Quote:
Originally Posted by YorkichonBella  Designer Dogs
While the trend to produce hybrid or designer dogs is considered new it is, in fact, a continuation of the centuries-old practice of selective breeding. Basically every breed of dog is a "mutt" in the sense that every type of dog was created by interbreeding different types of dogs to produce a breed with a certain set of desirable characteristics. All dog breeds were bred for a particular purpose, usually some form of hunting, herding, or guarding. These tasks have been largely replaced by the need to produce healthy dogs with good temperaments as domestic companions or pets. Breeding two different breeds often allows the best traits of both parents to pass through.
This has resulted in a surge of popularity for certain crosses in which a desirable mix of traits occurs. The Labradoodle, for example, was first bred as an attempt to develop guide dog for visually impaired people with allergies. Unfortunately, the popularity of hybrids such as "Labradoodles" has resulted in rampant, and often unscrupulous, breeding. The resulting pups do not reliably demonstrate the desirable characteristics, such as a hypo-allergenic coat, that the original breeders were attempting to standardize. |
I think those are important points. There's an example of cross breeding with a purpose. If I were blind that would be a great asset to me, a guide dog that I wouldn't be allergic to. But it also shows how unfortunate this is. People see that something is trendy and try to cash in on it. These "unscrupulous" breeders (if they can be called that) don't take any consideration when it comes to which dogs the will breed, what are their physical tributes that are desirable and their temperament that will be passed on to the next generation, and how often to breed. This is when mixing of breeds becomes a problem, and it's not only a mix breeds that is a problem, this can also happen with pure bred dogs.