I know its to do with genetic problems but if you have two healthy adults of wonderful temperments and they are healthy why not ,you make it sound like any dog that is not pure ,(pedigree!!)is no good which is nonsense.All the checks that you give pedigree dogs does not guarantee you a healthy dog I think it is more to do with people snobery a x breed can be just as good as a pedigree dog

Most peoples beef with cross breeds is how they are produced. they are either the result of someones lack of care and resposibility (accidents) so may have been reared with the minimum of knowledge as to the needs of rearing a puppy suitable for modern family life.

Then there are those who delibertaly cross bizare combinations of breeds and by giving them an outlandish name try to persuade gullible would be purchasers that they are getting something rare and special, and charge exorbitant amounts for pups that they can have no idea what they will become.

Both the above are usually lacking any testing for hereditary disease, temperament etc, which any well bred pedigree would.

There are no gurantees of how any pup will turn out, as so much depends on its rearing environment and training, but wth a pedigree you do have largely predictable breed traits.

The advantage of a pedigree is that you know withing paramenters what ylur are getting, and whether it will suit you.

Most pedigree breeds have been developed accentuating some natural drives, and reducing others. this could be guarding, herding,hunting etc. for example my breed do not have a high chase drive, which is a neccesary trait in greyhounds, and it's modified version in herding breeds, but in certain circumstances can be problematic, but they can go quite deaf when after a scent, and the fact that they have been bred to be happy working away from the handler on their own initiative can make training recall more of a challenge!!!!

I would hazard a guess that no-one on this board has anything against mongrels and crossbreeds themselves, only against them being bred deliberately, or not caring for their dogs sufficiently to prevent unwanted litters. I wonder how many breeders of crossbred puppies will take back any of them if their owners cannot cope.don't want them anymore??? This is what is expected from qan ethical pedigree dog breeder. Not to be confused with puppy producers who are just interested in capitalising on a market for puppies.

I think that say's it all. :-)

I work in rescue and as far as I'm concerned there are far too many unwanted dogs - both pedigree and crossbreeds and equally difficult to rehome. I don't think the majority of people who breed dogs should do so.

If all pedigree breeders did as recommended on this board (e.g. health tests, vetting new owners, giving advice, etc.) then we wouldn't have quite as many problems. I'm sure most of the breeders on here genuinely do care and follow their own advice but in the real world they are incredibley rare.

Personally I think crossbreeds are great but I wouldn't encourage breeding of them or go out looking for a specific cross, when I meet a dog through rescue that I really like, or that could never be rehomed then I choose to keep it. I may one day buy a pedigree pup but I think that very unlikely.

The only thing I don't like about this board and crossbreeds is that all people looking for a dog are advised not to take a rescue because of it's temperament. In my experience of rescue dogs I've never met one that is really a problem, occasionally they are brought in because they chew the house up/bite/are un-housetrained, and after they've been here a little while, we still see no signs of any of these problems.

I know that we are adaptable (i.e. if something doesn't work with one dog try something else) where a lot of owners are not and would therefore need a breed that fits in with their normal lifestyle.

I'm rambling but what I'm basically saying is that a doggy person should be able to fit almost any dog into their lives, crossbreed or pedigree. The down side to rescue is that I'm beginning to feel that most people who have dogs shouldn't, but this is just because rescue can be depressing at times :-(

This board is for "Champdogs", and most of the people who live here are breeders and show their dogs which they wouldn't be able to with a crossbreed. They also have particular views on a lot of controversial subjects, i.e. tail-docking, hunting, neutering, breeding. A lot I don't agree with so I do not get involved in those conversations. This board is quite useful and can be very interesting to read but you just have to accept that there is no point joining conversations where you are in the minority because this board is for people who are into breeding/showing and all those things that go with it.

Do what I do - if you don't like certain views don't read the threads.

Unfortunately a hell of a lot of unplanned matings do NOT end up in loving homes as no-one wants them . That is why rescue homes are full of unwanted dogs ( and yes , I am aware that pedigree dogs also end up in rescue centres but they are usually not newborn pups ).
That is why we have all read about puppies found in boxes on waste land or left to die somewhere .
That is why my local paper carries a weekly advert saying unwanted pups will be rehomed . God knows where unfortunately as they only give a mobile number . :(

Mismatched breeding can carry health problems to the litter and thats not forgetting idiots mating breeds such as Mastiffs and Rotties for example ( delibrately) for a dog to enhance ( supposedly) some idiots image :(

I think a large percentage of us have owned mongrels at some time, certainly I have. He was a wonderful dog! Those are not the dogs I complain about. It is the deliberate production of cross breeds with inflated price tags which I object to.

John

Just seen in the local paper greyhound x pointer make exellent rabbiters £250 oviously trying to make a few quid and why breed those two dogs anyway what is the acheivement
i'm sure they will be lovely and everything as it's not the dogs fault

Hi,

I am not against X breeds at all in factas everyone I would think I have owned a few, and fantastic dogs too. But what I don't like is this "fascination" with crossing two breed together on purpose! WHY? for money, with no thought in most cases to health checks or temprement, never mind the poor pup.

X breeds I like 'em but the people who "breed" them ?

Karen

i was brought up with mongrol dogs. and they are great. but i will never forget seeing my aunts dog give birth to 15 pups and my uncle drowning them. i was about 10 yrs old. :(.

Tanni, thats awful, you poor thing! :-(

I'm with everyone else on here.

Nobody has a problem with cross breeds, or mongrels.....just the people that deliberately cross the breeds. I mean, WHY? Whats the point?

If you think about all the cross breeds and mongrels that are sitting in rescue waiting for good homes....why would anyone deliberately want to breed more?

I personally have pedigrees, cross breeds and mongrels, and they're all fantastic. I could not choose between any of my dogs.....pedigree or not.
So, that isn't the problem.

Crossing breeds is hit and miss...you never know what you're going to end up with.....what it's going to look like, the temperament etc....with pedigrees, at least you have some idea, although there are exceptions of course.

I think you'd be very hard pressed to find anybody on this board who has said 'Don't get a cross breed' we're usually saying 'Go to a rescue home and GET a cross breed or a mongrel'

Lisa

Just thought that I'd ask a quick question here. A lot of people have said that they aren't in favour of deliberately crossing breeds, does this include Lurchers?. The whole idea of a Lurcher was, as I understand, to cross two specific types, depending on what type of dog you needed, and end up with a litter of good all round working dogs. I supose you could say that they are designed rather than designer! cheers

Lurchers are produced for a purpose, now likely to die out, the reason not the hound. The thing with lurches is they have been produced for so long and are part of our heritage, and are not produced to change a breed, or cash in on a fashion, and as far as I know, any interbreeding is minimal.

The sort of crossing that upsets people is the crossing of 2 pure breeds for no other reason that money, fashion or because someone thinks it would be nice to let the children see their bitch have puppies and use the nearest willing male. The main reason that this upsets, me at least, is that no though beyond what the dog owner wants is given to the process, no checking the background breeding of either of the dogs concerned to make sure they are no in danger of producing a dog with health, construction or temperament problems and no concern, in most cases, once the pup has left them as to its welfare or it’s development. How many of the pups produced thus end up in trouble we don’t know and are never likely too. In my breed careful records are kept and sent to all owners of any health problem so we are all aware of it and can make sure it is taken into account when breeding is planed. Because if dog A develops a problem, say with it’s eyes, then it is not just that dog one has to consider it is all, yes all, it’s relatives and it’s ancestors. You can't do that with a crossbreed as no one will be interested enough to have kept a record.

Whether people who breed lurchers are more careful I don’t know, but as they are often breed for their own use I would guess that they are.