I have a half Yorkie and half Maltese and I adore her!! I wanted a Maltese but did not want to deal with the high maintenance white coat. And since I love Yorkies obviously as well I decided what a great way to get the traits I love about the Maltese and Yorkie all in 1 dog
As far as the shelter goes..I have adopted in the past and I donate the our local shelter. I think adopting is wonderful!! HOWEVER...when adopting a mix from a shelter...how do you know what breeds you are getting? A lot of times you do not. A lot of breeds have their own personality traits and I think for ME it was important knowing what breed my new addition was.