I was just wondering what people's views were on this particular topic, I understand the boards view on deliberate cross breeds for money but I was wondering what they'd be on this topic. With so much focus on the health of pedigree dogs now is deliberate crossing right in order to improve the health of the breed, for example like the crossing between pointers and Dalmatians in order to alleviate the problems in the breed? Should breeders be breeding back to straighter backed German shepherds? With focus on the bulldog breed should the fanciers be concerned with breeding a dog which is closer to the original? I have seen such breeds such as the alapha blue blood bulldog and have to admit their very striking but are these breeders helping or hindering?

Ill be interested to see your replies :)

All good breeder are doing just that, trying to improve their breed, but you can't breed just for back or heads so what you suggest is not possible, yes, you may change the head and find you have introduced something much worse. Breeding for health could never be just a matter of out crossing.

Changing a breed needs to be done slowly by people who know what they are doing and those people will not be advertising that they are producing a health new breed.

Health testing and selective matings are already doing much to improve the health of dogs. By having records of dogs pedigrees and health tests going back over several generations it is possible to see certain traits in lines and then selectively breed accordingly.
Breeders spend vast amounts of money, going abroad to find suitable dogs to import or take their bitch to, importation of semen is now widely used in lots of breeds, to bring in new bllodlines.  Being able to work out the COI of proposed breeding pairs, is also now being used by the majority of good breeders.

The health problems are more apparent in dogs coming from BYB's and puppy farms, who do none of the above, but the unsuspecting public buy from these people, and most vets see more of these dogs than they ever will from good breeders, so form views about health of certain breeds, because they see more unhealthy ones.

There is still need for changes to be made in breeds with over exaggerated characteristics, and some breeders are stuck in a time warp and refuse to acknolwedge that thres exagerations are bad for the dogs health. For some breeds radical steps such as cross breeding may need to be done, to improve health, but that needs to be done very carefully, as indiscriminate cross breeding could result in more health issues than it solves.

If the cross is done officially and mixed in to the breed genepool i think it can be of benefit... if it is done with mixing random dogs and no record keeping etc... i don't see the point,you are not improving a breed you love but breeding cross bred dogs that in a long run will probably end up being even more mixed by other people with less knowledge and nobody has a clue what is in the mix or what they end up looking like or what they are genetically (or even truly care as there are no long term plans or patience to slowly work on and develop...) there is no benefit what so ever to the original regognised breed.
love bulldogs but want a healthier differently build bulldog,be ready to spend your lifetime working towards it with other breeders instead of taking a quick short cut! Just like other breeders who are working towards bettering their own breeds health/look wise and building a foundations to the future guardians of the breed they love...