[imdll]

I’m glad to hear that you have chosen not to breed your dog. I do have a little rant for this thread though. . . .

My take on intentionally breeding cross bred dogs is not likely to be popular among the pure bred activists but here goes anyway.
First off, as has been said here many times breeding dogs or any animal is a serious business and must never be gone into lightly. It takes a great deal of knowhow and science to do it correctly and there is always a risk of complications with the puppies or the mother or both. Anyone desiring to breed an animal should do some serious studying before considering going down that road. Far too many people breed whatever they have in the backyard for a pet to whatever else. . . and that is a huge concern and not something any responsible dog owner would suggest doing and one of the reasons there are so many dogs currently in shelters.

However, there are people who happen to like cross bred dogs and intentionally breed cross bred dogs instead of pure bred dogs. Some do it to make money on "designer dogs" (this I do not agree with) and others do it because they happen to like how the crosses turn out. Many pure bred dog enthusiasts tend to forget that a number of "pure bred" breeds have had some cross breeding to develop certain characteristics in the breed or to actually create the breed in question. As much as pure bred activists tout “the breed standards” the fact is some of the breeds of today have not always been exactly as they are now. The English Bulldog for instance is nothing like the Bulldog that was used to create the Bullmastiff which is nothing but a pure bred dog that used to be a cross breed once upon a time. Again that involves a great deal of science and knowledge and not something to be gone into as a simple pass time.

One type of intentionally cross bred dog are Lurchers and Longdogs. Lurchers are any sighthound bred to any other breed like to a collie etc. A Longdog is a sigthound sighthound cross. They developed during a time when having pure bred sighthounds was prohibited by law but the practice of creating Lurchers and Longdogs still continues today and there are hunting competitions ect. for these particular types of dogs. I happen to own a Longdog, he is a generational Greyhound/Scottish Deerhound. (There is a science to the different generations too. . . ) He has qualities from both breeds that are beneficial. There have been people ask if anyone intends to create a new breed this way and the answer is no.

I have had a number of different pure bred dogs over the years, some rare breeds (like a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog before they were recognised through the AKC) some more common, some from working lines some from show lines (there is a difference) and currently have three cross bred dogs. Things just sort of worked out that way but we are plenty happy with the dogs we currently own.

I understand the cautions many have given here. There are lots of people who breed their dogs and create more and more unwanted dogs when there are already so many dogs in shelters needing homes or who create dogs with poor health or disposition due to improper breeding practices. I just kind of take exception to the "pure bred" mindset sometimes and their occasional condemnation of intentionally cross breeding dogs. It can be done properly and responsibly but as even happens with pure bred dogs too many people aren't in it for the right reasons or doing it properly. My issue with the pure bred mindset is that if it weren’t for someone cross breeding dogs we wouldn’t have some of the “pure bred” dogs we have today or they wouldn’t have some of the physical characteristics they have today. Kind of ironic isn’t it?