In the past decade or so, there has been a trend in the dog breeding world for creating new ‘designer breeds’ which are made by breeding two pedigree dogs of different breeds with the objective of getting puppies that share many of the good personality and appearance traits of both breeds.
Designer Dogs
Hybrid or ‘designer’ dogs usually have names that are made up of the names of the two breeds that they were born out of, for example the famous Labradoodle is the result of mating a pure bred Labrador and a pedigree Poodle, whereas if you breed a Toy Poodle with a Yorkshire Terrier you get a ‘Yorkie Poo’ (yes, that is the name of the hybrid breed, not just a cutesy way Yorkie owners refer to their pets!). Breed the Toy Poodle with a Cocker Spaniel instead, and you get the hilarious sounding but adorable Cockerpoo. These are just three examples using just the Poodle, but you get the idea – if you see an unfamiliar or strange looking breed name when you are looking at puppies, it will probably be the name given to a hybrid breed, and you can often work out what the parents were by dismantling that name!
What Kind of Designer Dogs Are Being Bred?
Of course, there are a huge number of dog breeds, and an almost infinite number of combinations of them that could create new designer breeds. Naturally, normally hybrid breeds are made of dogs of fairly similar sizes, as a crossbreed between a St Bernard and a Chihuahua would not only be a pretty weird looking dog, but also quite difficult to achieve breeding wise from a practical perspective! Even with this being the case, there are countless crossbreed combinations that are actively being bred, and so if there is a cross you think would be the perfect pet for you, chances are it exists out there!
Finding Your Ideal Hybrid Puppy
Because there are so many different combinations, if you want to find a specific cross it can be a little more difficult than finding a very common pure breed like a Golden Retriever or a Dachshund. However, due to the popularity of hybrid dogs, you can find plenty of breeders specializing in them. The best place to start is an online puppy store, where different breeders will advertise the puppies they currently have available, including the breed, gender, and other details. If you find the type of dog you are interested in advertised on an online puppy store, you can get in touch with the breeder to organize adopting the puppy you want!
Hybrid dogs are great because they combine the genetic diversity of a ‘mongrel’ with the predictability in terms of likely traits of getting a pedigree dog. By choosing a combination that exhibits qualities you are interested in in your new pet, you can have an adorable and interesting new puppy, and have lots of fun explaining when people ask what type of dog it is!
