Crossbred Dog - Designer Dogs

Designer Dogs

The Encyclopædia Britannica traces the term "designer dog" to the late 20th century, when breeders began to cross purebred poodles with other purebred breeds in order to obtain a dog with the poodles' hypoallergenic coat, along with various desirable characteristics from other breeds.

The term "designer dog" has, however, taken on a new meaning, equating fads for crossbreed dogs with other "designer" accessories like purses and shoes. Increased public demand for "designer dogs" has resulted in the proliferation of puppy mills cashing in on the fad. Puppy mills are set up to produce puppies as fast as the mother dogs can give birth. The offspring, who may already be in poor health, are shipped long distances to pet shops or are sold through newspapers and the internet. Transportation takes a toll on the pups, and many sicken and die on route.

The primary identifying mark of a crossbred "designer dog' is that the resulting puppies are called by a portmanteau word made up of syllables (or sounds) from the breed names of the two purebred parents, such as Schnoodle (Schnauzer and poodle cross). Other purebred breeds are being crossed to provide designer dogs described with an endless range of created labels, such as the Puggle (Pug and Beagle cross). There are even complex crosses (with multiple breeds in recent ancestry) are being labeled in this manner, such as German Chusky (German Shepherd Dog, Husky, Chow Chow).

Like children in a family, a percentage of designer dogs with the same breed ancestry will look similar to each other, even though crossbreeding does not result in as uniform a phenotype as the breeding of purebreds. Often even pups in the same litter will look quite different.

Another defining characteristic of designer dogs is that they are usually bred as companions and pets. Working and hunting dogs deliberately crossbred for a particular working purpose are not generally given portmanteau names; they are most often referred to by a type (not breed) name, such as Eurohounds (racing sled dogs) or Lurchers (hunting dogs.) An exception to this is the Labradoodle, which although having a Portmanteau name, is often used as a Guide or Assistance dog.

Although designer dogs are often selected by owners for their novelty, reputable breeders sometimes use hybridization in an attempt to reduce the incidence of certain hereditary problems found in the purebred breeds, while retaining their more appealing traits. Jon Mooallem in the New York Times writes, "Given the roughly 350 inherited disorders littering the dog genome, crossing two purebreds and expanding their gene pools can be "a phenomenally good idea," according to one canine geneticist - if it is done conscientiously." But crossbreeding for a particular style of designer dog may not work out as intended; instead of the desirable traits, the resulting litter may have a combination of the undesirable traits of the two purebred breeds. Wally Conron, the originator of the Labradoodle (bred as a hypoallergenic guide dog from a carefully selected sire and dam) in 1989, noted that although the first Poodle-Labrador Retriever breeding produced a success, "our next litter of ten labradoodles produced only three allergy-free pups."

Crossbreeding has not been well studied in dogs, although it has been for livestock. The heritability of the desired trait being bred for (such as a hypoallergenic coat) needs to be known; "Heritability is the proportion of the measurable difference observed between animals for a given trait that is due to genetics (and can be passed to the next generation)." Without that knowledge, it is far less likely for a crossbreeding to consistently achieve an intended appearance or behaviour than it is for a purebred breeding. In addition, the goals of dog crossbreeding may be harder to define than the goals of livestock crossbreeding; good temperament may be harder to define and measure than high calf weight.

Designer dog breeders are often criticised for being more interested in profitable puppy production than in dog health and welfare. Wally Conron comments on the popularity of crosses after his introduction of the Labradoodle: "Were breeders bothering to check their sires and bitches for heredity faults, or were they simply caught up in delivering to hungry customers the next status symbol?" Designer dog puppies sometimes bring higher prices than the purebreds from which they are bred,. Finding a breeder who does health testing and considers hereditary compatibility of breeding stock is as important for a designer dog as it is for a purebred.

The fanciers of designer dogs respond that all modern dog breeds were created from earlier breeds and types of dogs through the same kind of selective breeding that is used to create designer dogs. The Toy Poodle was bred down in size from larger poodles, most likely by crossing with various very small Bichon types, such as the Maltese and Havanese. Most of the modern breeds have ancestries that include various older dog types and breeds; see individual breed articles for details of the origin of each breed.

Health of dog hybrids depends on their being descended from healthy parents. Breeders who select their breeding stock for cost-effectiveness and who skip health testing for the same reason will not produce puppies that are as reliably healthy as those bred by more conscientious breeders. However, studies of longevity in dogs have found some advantage for crossbreeds compared to purebred dogs. "There was a significant correlation between body weight and longevity. Crossbreeds lived longer than average but several pure breeds lived longer than cross breeds, notably Jack Russell, miniature poodles and whippets" (thus only small and toy breeds, as to be expected). In general it is believed that crossbreed dogs "have a far lower chance of exhibiting the disorders that are common with the parental breeds. Their genetic health will be substantially higher."

Many breeders of designer dogs take advantage of the fact that people are impressed by a pet that they believe offers them an elevated social status, such as other "designer" goods do. "It's human nature to aspire to own something a little different, a little fancy or in short supply."