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Please note: I have NOTHING against crossbred dogs. I own one myself.
What I am opposed to is the intentional breeding of crosses and selling them to the general public who may not be as educated to things like this for the SOLE purpose of making money. People will take two breeds, cross them and call them a new breed when in actuality, it is not. It takes a LONG time and lots of work to create a strain of dogs that breeds true to type when bred to another of that type (a purebred). Sadly, there are several registries that are given false credibility to those who want to basically scam the general public and use dogs to make a living. The most common of the crosses sold as purebred are the Poo-dogs (anything crossed with poodles). For more on this, please click here and visit Wonder Puppy's registry explanation page. Basically in the United States if a dog is not registered with the American Kennel Club, United Kennel Club, Canadian Kennel Club, American Rare Breed Association, or a breed recognized by
the Federation Cynologique International,
(FCI and NOT the FIC) that may not yet be recognized in this country by one of the listed registries, the breeder is to be suspect.
This will help clarify and part of where the hybrid vigor myth may have come
about but also how it is fast quashed
Please also read Practical Genetics for Dog Breeders - very well written, easy to understand and explains MANY of the myths and misconceptions regarding breeding including hybrid vigor.
If you want a crossbred, please, visit your local humane society or rescue. You will find many dogs needing homes - many of them will be crosses. My Hunter came
from a rescue and is a big, goofy cross. Now, on to Poo-dogs and Designer Mutts.
Crossbreds
can inherit health issues. Please click here for a list of health issues in the breeds often crossed to create designer mutts and poo-dogs. 
*************
Cock-a-poos, Snoodles, Sheltipoos, Labradoodles, Maltipoos, Shihpoos, Pooshihs, Bassadoodles, Shihchons, The list goes on... What is a "Poo
dog?" Simple, any dog crossed with a poodle and given a funky name they also fall under the heading "Designer Mutt." What is a designer mutt? Any
crossbred dogs being sold as if it were purebred or something special.
The sole purpose is to sell puppies to the unsuspecting and undereducated buyer. It is not uncommon to find outrageous price tags in the range of
$1000 - $2000 on some designer mutts. Whether the puppy is from a mill or from a person just breeding them for the heck of it, there are many sad
myths and misconceptions of these dogs. Some people state they are trying to create the "ideal dog for..." However, with over 400 recognized
breeds woldwide, there is pretty much a breed for every activity. One argument Designer Mutt Breeders use is that they are breeding for companion dogs. Honestly, there are hundreds of breeds, common and
rare, bred solely for companionship. Is there a need to breed more crosses basically just to make money? No. A good breeder of "companion"
breeds will place their pet puppies with the same care and concern for health as the pups they intend to use for show and future breeding. Fewer
"show" breeders are in this for the money. They are in breeding for the love and betterment of the breed in form, function and health. A good breeder is lucky to break even with breeding and may even lose money on
a litter when all is said and done.
Let's get a few things cleared up before going to the "heavy stuff."
1) These are NOT breeds. No matter what anyone says, they are CROSSES, MUTTS, MONGRELS - whatever name you decide to call them. It take
many, many generations of careful breeding to develop a strain that breeds true when bred to another of its type and then more work to prove it is a
pure breeding type and may be able to be recognized by a legitimate registry as a breed. Every time you add in a new dog to the mix that is not
of the strain you are trying to develop, you set back that breeding program and have to work out the undesired traits brought in while trying to
maintain the desired traits established.. Simply, three, four or even five generations of breeding say a Sheltiepoo to other Sheltiepoos without
bringing in any other pure Shelties or Poodles will NOT create a new breed. It may take decades of dedicated breeding to even get a strain to breed true to desired type.
2) They are NOT hypoallergenic. No dog is. There are many proteins associated with a dog that we can be allergic to. Yes, some dogs that shed
less may cause fewer problems in some people, but if the allergy is severe enough, ANY dog will cause a reaction.
3) They are not noshed. All dogs loose hair to some extent. Some breeds like Poodles are lower shed than others. But with lower shedding comes
other grooming issues as well.
4) There is NO SUCH THING AS HYBRID VIGOR
IN DOGS. Dogs are all the
same species and a crossbred is at no less risk of health issues than a purebred. Many health issues are found in many breeds. Hip Dysplasia, for
example, is found in just about every breed of dog - large or small. In the OFA database is a Cockapoo listed with a hip rating of FAIR. This rating is
on the LOW end of the acceptable ratings. Below is the text from the OFA database in regards to what a FAIR rating is:
"Fair (Figure 3): Assigned where minor irregularities in the hip joint exist. The hip joint is wider than a good hip phenotype. This is due to the ball
slightly slipping out of the socket causing a minor degree of joint incongruency. There may also be slight inward deviation of the weight-bearing surface of the socket (dorsal acetabular rim) causing the
socket to appear slightly shallow (Figure 4)." (from http://www.offa.org/hipgrade.html)
The following are random notes I threw together when I was confronted on-line by someone insisting Cock-a-poos were a breed. With the
exception of the information specific to the cross, the general information holds true for any breed crossed with Poodle - it is NOT a breed no matter what anyone says! And further, the same concept
holds true for ANY designer mutt.
"Breed standard from http://www.cockapooclub.com
"The CCA [Cock-a-poo Club of America] encourages all breeders to hold
health and temperament FOREMOST. Calm and mellow disposition; sweet and patient nature; intelligence; loyalty; friendliness; sturdiness, stamina and good health.
Additional physical standards:
- General: A dog that does not resemble either of the originating
breeds. Unclipped/scissored in full coat has the general "Benji" appearance.
- Tail: Undocked preferred, carried straight or curled.
- Eyes: Large, round well-set brown eyes with a keen, soulful, endearing
and intelligent look. Hair should be scissored back so as not to obstruct the eyes or vision. All breeding dogs should be certified annually by the Canine Eye Research Foundation as being free of genetic eye
disease.
- Ears: Medium to long
- Dew Claws: Removed for safety
- Conformation: A sturdy square build with a healthy back structure;
compact, well balanced, neither spindly nor coarse.
- Bites: Aligned bite with neither over or under bite. Level bites (incisors
striking edge to edge) are acceptable but scissors bite (lower incisors striking just behind the uppers) is preferred. Overshot and undershot jaws are excluded from breeder registration.
- Colors: All colors and combinations are acceptable.
- Coat: Odorless and non-shedding. Long and full all over including legs
and muzzle. Can range from loose curly but not kinky, to wavy to straight. Hair around the eyes should be trimmed so as not to impair the vision or ability to see the dog's eyes. Long natural well-groomed
coats are the most preferred but dogs that are scissored to about 2 or 3 inches are also acceptable. Individual pets not being shown can be groomed to the owner's preference.
- Size Ranges: Teacup Toy - under 6 pounds grown weight Toy - under
12 pounds Miniature/Mini - 13 to 18 pounds Maxi - over 19 pounds.
- Disqualifications: Aggressiveness, shyness, genetic diseases, poor health, uncertain lineage.
Take a better look at the "Standard," it is too vague – compare it to the breed standards for the Cocker Spaniel and the Poodle. There is truly
little on type with the Cock-a-poo Standard. What about head shape? Legs, foot shape? The DQs are too vague – basically, their DQs are what
good breeders to try to avoid. There are NO physical DQs for the breed as standards should have… Look at the standards for Cockers and Poodles and see what I mean:
http://www.asc-cockerspaniel.org/cocker/ (illustrated Cocker Spaniel
standard from the American Spaniel Club, Inc.
http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/poodle.cfm
Is the Cock-a-poo a breed? The Cock-a-poo has been around as a cross
since 1960. If they (the Cock-a-poo Club of America) truly wanted to create a breed, they would have stopped crossing in Cockers and Poodles and work with the foundation stock of crossed dogs to create a
strain that breeds true to form (again, that form is too vague in the given standard). This takes far more than three generations to do. So the CCA
is not really promoting the development of a breed. It can take decades of careful breeding to create a strain of dog that breeds true to a set type.
"What is a "cockapoo"?
http://www.landfield.com/faqs/dogs-faq/mixed-breeds/cockapoos/
A "cockapoo" is the name given to a mix between a Toy or Miniature Poodle
and a Cocker Spaniel. It is not a breed of dog. Presumably the first couple of "cockapoos" were bred accidentally and someone came up with the name in
trying to be clever and catchy. However, because there is no central registry body for ""cockapoos," (and no, the "Continental Kennel Club" does not
count) there is nothing to stop anyone from claiming that any particular dog is a "cockapoo". The name has been applied to Cocker/Poodle crosses, to
the offspring of Cocker/Poodle crosses, and sometimes to any smallish, long-haired dog whose parentage is unknown. Not a few people have had
the experience of acquiring a "cockapoo" puppy that grew up to be very large, betraying the fact that its parents were not what they were said to have been.
Unfortunately, many people do believe the "cockapoo" is actually a breed and is actually registered by the AKC or some other reputable kennel club.
This is not the case. A "breed" of dog is defined by the ability of two animals of the same breed to produce others just like it. An established
breed, moreover, has a well defined "standard" that clearly lists how it should look or how it should perform.
If you breed two "cockapoos" together, you will get results ranging from very much poodle like to very cocker like, with no uniformity or predictability.
Other mixed breeds that are marketed under cute names include peekapoos, maltipoos, and the like. All the caveats I list here apply to these mixes as well."
This is from a great article on Designer Mutts:
http://www.netpets.com/dogs/newsroom/crossbreeds1.html
The Latest Fad
If at least in some circles purebreds are not PC, what is? New books--best sellers in the pet trade books genre--call the mixed breed
"The Great American Mutt." The mixed breed is becoming an American icon as popular as a Benjy dog. Of course mutts, like purebreds, certainly deserve love and attention. The latest pet trade
trend goes well beyond praising a mutt.
The latest money-making trend is the promotion of mixed breeds with official-looking "registration papers" and catchy-sounding names. The
"registrations" come from a burgeoning industry of registry services, each willing to issue documents at the drop of a few ten dollar bills.
Best known of these is the US Kennel Club that advertises that they register "rare breeds, hybrids, even pet class." Other "clubs" have
appeared that will produce official-looking "Championship" papers if you send them a photo or video of any dog.
British veterinarian Bruce Fogel's highly-praised and widely-available book about all breeds--"The Encyclopedia of the Dog" ( Dorling
Kindersley Publishing, NY, NY, 1995) contains a section devoted to the "Random-Bred" dog. Various dogs are posed with Peterson Field
Guide-like descriptive arrows denoting "Wiry beard gives look of dignity," and "Lop ears such as these are common in most European
random-bred dogs" (p. 290-291). While this gives an air of planned legitimacy to unplanned puppies, the book's section on "Domestic Dogs" goes even farther. Here, Fogel presents various recently
created hybrids like the "Labradoodle" (Labrador-Poodle mix 1989), the "Cockerpoo" (USA mix, 1960s), the "Bull Boxer" (Boxer-Pit Bull,
1990s), the "Bichon/Yorkie" (1980s). These cross-breds are featured in the same way, and adjacent to, recognized rare breeds and other purebreds like the Dalmation and the Poodle. In Fogel's book, the
latest Labradoodle and the ancient Pug are cut from the same purebred cloth. The combinations of hybrids that are possible become enormous. Any of hundreds of purebred dogs could be bred with
another creating, say, a "Coton Coonhound" or maybe a "Beagle Borzoi" which in turn could make a "Cotcooneaglezoi," etc., etc.
Back to working with traits…
For example, when Shelties were first being brought to this country, it is strongly suspected that some were Collie crosses or even small Collies.
Now, Shelties, Rough Collies, Smooth Collies and Border Collies all share similar ancestry. Shelties are NOT bred down Collies. The Shelties were
developed on the Shetland Isles in a very rough region near the North Sea – the Isles are part of Scotland but quite a bit north (You go Scotland, Orkney Isles then Shetlands – they are just about on the same
latitude as Oslo, Norway). Part of their background includes dogs from Norway as well as the British Isles. Back then – like well over 100 years ago and more since man has been working dogs there for centuries –
dogs of many breeds were crossed trying to improve working ability. Collies were too big for the Shetlands as were Border Collies so smaller
dogs developed over the centuries. The Modern Sheltie is different than the original ones. Anyhow, back to the generations to fix things….
Since it is highly suspected a couple early Shelties in the US were crosses,
this brought about a lot of oversized dogs. Back as early as the 1930s and 40s this happened and 60 – 70 years later, it is still a fight to keep
Shelties size down to 13- 16" at the withers. Now, figure a dog can be bred at two years of age. Starting with one female, how many
generations can be produced is 70 years? About 35… Now, breeders are still trying to get a strong handle on size. You cannot fix traits in just
three generations… It can take human generations at times… How many years later are even great Sheltie breeders struggling with size because of what happened or is suspected of happening 60 – 70 years ago???
If the CCA was truly trying to create a new breed, they would have stopped bringing in Poodle and Cocker blood a long time ago and work
with the generations of crosses to create a true breeding type. Every time a poodle or cocker is brought back in, Cockapoo traits are lost. So this three generation things is crap.
Bylaws and Code of Ethics of CCA –
GENERAL:
1. These policies set forth Breeding Standards and outline the ethical behavior expected from all member breeders.
2. Breeder(s) signatures at the bottom of this statement reflect their agreement to abide by the Code of Ethics set forth herein and to welcome site visits and inspection of the premises and records.
3. All breeding stock must be registered in the CCA registry.and database.
BREEDERS AGREE TO:
1. Truthfully represent the quality of their dogs and to refrain from any
deceptive advertising and/or maligning of their competition by making false or misleading statements about person's or their dogs.
2, Be fluent with and breed with the Standards in mind.
3, Refrain from selling puppies to pet stores, commercial brokers or dealers,
puppy mills, or to offer any as door or raffle prizes.
4. Be willing to take back any dog they have bred, for any reason, in their lifetime (or make suitable arrangements) rather than see it placed in a shelter.
5. Keep all dogs under clean and sanitary conditions, including housing appropriate for the climate, adequately sized run areas and encourage temperamental soundness and well being through regular daily personal
contact.
6. Provide a system of identifying each dog (if over 10 dogs) by collar and tags, tattooing or microchipping. Males must be kept separate from the
females so that there is no chance of breeding errors. Meticulous records must be kept. Dogs and business should be properly licensed in accordance
with the laws of the community. See "Record Keeping Details."
7. Provide a high quality diet, and promote optimal health through regular worming, inoculations and periodic veterinary checks.
8. Maintain a minimum standard of yearly eye checks by a veterinary Ophthalmologist (CERF) as required to prevent the host of heritable eye disease so common in the parent breeds. Breeders who, in addition, elect to
have vet checks done for hips, elbows and patellar abnormalities demonstrate that they have made every effort to assure that their dogs are healthy and have special recognition from the CCA.
9. Breed only a limited number (less than 5) of Breeds at one time.
10. Be a mentor and help breeders with less experience, remembering that once, we were all novices also.
11. Breed only non related pairs of the healthiest, best tempered dogs.
12. Breed only dogs who have reached at least the age of 1 year and until they are 8 years. Over 8, veterinary health checks are strongly
recommended prior to breeding.
13. Breed only one stud dog to one female during a season. Should a second stud breed unintentionally, the pups must be sold without registration papers.
14. Consider a semiannual test for Brucella on their breeding stock.
15. Breed only dogs who are CCA registered.
16. Have a written, dated and signed contract for outside stud services
between the owner(s) of the male and the female which details type of remuneration expected. (see CCA sample stud agreement)
I take a few into argument. The AKC registration of parents. Well, the AKC does not condone the crossing of breeds. Read these all carefully
(the above ethics) - you will find holes in them...
No line or inbreeding…
Well, linebreeding is very valuable in a breeding program. It helps fix traits and keeps continuity. If done properly and with dogs not closely
related, it can be very good. Constant outcrossing (breeding of two dogs not related at all) can make it very tough to get those traits desired and
bring in things you do not want. Inbreeding is tricky and should only be done by those with a solid knowledge of breed genetics and hereditary.
http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/Genetics/Inbreeding.html
Now, the FAQs – they skew the AKC. It is hypocritical that they want
dogs being used to breed cockapoos to be AKC recognized but will not try to get the breed recognized with the AKC down the road…Well, the AKC does not condone the "hybridizing" of dogs as the ACC is doing.
They also lead to believe that the AKC is not for the production of companion dogs. Well, toy breeds and many other breeds are Companion dogs. The AKC is concerned with dogs being able to not
only fit a standard but also perform the job bred to do if there is one.
When creating this original document, the only kennel club recognizing the Cock-a-poo that I found is the Continental Kennel Club and now the
North American Kennel Club evidently recognizes them as well. (The NAKC is another registry of questionable integrity when I checked them out - all they require is that your dog was seen by a vet in the last six
months - no mention of pedigrees or dogs to be registered needing to be registered with another recognized registry). The Cont KC was founded
by puppy millers, brokers and breeders who lost favor with the AKC and UKC. They do not care about quality of dogs and when you get down into the club and do research and get past that great looking website,
well they are a sham. I have had dealings with them and many of us have researched them. They are a joke and care about profit and not
the dogs. You are finding more and more pet shop dogs CKC registered as the AKC us cracking down on mills and will suspend and ban people
for unethical breeding practices when they learn about them. The CKC is not to be trusted… And this has come from people who know more about them than I do and I have researched registries quite a bit…
Now, this FAQ on hybrid vigor – this is a fallacy. There are so many hereditary issues that are found in many breeds that to say a cross is
healthier is wrong. Yes, if there is a disease found only in Poodles, a poodle cross will not have it. But if the health issue is found in many
breeds, even crosses can get it. Things like hip dysplasia are polygenetic traits so dogs can be clear but still pass HD on if the right (or wrong)
breeding is made. Screening hips and only breeding clear dogs only LESSENS the chance of it being passed on, it does not eliminate it.
http://www.landfield.com/faqs/dogs-faq/mixed-breeds/cockapoos/
"Are they healthy?
Again, this is nearly impossible to predict. Some are, some are not. They are at potential risk of health problems common to either Toy Poodles or Cocker
Spaniels. This can include:
* hip dysplasia
* progressive retinal atrophy
* epilepsy
* poor temperaments
* allergies
* skin and ear problems
* Legg-Calve-Perthes
* luxating patellas
* hypothyroidism
* cryptorchidism
* gastric torsion
among others. With any dog, your chance of avoiding health problems is greatly increased if the dog's ancestors and relatives (the more the better)
were screened for genetic disease themselves. However, the kind of careful, knowledgeable breeder who performs this kind of screening will NOT knowingly sell to someone who intends to mix breeds, so your odds of
finding a "cockapoo" from generations of health-screened ancestors are so slim as to be nonexistent. And since the breeders of these mixes aren't
terribly concerned with breeding to any standard, they aren't terribly concerned with screening out any of the health problems either."
I also suggest this site:
http://www.escribe.com/pets/hms/m22180.html
17. Claim that your dogs are better because they are not inbred, as
inbreeding obviously produces sick/stupid/deformed dogs. If breeding poo [as
in "Cock-a-Poo," "Peek-a-Poo," etc.] dogs or other mutts, always point to
"hybrid vigor" as proof of your dogs' superiority.
This is from an great article on Poo-dogs:
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/poodogs.html
- "We're making a new breed. The AKC is going to recognize the
Cocker-Poo real soon now."
- The process of creating a new breed and achieving AKC recognition is long and involved, requiring many years and many generations. A
"breed" is a genetically similar strain of dogs that resemble each other in appearance and temperament. Bred together, two dogs of the same breed will produce puppies that are also similar in appearance to
the parents and will develop in a predictable fashion.
- The first step in creating a new breed involves a definite vision of what the breed will look like and the writing of a breed standard to
describe it. For example, what characteristics must a Yorkie-Poo have in order for it to be considered a Yorkie-Poo? What is a Cocker-Chon or a Peke-A-Pom supposed to look and act like? To date, no breeders of
these "new" breeds have even taken that first step. There has been no agreement among breeders even as to what a Yorkie-Poo is supposed to be other than a cross between a Yorkshire Terrier and a
Poodle. After years of mixing these breeds, no two Yorkie-Poos look anything alike; neither are any Peke-A-Poms or Cocker-Chons similar to one another. There has not been any serious effort at all to create a
distinct breed that the AKC would recognize.
- (I would like to add any other reputable kennel club – K)
Again: there has been plenty of time for these people to develop cockapoos from a cross into a true breeding strain of dog and start
towards a new breed (though the name should be changed). They have not and that makes me question 30 years of what they have been doing with the crosses.
This is from Dogs in Canada and is on what breeds are recognized by the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC – they sued the Continental Kennel Club for the
CKC use since people were confusing the two which is what Cont wanted):
http://www.dogs-in-canada.com/features/features/browsebr.html
The nonrecognized breeds
Beyond the many breeds currently recognized by The Canadian Kennel Club in the seven groups, there are numerous other rare, nonrecognized breeds
pictured in the pages of this Annual (listed as 'not recognized by the CKC' or 'in CKC Miscellaneous class') that are available to potential buyers. While
rare in Canada, frequently they are bountiful in their countries of origin.
Each year, as additional breeds become more popular and meet specific club requirements, the CKC adds them to its roster of recognized purebreds.
Indeed, not so many years ago, the Australian Shepherd, Portuguese Water Dog and Chinese Crested, all familiar breeds in today's show ring, were part
of this group. Many of those breeds 'waiting in the wings' are classed by the CKC as "Miscellaneous" before they become fully recognized.
These nonrecognized breeds are purebred in every way, and generally have long, distinguished pedigrees and studbook records that have insured their
purity. Do not confuse them with cross-bred and cleverly marketed dogs such as cockapoos and the like. (The 'poo' breeds are part Poodle and part
whatever; they are not purebreds and never will be, yet are being sold for hundreds of dollars by crafty promoters to a gullible public.)
Certainly, these rarer breeds have an appeal for potential owners who want a dog that is truly unusual or uniquely fits their requirements. They should
not be acquired, however, simply as a status symbol or without investing the time in thorough research. It is essential that, before buying any rare
breed, you fully understand the characteristics and temperament associated with it. A number of these breeds can be more primitive and dominant than their more common canine cousins. "
This is from Universal Dogs on "What is a breed"
http://www.universaldogs.com/anatomy/whisabreed.htm
"Breeding a male of one breed with a female of another breed does not produce a purebred puppy of any breed. For example, putting a Poodle with
a Shih Tzu does not produce a new breed, for the second generation offspring may look nothing like their parents. The first pairing produces puppies that are 50 percent Poodle and 50 percent Shih Tzu; the second
generation may be more or less of either breed-the percentage is unknown unless a genome study is conducted on the chromosomes of each puppy."
Now, I have used Cock-a-poos as the example here mainly because it may have been one of the first designer mutts to be created and
probably the most widely known. But the information here holds true for any designer mutt being bred for the sole purpose of making money and basically fooling the public. Again I have NOTHING against
crossbred dogs, but the vast majority of those being bred out there are being bred for the wrong reasons - to make money and sell pups to those who just want something that sounds different or does not really
understand the dog world, health, genetics and easily falls for the myth of hybrid vigor.
And those who breed for mushing, the few good bandog breeders, and curs/fiests, etc., will not sell their dogs to the average owner. These
people covet their dogs and wish to protect them and keep them as working dogs and not falling into the realm of a designer mutt. For more on these dogs, please see the links below.
If the breed is not American Kennel Club, United Kennel Club, Canadian Kennel Club or Federation Cynologique Internationale recognized (the
FCI - and not the FIC - is the registry that most national breed clubs worldwide base their standards on), then be very suspect. That Bullnese you are looking at just may be a designer mutt recognized by an
illegitimate registry! (note, if you are not in the US or Canada, your country will have different registries and check with them as to what breeds they recognize.)
Alaskan Husky History (what you often see in sled dog races)
Cur History (hunting dogs common in the Southern US and growing in popularity amongst hunters, the United Kennel Club has competitions for them)
Feist History (smaller hunting dogs common in the Southern US, the UKC has competitions for them)
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