random occurrence or by deliberate crosses of existing breeds. Encouraging desirable traits and discouraging others, breeders sought to create their ideal appearance or behavior, or both, for dogs, and, additionally, to ensure that the dogs could consistently produce offspring with the same appearance or behavior. Some consider mixed breeds undesirable, but mixing breeds can lead to desirable results, especially in the hands of an expert breeder. On the other hand, inexperienced crossbreeders can produce disastrous results. For example, the offspring of an obsessive Border Collie and an energetic, destructive Terrier could be dogs whose behavior is so erratic as to make the dogs a liability.

The topic of health is usually brought up when discussing mixed breed dogs. The theory of "hybrid vigor" suggests that dogs of mixed ancestry will be healthier than their purebred counterparts. In some cases this might be true, because inbreeding among purebreds has made some breeds prone to various genetic health problems. Mixed-breed dogs are less likely to have certain genetic disorders, as their parents come from a more diverse genetic pool so that detrimental recessive genes are less likely to occur in both parents. For example, large dogs such as German Shepherd Dogs often suffer from hip dysplasia. Mating a German Shepherd carrier of the faulty gene with a dog from a breed not known to suffer genetic hip problems reduces the likelihood of producing offspring with the problem. On the other hand, breeding the Shepherd with another Shepherd whose ancestors do not have the genetic problem also has this effect.

Some purebred dog breeds have difficulties associated simply with the exaggerated physical traits of the breed. For example, the French Bulldog has such small hips and such a large head that artificial insemination and Cesarian section are usually required to produce puppies. Crossing such a dog with another breed will likely produce dogs without these reproductive difficulties, although most authorities on dog populations discourage reproduction among crossbreeds and mixed breeds because there are already so many purebreds available for adoption in addition to mixed breeds.

There is no guarantee of good genetic health of any dog, purebred or otherwise, as not all damaging genes are recessive. Also, of course, purebred and mixed-breed dogs are equally susceptible to nongenetic ailments, such as rabies, distemper, injury, and infestation by parasites.

The mature appearance and behavior of purebred puppies is more predictable than that of mixed breeds, including cross-breeds. With purebred dogs, the genetic variations are well documented and a breeder has a fair estimation of what type of offspring a given pair will produce. Even still, there is variation within breeds; for example, two champion sheep-herding Border Collies might produce offspring with no interest in sheep herding.

Mixed breed dogs are, on average, no more intelligent than purebred dogs, and both sets feature both slow learners and dogs with high learning capacity. For example, Benji, the hero in a series of films named for him, was a mixed-breed terrier. However, it is more difficult to predict the trainability of mixed-breed dogs when they are very young. Most Golden Retrievers are eager to please, but a mix of a Golden with the independent Siberian Husky could inherit either dog's trainability—or you could get a dog with the endurance and athleticism of the Siberian and the trainability of the Golden.

Many people enjoy owning mixed breeds, valuing their unique appearance and characteristics; while dogs of some breeds, such as the Tervueren, exhibit little variability of appearance, mixed-breed dogs exhibit often unique appearances. Although some dog owners have a specific breed of dog they wish to acquire, and will never accept a mixed breed, many others enjoy mixed-breed dogs that exhibit characteristics similar to their favorite breeds; in fact, with a mixed breed, they can enjoy some aspects of appearance and personality of two favorite breeds with a single dog.

There is usually an abundant supply of mixed-breed dogs wanting owners, available at negligible prices, while pedigreed dogs can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars and reputable breeders can be hard to find.

Some owners value a dog's pedigree as a status symbol and, therefore, have no use for mixed-breed dogs, whose market value is effectively zero; others particularly appreciate the physical or behavioral traits of certain breeds; still others ignore pedigree and, instead, value a dog's personality and health. In short, most dog owners believe that their dog's breed—and specifically his or her own dog—is the best sort of dog there is.