Mixed-Breed Designer Dogs Are High-Priced Mutts
Don’t be Fooled Into Paying Thousands of Dollars For a Crossbred Dog
Mar 20, 2009
Some even tell buyers that these new “breeds” like yorkiepoos, buggles or jugs will be recognized by the Canadian or American Kennel Club some day. But puppy buyers need to realize that a cute name doesn’t turn a mongrel into a purebred. If you fall for the hype, you could pay more for a mutt than you would for a registered, guaranteed purebred.
Creating a New Breed Using Existing Dog Breeds
A new breed can be created from existing breeds. Two modern examples are the Czesky Terrier and the Black Russian Terrier. But it takes many years of careful record-keeping and breeding towards a blueprint of the kind of dog breed you want to create. Eventually, you no longer use crosses to other breeds. After many generations, all the puppies start looking like each other and you can predict what they will look like as adults. You now have a new breed.
Cockapoos (Poodles crossed with Cocker Spaniels) have been around for a long time, but they are still just a mix. There is no uniformity in size or type and no central stud book in which pedigrees are recorded. However, the Cockapoo Club of America is trying to implement some of these criteria and has drawn up a breed standard.
Doodles are the hot new breed — except they aren’t a breed, either. They are a mix of Poodles and Labrador or Golden Retrievers. Most doodles you see for sale are just first generation crosses of retriever to Poodle. They are mixed breeds.
However, some people have embarked on planned breeding programs to create a new breed called a Labradoodle. They had a goal in mind and planned ahead several generations. Labradoodles were first bred specifically to try and create an allergy-free dog that would be an ideal guide dog for blind people.
Labradoodles: An Experiment in Progress
Breeders began with healthy, purebred, registered Standard Poodles and Labradors tested for all sorts of potential inherited health problems, then bred the two breeds together, creating a first generation (G1) that was half Poodle and half Labrador. Now they are in the process of creating one pure breed from two different ones.
Careful breeding records are kept and all breeding stock are screened for health defects in each generation. In the next stage, G1 dogs are usually back to a Poodle or Lab. Their offspring are G2. The G2 dogs are bred only to other G2 dogs to produce G3 Labradoodles.
If necessary, a cross back to Poodle or Labrador may be needed in order to strengthen desired characteristics. But usually by the fourth generation there is no more crossbreeding. After that, it takes about five additional generations of breeding only Labradoodle to Labradoodle before the resulting dogs can be considered a new breed.
The Australian Labradoodle Association of America has written an official Breed Standard for the Labradoodle, which descends only from Standard Poodles and Labs, and for the Australian Labradoodle, which includes crosses to English Cocker Spaniels. The ALAA is in the process of creating an official registry for these dogs and is working towards future purebred status.
Most “Designer Dogs” are Just Mutts
The oodles of Poodle mixes like yorkiepoos, pekapoos, schnoodles and so on have no breed standard, no club, no standardized breeding records, and no plan for the future. The same is true of most, maybe all, other “designer” mixed breeds. And if you wonder where many of them come from, read this article.
There’s nothing wrong with a mixed breed. But don’t be fooled into paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a dog that, however cute, is just another mutt.
Sources:
Dog Breed Info Centre (on-line)
Dogs in Canada Magazine.
Marshall, Kelly. Description and List of Popular Designer Dogs. Canada’s Guide to Dogs (on-line)
Trivedi, Bijal P. National Geographic Channel, “Designer Dog or Just Another Mutt?” from nationalgeographic.com Resources on Dogs (on-line)
