Before Buying a Designer Dog
by: Mike Mathews
Most of you have heard about, read about or seen the new
designer dogs. Some of you are probably wondering what the
hype is all about. Some of you think they sound and look
kind of cute and trendy. A few of you may actually be in the
market to buy one of these new dogs. You have heard all the
cute names like Puggle, Schnoodle, Labradoodle and Maltipoo
and you are probably wondering if they are purebreds or
mongrels and why they cost so much. You may also have heard
that designer dogs are healthier than purebreds, don't shed
and are good for people with allergies. I will attempt to
address these issues and provide other information in the
following article.
Designer dogs were initially developed by crossing two
purebred breeds with the intention of producing a
cross-breed dog with certain desirable characteristics. For
example a Puggle is a cross between a Pug and a Beagle and a
Shorkie is a cross between a Shih Tzu and a Yorkshire
Terrier. In an attempt to design a low shed or
hypoallergenic dog, breeders have crossed a variety of
breeds with toy, miniature and standard Poodles. Examples of
the “poo” designer dogs include the Schnoodle (Schnauzer),
Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever), Maltepoo (Maltese), and
Cockapoo (American Cocker Spaniel).
In order to better understand the concept of designer
dogs, we need to know a little bit about canine genetics.
Dogs have 78 chromosomes made up from 39 pairs or sets. Each
puppy receives half of their chromosomes from their mother
and half from their father. These chromosomes contain the
puppy's DNA which defines its characteristics or genetic
makeup. Generalizing, this means the puppy gets some
characteristics from the mother and some from the father in
a “random chance” manner and the number of possible
combinations is well over one billion. Therefore it is
almost impossible for two puppies in the same litter to have
exactly the same combination of chromosomes or
characteristics. Purebred dogs were developed for a specific
purpose such as hunting or herding by cross breeding two or
more founding breeds that the breed developers thought would
best contribute to meeting that specific purpose. Then over
some period of time, the resulting offspring (usually first
or second cousins) were bred with each other to minimize the
“random chance” characteristics. Then over many generations
the resulting dogs would start to breed true and have
physical and temperament characteristics with minimal
differences across generations and bloodlines. This new
breed of dog could then meet a common breed standard and
eventually be recognized by a national association. A
current success story is the Silky Terrier which was
developed in Australia around 1900 by crossing an Australian
Terrier with a Yorkshire Terrier in order to obtain the best
characteristics of both breeds. The Silky Terrier was
recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) in 1933 and has
become a popular companion dog ranking 65th out of 154 dog
breeds registered by the AKC in 2005. Not all
characteristics of a new breed are desirable. Some
characteristics such as inherited tendencies to specific
diseases are bad and breeders try to minimize the chances of
this happening by screening the parents before breeding.
However this won't entirely prevent diseases from being
passed on to the next generation if both parents are
carrying a recessive gene for that disease.
Now back to designer dogs. Designer dogs can be created
by breeding two appropriate purebred dogs. The resulting
puppies are first-generation designer dogs that will have
some “random chance” combination of the parents physical and
personality characteristics. Reputable breeders will have
screened the breeding parents for genetic diseases and
desirable personality characteristics. Prospective buyers
should ask for the breeding parents Orthopedic Foundation
for Animals (OFA) orthopedic and other breed specific test
results and also the Canine Eye Registry (CERF) recent
ophthalmologists report for eye disorders. Many breeders
will argue that first-generation designer dogs will be
healthier because they come from a larger gene pool.
Multi-generational designer dogs are developed when breeders
have decided to concentrate on a particular designer dog.
These breeders commit themselves to a multi-generational
breeding program by breeding the same species of dog in
order to standardize on certain desirable characteristics.
Let's take the example of a Puggle, where breeders may be
trying to minimize the breathing problems of the Pug and
tone down the Beagle's single-minded scent following
characteristics. Which is better - the possibly healthier
first-generation Puggle which may have more or less of each
parent's characteristics or the multi-generation Puggle with
more predictable characteristics? It really is your choice.
More important is deciding on the type of designer dog
you want. Size, activity level, coat type, child tolerance,
etc. are all factors you need to research. Go to our
Directory of Breed of Dogs and research the founding stock
that makes up the designer dog. The most popular designer
dogs are the Puggles (Pug and Beagle cross) followed by the
Labradoodles (Labrador Retriever and Standard Poodle cross).
See our Puggle/Labradoodle page for more information on
these dogs.
Note that there are really two types of Labradoodles. The
first is the unofficial mixed Poodle/Labrador designer breed
and the second is the Australian Labradoodle which has
resulted from an exhaustive Australian breeding program
intended to develop a pure-bred dog breed that will be
recognized by the national kennel clubs around the world.
The Australian program actually involves 6 different parent
breeds: Poodle (standard, miniature, and toy); Labrador
Retriever; Irish Water Spaniel; Curly Coat Retriever;
American Cocker Spaniel; and English Cocker Spaniel.
Other popular designer dogs are the: Schnoodle (Miniature
Schnauzer and Poodle), Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever and
Poodle), Shorkie (Shih Tzu and Yorkshire Terrier), Schnorkie
(Miniature schnauzer and Yorkshire Terrier), Maltipoo
(Maltese and Poodle), and Chorkie (Chihuahua and Yorkshire
Terrier).
Some popular designer dogs are expensive and depending on
the area in which you live, you may have a substantial wait
time. While doing your required research, you may find you
would be just as happy with one of the founding purebred
breeds for less money and less wait time. Even better you
may be able to save a dog's life by visiting the animal
shelters or breed rescue kennels in your area to see if
there is a cute dog available which will meet your needs.