THe Truth About Purebred Dogs :
Advantages of Purebred Dogs :
Purebred dogs have many predictable physical traits.
Purebred dogs were developed by "selective breeding", which means dogs WITH specific traits (carried on genes inside the dog's body) were bred, whereas dogs with DIFFERENT traits (and thus differing genes) were not bred (i.e. their traits and genes were removed from the gene pool). The result is that every breed ends up with a specific set of genes that distinguishes it from every other breed. These genes include physical traits such as size, coat, and color.
So when you see a purebred puppy, you have a pretty good idea what genes he had to have inherited and therefore what he should grow up to look like. If you want a certain size dog, or a certain coat or color, you can choose a breed that has genes for those traits.
Purebred dogs have some predictable temperament/behavior traits.
SOME aspects of temperament and behavior are also carried on genes. If you want an energetic dog, you can choose a breed who inherits genes for high energy. If you want a dog for herding your cattle, or guarding your sheep, or hunting pheasants or rabbits, or pulling a sled, or doing police work, you can prettyu much count on certain purebreds inheriting genes for those kinds of behaviors.
Proper raising and training can modify certain behaviors, but if a behavior is "hardwired" into your breed's genes, it's harder to change. Don't expect to easily "mold" a purebred dog into anything you want him to be. To minimize power struggles and stress, you should look for a breed with a temperament that already sounds very close to what you want.
DisAdvantages of Purebred Dogs :
Predictable traits means you're stuck with them.
Too many people acquire a purebred dog, and then complain about its built-in characteristics. Sorry, but if you choose, say, a Labrador Retriever, you need to accept that he WILL shed a goodly amount, he WILL have a large powerful body that can knock over small children if he gets excited, and his enthusiastic tail WILL occasionally send breakables flying off your coffee table.
Physical traits are carried on genes. Specific genes come with each breed. You have to research a breed's genes before you buy.
Some purebred behaviors can be difficult to live with.
I'm talking here about working behaviors.
Most breeds were developed to do some kind of WORK – herding sheep or cattle, hunting pheasants or quail, retrieving ducks from the water, hunting rabbits or coons or wolves, killing rodents in the barn, protecting livestock, guarding estates and monasteries, pulling carts and sleds, police and military work, and more.
Certain behavioral traits that helped a breed do its work were "hardwired" into each breed's genes by selective breeding.
Common working behaviors in purebred dogs include:
Purebred dogs can have a lot of health problems.
You're probably shocked
by that long list of health problems.
And you should be.
Over 300 genetic health problems occur in dogs – all kinds of dogs, purebred, crossbred, and mixed – but the risk of these health problems occurring in a purebred dog is higher than in a crossbreed or mixed breed.
Why are purebred dogs so unhealthy?
In Dog Quest: Find The Dog Of Your Dreams, I explain the 4 reasons why purebred dogs have so many health problems – and more importantly, how to buy a purebred puppy who has the BEST chance of growing up healthy. You'll learn all about inbreeding and how to avoid it. You'll learn how a dog's appearance – size, shape, type of ears, even color – affects his chances of developing health problems.
Purebred dogs have many predictable physical traits.
Purebred dogs were developed by "selective breeding", which means dogs WITH specific traits (carried on genes inside the dog's body) were bred, whereas dogs with DIFFERENT traits (and thus differing genes) were not bred (i.e. their traits and genes were removed from the gene pool). The result is that every breed ends up with a specific set of genes that distinguishes it from every other breed. These genes include physical traits such as size, coat, and color.
So when you see a purebred puppy, you have a pretty good idea what genes he had to have inherited and therefore what he should grow up to look like. If you want a certain size dog, or a certain coat or color, you can choose a breed that has genes for those traits.
Purebred dogs have some predictable temperament/behavior traits.
SOME aspects of temperament and behavior are also carried on genes. If you want an energetic dog, you can choose a breed who inherits genes for high energy. If you want a dog for herding your cattle, or guarding your sheep, or hunting pheasants or rabbits, or pulling a sled, or doing police work, you can prettyu much count on certain purebreds inheriting genes for those kinds of behaviors.
Proper raising and training can modify certain behaviors, but if a behavior is "hardwired" into your breed's genes, it's harder to change. Don't expect to easily "mold" a purebred dog into anything you want him to be. To minimize power struggles and stress, you should look for a breed with a temperament that already sounds very close to what you want.
DisAdvantages of Purebred Dogs :
Predictable traits means you're stuck with them.
Too many people acquire a purebred dog, and then complain about its built-in characteristics. Sorry, but if you choose, say, a Labrador Retriever, you need to accept that he WILL shed a goodly amount, he WILL have a large powerful body that can knock over small children if he gets excited, and his enthusiastic tail WILL occasionally send breakables flying off your coffee table.
Physical traits are carried on genes. Specific genes come with each breed. You have to research a breed's genes before you buy.
Some purebred behaviors can be difficult to live with.
I'm talking here about working behaviors.
Most breeds were developed to do some kind of WORK – herding sheep or cattle, hunting pheasants or quail, retrieving ducks from the water, hunting rabbits or coons or wolves, killing rodents in the barn, protecting livestock, guarding estates and monasteries, pulling carts and sleds, police and military work, and more.
Certain behavioral traits that helped a breed do its work were "hardwired" into each breed's genes by selective breeding.
Common working behaviors in purebred dogs include:
- chasing, grabbing, nipping at things that move (useful for herding dogs and hunting dogs)
- high energy level (useful for herding dogs, hunting dogs, sled dogs)
- aggression toward other animals (useful for fighting dogs, guardians, hunting dogs, and terriers)
- digging holes in the ground (useful for hunting dogs and terriers pursuing prey into tunnels, or northern spitz-type breeds who had to dig warm sleeping holes in the snow)
- acting threatening toward strangers (useful for guarding dogs)
- baying and howling (useful for hunting dogs pursuing prey, so the hunter would be able to follow them)
- putting their nose to the ground and taking off in pursuit of interesting scents (useful for hunting dogs and terriers)
- carrying things around in their mouth (useful for hunting dogs who retrieved birds and ducks)
- making their own decisions (useful for many working breeds who had to work independently)
- strong desire to DO things, to use their keen minds and athletic skills to accomplish something (useful for many working breeds)
Purebred dogs can have a lot of health problems.
- Crippling bone and joint disorders
- Eye diseases that cause reduced sight or total blindness
- Heart diseases that drastically shorten a dog's life
- Hormonal and endocrine system diseases like hypothyroidism and diabetes
- Seizure disorders such as epilepsy
- Skin diseases that cause frantic itching
- Digestive disorders that cause chronic diarrhea and vomiting
- Kidney and liver diseases
- Blood-clotting diseases
- Cancer – the number-one killer of many, many breeds
You're probably shocked
by that long list of health problems.
And you should be.
Over 300 genetic health problems occur in dogs – all kinds of dogs, purebred, crossbred, and mixed – but the risk of these health problems occurring in a purebred dog is higher than in a crossbreed or mixed breed.
Why are purebred dogs so unhealthy?
In Dog Quest: Find The Dog Of Your Dreams, I explain the 4 reasons why purebred dogs have so many health problems – and more importantly, how to buy a purebred puppy who has the BEST chance of growing up healthy. You'll learn all about inbreeding and how to avoid it. You'll learn how a dog's appearance – size, shape, type of ears, even color – affects his chances of developing health problems.
The Truth About Cross-Breed Dog :
A crossbred (or crossbreed) dog is what you get when you breed one purebred dog to another purebred dog of a different breed. A Golden Retriever crossed with a Standard Poodle, produces crossbred offspring like the "Goldendoodle" to the right.
Some people call them hybrid dogs, but this is wrong. A hybrid is the offspring of two different SPECIES. Dog breeds are not different species. Each dog breed is simply an inbred "family" or "strain" within the same canine species.
Some people call them designer dogs, but this is silly. Purebred dogs were also "designed." Border Collies, for example, were designed to herd sheep. Breeders chose specific traits: medium size, athletic, fast, energetic, smart, strong chasing instincts, weatherproof coat, etc. These traits were chosen by design.
Some specific crosses have been given names. Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever crossed with Poodle). Labradoodle (Labrador Retriever crossed with Poodle). Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel crossed with Poodle). Schnoodle (Miniature Schnauzer crossed with Poodle). Puggle (Pug crossed with Beagle).
But whether a cross has been given a name or not doesn't matter. If a male Siberian Husky escapes his yard and discovers, just down the block, a female Dalmatian in heat, the resulting puppies will still be crossbred even though no specific name has been coined for a Siberian-Dalmatian cross. (Siberdal, anyone? Sibermatian?)
Advantages of crossbred dogs :
Crossbred dogs tend to have a moderate appearance.
The deformities that have been inflicted on purebred dogs – tiny size, giant size, very short nose, protruding eyes, short crooked legs, a long back, loose jowls, long heavy ears, wrinkled folds of skin, etc. – can only be maintained by deliberately and continuously breeding such dogs TOGETHER.
Crossbred dogs tend to have a moderate personality.
Crossbreeding tends to produce a middle-of-the-road temperament that often fits better into the average household than the more "extreme" temperaments of many purebred dogs. Working dogs need HIGH energy, STRONG chasing instincts, STRONG digging instincts, STRONG aggressive instincts, etc.
Crossbred dogs tend to be healthier.
All dogs have defective genes. All living creatures do, in fact, including you and me! But many defective genes don't cause any problems unless you have TWO copies of it. And unlike purebreds, parents of different breeds tend to have different defective genes. This minimizes the risk of a crossbred puppy getting two copies of the same defective gene.
Not only that, but this greater variety of genes that a crossbred puppy inherits tends to result in a stronger immune system and better physical and mental health. The genetic diversity of crossbred and mixed breed dogs is a healthy thing.
Because I haven't told you about the DISadvantages of crossbred dogs yet. Oh yes, there are disadvantages! And we haven't talked about the misleading hype and outright lies that crossbred breeders are spreading across the Internet in an effort to sell their crossbred puppies. You need to know how to pick your way through this minefield of misinformation, or else you're going to end up with a crossbred dog who does NOT have a moderate appearance, moderate temperament, and good health.
Some people call them hybrid dogs, but this is wrong. A hybrid is the offspring of two different SPECIES. Dog breeds are not different species. Each dog breed is simply an inbred "family" or "strain" within the same canine species.
Some people call them designer dogs, but this is silly. Purebred dogs were also "designed." Border Collies, for example, were designed to herd sheep. Breeders chose specific traits: medium size, athletic, fast, energetic, smart, strong chasing instincts, weatherproof coat, etc. These traits were chosen by design.
Some specific crosses have been given names. Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever crossed with Poodle). Labradoodle (Labrador Retriever crossed with Poodle). Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel crossed with Poodle). Schnoodle (Miniature Schnauzer crossed with Poodle). Puggle (Pug crossed with Beagle).
But whether a cross has been given a name or not doesn't matter. If a male Siberian Husky escapes his yard and discovers, just down the block, a female Dalmatian in heat, the resulting puppies will still be crossbred even though no specific name has been coined for a Siberian-Dalmatian cross. (Siberdal, anyone? Sibermatian?)
- One purebred dog bred to a purebred dog of a different breed = crossbred puppies. No cutesy names required.
Advantages of crossbred dogs :
Crossbred dogs tend to have a moderate appearance.
The deformities that have been inflicted on purebred dogs – tiny size, giant size, very short nose, protruding eyes, short crooked legs, a long back, loose jowls, long heavy ears, wrinkled folds of skin, etc. – can only be maintained by deliberately and continuously breeding such dogs TOGETHER.
Crossbred dogs tend to have a moderate personality.
Crossbreeding tends to produce a middle-of-the-road temperament that often fits better into the average household than the more "extreme" temperaments of many purebred dogs. Working dogs need HIGH energy, STRONG chasing instincts, STRONG digging instincts, STRONG aggressive instincts, etc.
- Cross a working breed, say, a Border Collie, with a more mellow breed, say, a Keeshond, and the puppies may be easier for the average household to live with.
Crossbred dogs tend to be healthier.
All dogs have defective genes. All living creatures do, in fact, including you and me! But many defective genes don't cause any problems unless you have TWO copies of it. And unlike purebreds, parents of different breeds tend to have different defective genes. This minimizes the risk of a crossbred puppy getting two copies of the same defective gene.
Not only that, but this greater variety of genes that a crossbred puppy inherits tends to result in a stronger immune system and better physical and mental health. The genetic diversity of crossbred and mixed breed dogs is a healthy thing.
- But hold on! Beause you might be thinking, "Yup, a crossbred dog with a moderate appearance, moderate temperament, and good health is exactly what I'm looking for." And now you're ready to head off and buy one....and that would be a huge mistake.
Because I haven't told you about the DISadvantages of crossbred dogs yet. Oh yes, there are disadvantages! And we haven't talked about the misleading hype and outright lies that crossbred breeders are spreading across the Internet in an effort to sell their crossbred puppies. You need to know how to pick your way through this minefield of misinformation, or else you're going to end up with a crossbred dog who does NOT have a moderate appearance, moderate temperament, and good health.
The Truth About Mixed Breed Dogs :
In my experience as a dog obedience instructor, canine psychologist, and dog breed advisor, there are two questions I'm always being asked about mixed breed dogs:
The answer to the first question is easy: "No, I can't. No one can." A mixed breed dog has inherited a veritable jumble of genes and traits, and there's no way to tell which of those genes and traits come from which breeds. There could be dozens of breeds in his ancestry.
Let's look at a dog named Spot. If both of Spot's parents are purebred and the same breed, Spot is a purebred dog, too. Dalmatian + Dalmatian = Dalmatian.
If both of Spot's parents are purebred but different breeds, Spot is a crossbred dog. Dalmatian + Boxer = Dalmatian/Boxer cross.
If one of Spot's parents is purebred and the other is crossbred, well, now it starts to get tricky. Dalmatian + Dalmatian/Doberman is still considered a crossbred dog because there are only two breeds there. Even Dalmatian/Doberman + Dalmatian/Doberman is considered a crossbred dog because there are just two breeds contributing all of Spot's genes.
But once you introduce a third or fourth breed, such as Dalmatian + Collie/Poodle....or Dalmatian/Collie + Bulldog/Rottweiler....now Spot is a mixed breed dog, with multiple breeds contributing genes and no way at all to sort out which genes (and traits) might have come from which breed. And often there are more than three or four breeds....there can be many, many breeds, all jumbled together.
People who look at a mixed breed dog and then declare which breed's genes are inside that dog, are only guessing. There are too many breeds out there, too many traits (shape of head, ear carriage, type of tail, coat or color), and too many ways that genes can combine.
The only way to know which breeds make up your mixed breed dog is to have his DNA tested. The easiest and most convenient is simply to swab the inside of your dog's cheek with a cotton swab (his saliva contains DNA) and mail the swab to Wisdom Insights. They'll analyze the swab and send you the results.
I think it's a lot of fun to find out which breeds are "in" your mixed breed. For example, you might be absolutely sure that your mixed breed is "mostly Lab" or "half Shepherd" or "a mixture of terrier and poodle"......and now you can find out for sure whether you're right or wrong!
But let's say you've just gotten a mixed breed puppy....will finding out his breed composition mean you can predict what he will grow up to look like or act like? No, not really. Because even if you know which breeds are in him, you don't know whether those particular DOGS were "typical" of their breed. Many purebred dogs don't look or act typical for their breed. For example, many Doberman Pinschers and Rottweilers are not protective at all. Some Golden Retrievers are aggressive instead of friendly. Some Chihuahuas weigh 15 pounds instead of being tiny. Atypical dogs can pass atypical genes on to their puppies.
So just because your mixed breed puppy has "pure breeds" in his ancestry doesn't help you to know what those individual dogs were like – and therefore you don't know which genes they had available to pass on to their puppies.
Finally, even if you somehow KNEW that the parents and grandparents and great-grandparents had typical genes for their breed.....many of those genes will be conflicting (a German Shepherd has very different genes than a Poodle), and when a mixed breed puppy inherits a bunch of conflicting genes, you don't know which of those genes will "trump" the others, or which ones will blend together to form some intermediate result.
Mixed breed dogs tend to be healthier :
Potential negative:
- "Can you look at my mixed breed and tell me which breeds he's a mix of?"
- "Do mixed breed dogs make better pets than purebred dogs?"
The answer to the first question is easy: "No, I can't. No one can." A mixed breed dog has inherited a veritable jumble of genes and traits, and there's no way to tell which of those genes and traits come from which breeds. There could be dozens of breeds in his ancestry.
Let's look at a dog named Spot. If both of Spot's parents are purebred and the same breed, Spot is a purebred dog, too. Dalmatian + Dalmatian = Dalmatian.
If both of Spot's parents are purebred but different breeds, Spot is a crossbred dog. Dalmatian + Boxer = Dalmatian/Boxer cross.
If one of Spot's parents is purebred and the other is crossbred, well, now it starts to get tricky. Dalmatian + Dalmatian/Doberman is still considered a crossbred dog because there are only two breeds there. Even Dalmatian/Doberman + Dalmatian/Doberman is considered a crossbred dog because there are just two breeds contributing all of Spot's genes.
But once you introduce a third or fourth breed, such as Dalmatian + Collie/Poodle....or Dalmatian/Collie + Bulldog/Rottweiler....now Spot is a mixed breed dog, with multiple breeds contributing genes and no way at all to sort out which genes (and traits) might have come from which breed. And often there are more than three or four breeds....there can be many, many breeds, all jumbled together.
People who look at a mixed breed dog and then declare which breed's genes are inside that dog, are only guessing. There are too many breeds out there, too many traits (shape of head, ear carriage, type of tail, coat or color), and too many ways that genes can combine.
The only way to know which breeds make up your mixed breed dog is to have his DNA tested. The easiest and most convenient is simply to swab the inside of your dog's cheek with a cotton swab (his saliva contains DNA) and mail the swab to Wisdom Insights. They'll analyze the swab and send you the results.
I think it's a lot of fun to find out which breeds are "in" your mixed breed. For example, you might be absolutely sure that your mixed breed is "mostly Lab" or "half Shepherd" or "a mixture of terrier and poodle"......and now you can find out for sure whether you're right or wrong!
But let's say you've just gotten a mixed breed puppy....will finding out his breed composition mean you can predict what he will grow up to look like or act like? No, not really. Because even if you know which breeds are in him, you don't know whether those particular DOGS were "typical" of their breed. Many purebred dogs don't look or act typical for their breed. For example, many Doberman Pinschers and Rottweilers are not protective at all. Some Golden Retrievers are aggressive instead of friendly. Some Chihuahuas weigh 15 pounds instead of being tiny. Atypical dogs can pass atypical genes on to their puppies.
So just because your mixed breed puppy has "pure breeds" in his ancestry doesn't help you to know what those individual dogs were like – and therefore you don't know which genes they had available to pass on to their puppies.
Finally, even if you somehow KNEW that the parents and grandparents and great-grandparents had typical genes for their breed.....many of those genes will be conflicting (a German Shepherd has very different genes than a Poodle), and when a mixed breed puppy inherits a bunch of conflicting genes, you don't know which of those genes will "trump" the others, or which ones will blend together to form some intermediate result.
- Mixed breed dogs tend toward the "moderate." That means the extremes of temperament and behavior often seen in purebreds are less common in mixed breeds. Now, it is certainly possible for non-purebreds to be "very" energetic or "very" independent or "very" prone to chasing things. But so many purebreds were specifically BRED to have those temperaments and behaviors because they aided the breed's performance of his work (herding, hunting, guarding, sledding, etc.). Whereas in mixed breeds, extreme temperaments and behaviors are by happenstance rather than deliberate design.
- Because their temperament and behavior is more middle-of-the-road and less strongly "programmed," mixed breeds tend to be more flexible. They often adjust more easily to a greater variety of households and living conditions.
Mixed breed dogs tend to be healthier :
- Most mixed breed dogs have good genetic diversity, i.e. their genes are unrelated and include a little of this and a little of that, which promotes overall health and vigor.
- Because their genes are usually unrelated, the chances are good that the parents of a mixed breed puppy did not both have the same defective genes. It is the pairing up of the same defective genes that causes some of the worst health problems in dogs.
- When left to her own devices, Mother Nature tends to make dogs moderately sized, with natural builds. In mixed breeds, you seldom find faces as short as a Pug, or bodies as long as a Dachshund or as barrel-shaped as a Bulldog, or weighing 3 pounds or 150 pounds. This is a GOOD thing, because these physical features are deformities associated with increased health problems.
Potential negative:
- For some inherited health problems, there are medical tests that can be done before breeding two dogs together, to make sure they don't have that particular health problem. Unfortunately, it is almost unheard of for a mixed breed dog to have even one parent who has been tested for any inherited health problem. With a mixed breed dog, you have to put your faith in his genetic diversity, rather than in medical testing.
- Some mixed breed dogs are blends of purebreds that share similar health problems. This means the same defective gene could come over from both parents and pair up in their puppies. For example, a mixed breed puppy with Cocker Spaniel, Poodle, and Bichon Frise genes could inherit hip problems, knee problems, eye diseases, chronic ear infections, etc. – because all of those breeds are prone to the same problems.