There is currently in the region of 250 different types of cross breeds on the market and many owners and breeders of them, invented breed names for them, often constructed from using parts of the parents breed name E.G  across between the Pekingnese and the Poodle is called the Peekapoo. Some other examples of popular crossbreeds are the , Labradoodle a cross between the Labrador and Poodle, the Bull boxer a cross using the Bulldog and Boxer,or the Bull mastiff and Boxer. Bullmation cross using the Bulldog and Dalmation, Miniature Bulldog cross using the Bulldog and Pug ,The Ultimate Mastiff, cross using the Neapolatin Mastiff and the Dogue de Bordeaux. Golden Lab cross using the Golden Retriever and the Labrador, along with the Goldmation cross using the Dalmation and golden retriever, not to mention the Saint Berdoodle cross using the St Bernard and Giant Poodle, St Weller using the Saint Bernard and the rottweiler.  The Wolfamute cross breed using the Timber wolf and the Alaskan Malamute  and of corse the Huskamute cross using the Alaskan Malamute and the Siberian Husky, along with the Northern Innuit cross using sibes or Malamutes to German shepherds and such. Rottaf cross using the Rottweiler and the afghan hound, Americam Bull Dogue, cross from the American Bulldog and the dogue De Bordeaux.

As I said all in all there is in the region of about 250 types of cross breeds at this present time, so where do you draw the line, with so many pure bred dogs and mixed breed dogs already needing homes you have to call it a day. Somewhere else, people will then start crossing crossbreeds say like the Wolfamute crossed with the huskamute and calling it a Huskawolf ... you could go on forever and all these poor animals need kind loving homes once produced.

So what is the purpose of cross breeds if any and what are the advantages and disadvantages ?

Well I cant speak for all the crossbreeds or all the cross breeders, only they know if they have an agenda planned or if a desired effect is expected to be produced as a result of such a mating, but what I will say while its important to remember all breeds were man made and a direct result of breeding in desirable traits and breeding out undesirable traits many cross breeds are frowned upon, but mixing breeds can sometimes lead to desirable traits in the hands of the expert breeder, but that said on the reverse of that some disastrous results can and have been a result of poor crossbreeding, especially in the hands of inexperienced breeders.

Cross breeding should only occur when the breeder is hoping to create a new breed or add or reinforce characteristics from one breed into another breed , there should be a specific purpose and intent , a good reason may be say : take the French Bulldog ... they have such small hips and such large heads that they have to have artificial insemination and a cesarian section to produce pups, so crossing another breed into the line may help to eleviate breeding problems, so I think that would be a very good reason to cross breed, a bad cross could consist of  say crossing  an energetic husky, with a destructive border collie, the resulting pups would be so erratic they could become a liability .

So lets talk a bit about some off the designer Dogs. The Queen herself was amongst the first to bring about the naming of crossbreeds, one of he corgis mated her sisters daschund and the resulting pups were known as dorgi,s , but one of the most talked about crossbreeds is the Labradoodle as mentioned: a cross using the poodle and Labrador. The purpose for the cross was to create a good service dog that would not shed and so produce a hypoallergenic dog that would be suitable for people allergic to pet dander, this seems to work as long as the offspring are not mated, as predictable coat type beyond the first generation does not yeild well.
But never the less a genuine purpose was the soul ambition and intention of the breeders with a direct goal in mind .

Cutting to the chase and without beating around the bush, crossbreeding to some extent with always be like a box a chocolates ( as Forrest would say ) you never really know what your gonna get ,go back to that Peekapoo I first mentioned will it shed heavily like the Pekingnese ? Or will it not shed like the Poodle or will it shed somewhere in between.Will it be stubborn like the pekingese ? Or pleasant and ready to please like the poodle or a temprement in between the two. Will the Pekingese win over in the looks department, while the poodle wins the temprement or vice versa, and you have a real possibility that the dog wont resemble either.

And last but not least and most importantly some breeds have similar genetic illnesses in common which means the same defective genes could carry over from both parents giving rise to the fault pairing up and displaying itself in the offspring for instance : the cockapoo pup has one poodle and one cocker spaniel parent and both parents breeds are known to have a long list of similar genetic health disorders in common

Another such pairing is the Huskamute, both the Alaskan Malamute and the Siberian husky have hip and eye problems in common ( though the husky is relatively low ranking 134th out of 136 breeds tested for hip Dysplasia with a 2% chance of having bad hips ) but they have very bad eye disorders in common that should be taken seroiusly and the malamute is a much larger dog than the sibe so should you desire to buy a huskamute please be sure to only buy if the mother is the malamute.

I have nightmares worring how a sibe would whelp something the size of a malamute pup  One last problem with some cross breeds is that the crossbreed is in bred as much as the pure bred, often worse as the breeders only have a few dogs available to them so there is a good chance of inter breeding so those common faults and genetic defects have more of a chance of pairing up because the gene pool is so limited.

I feel like I've painted a pretty bleak picture for the cross breed, so now I will focus on some of the good points.

Some of the beautifuliest looking dogs have been cross bred dogs and many value owing a crossbreed simply because of its uniqueness in appearance and characteristics. And as I say with the right breeder, beautiful desirable cross breeds can and have been accomplished, but no crossbreed should be bred from, in my honest opinion ... why ?

Well for simplicity and as I know the breeds take the huskamute, if you bred two huskamutes together what would you get ? As the mating would not breed pure and produce other huskamutes, your pups would tend to lean one way or the other ... mal way or sibe way ,and there would be no real purpose of breeding a Huskamute back to a mal or a sibe as it would prob end up three quarters of a mal or sibe ( and some of these do not look very nice, imagine something the size of a husky with ears the size of a mal HMMMM) and that would be even more pointless.

To me the only real beauty I have seen in the Huskamute has only ever been from the first direct mating of the husky and the malamute and even then that depends entirely on the quality and looks of the sibe and mal in question and their heritage and lines.

A cross breed should always be produced using only the best quality of dogs and all health issues in both parents lines and breeds should be addressed and the dogs in question should have been screened and tested, clear of any known health issues in those breeds ( this theory is wise to follow whatever the cross breed ).

Make sure the breeder has a purpose for the cross breed, apart from money, make sure they have records of their breeding schedule and ask to see or speak to other people who have bought pups from this strain of crossbreed breeder.  See if the type of pups produced have a consistent look and temperament. The breeder should have details of all previous customers and I am sure they wouldn’t mind giving you a few minutes of their time. Most people love to talk about their dog and show them off so I am sure previous customers would welcome sharing their experience of the breed with you.

Try and speak and see as many people with  similar crossbreeds as possible, it's just like buying a car you know you want say a BMW, but you don’t buy the first one you come across, you may look at fifty of the same thing before settling for the one in question,so why be any the less picky or choosy about your dog ?

This Is a very serious, life altering, decision. You will be spending the best part of 15 yrs with this addition to the family, so take it slowly and choose wisely.Lastly, if buying from a pup, make sure you get some proof of pedigree history. You cannot KC register your pup, but if the parents are registered you can still get a pedigree and proof of the parents health screening results.
 

So is the cross breed for you ?

* Yes if you don’t mind which traits of its parents will trumpipm over the other in looks or temperament.

* Yes because you want a dog with certain skills Running guarding herding and such.

* Yes if youd enjoy owning a dog that exhibit’s the favorite characteristics of your two favorite breeds and enjoy having the aspects  appearance and personality of those two breeds in one dog.

* Yes if you can rear and train it properly.

* Yes if you don’t value a dog by its pedigree and registration papers.

* Yes if you fancy an adult dog so you can see what you are getting in terms of looks and temprement , especially if you wanna give a home to one of the oh so many designer dogs kicked to kerb when the owners move on to the next dog in vogue, or discover they really cant handle that shepherd husky crossbreed that turned out to have the trainability of the sibe, with the athletic combination of the shepherd, and the speed of the husky !

* Yes if you have between £250 and £600 pound to spare  breeders of crossbreeds still have bills and expenses if they are rearing and breeding the pups correctly and they are using pure bred dogs Hopefully of good stock .

* Yes definatly if you want a unique dog and believe that most dog owners believe that their dog or their specific  breed of dog is the best kind of dog in the world.

* Yes if  you definatly don’t ever want to breed your dog or ever have pups.