Just want to add that, to me, it depends on the purpose of the cross breeding. There are dogs like Lurchers or Border Jacks that are crossed for a reason and done responsibly for a specific purpose, which are vastly different than crosses like the Maltipoo, Chiweenie, etc that were just made up to have a cute name and which are cranked out to make money without any higher plan or standard. It's not the mixing that makes them bad, per se. Mix breeders get a bad rep because most of them are just doing it for a quick buck, they couldn't care less about the quality of their dogs and don't have any logic behind their crosses besides making 'cute puppies to sell'. It wouldn't matter if they bred purebreds; that kind of behavior is irresponsible either way.
Many people will own farm dogs for years and years and they will be bred, but they're not sold for hundreds of dollars, they prove themselves to be great farm working dogs that live long lives and stay in the family or are only given to other close farmers. To me, I don't feel they are contributing to the overpopulation of pets. They are working dogs who live on a farm all of their lives. Sure, they are not being bred to a certain standard, they are not show dogs, but they prove themselves as good quality working dogs. Just like a Border Collie is bred specifically to have good instinct, herding drive and control. BC people don't usually breed dogs that have good structure and good temperaments, the key point is the purpose which in this case is to herd. |