Mixed Breed vs Purebred: Choosing The Right Dog For You

June 10, 2:28 PMDog Breed ExaminerKoshie Lamptey

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Dogs are amazing companions regardless of whether                                                                                                                            they are purebred or not.  Here are the pros and cons for purebreds and mutts.

Purebred Pros

• Because a dog belongs to a particular breed, you have foreknowledge about the basic behavioral and physical traits [i.e. You know that the golden retriever puppy you just bought will most likely make a great family dog b/c they tend to be affectionate, patient, and loving; and you know that his appearance will be very similar to his parents and his breed.]  Knowing these things takes some of the surprise or guesswork out of getting a puppy.

• Getting a dog from a reputable breeder* means that you will have access to the dog's family history of genetic health and temperament.  That can go a long way in ensuring that the dog you're taking home won't surprise you with serious genetic health issues or behavioral problems.  Mind you, this is far from a guarantee for such problems, but it is logical to reason that healthy parents will tend to have healthy offspring. 

Purebred Cons

• Unfortunately, the same reason that lends to the predictability of a purebred (the carefully guided genetic lines) also leads to a predilection for particular ailments.  Because the gene pool is shallower, certain hereditary diseases tend to pop up in the gene line often enough to be attributed to that breed. Since these genetic problems abound in specific gene lines, it is of the utmost importance for you to choose a reputable breeder who takes pride in breeding genetically superior lines who are at a much reduced risk of developing these ailments.  

• The cost of a acquiring a quality purebred dog  from good breeders dedicated to improving the breed lines can be quite prohibitive to the average person.  Unfortunately, this situation breeds a public demand for cheaper purebred dogs and unscrupulous, greedy amateur breeders have answered the call.  There are countless inferior purebred dogs available to unassuming consumers through flea markets, puppy mills, pet stores, online puppy stores, backyard breeders, and puppy brokers.  Dogs purchased from these sources are significantly cheaper but riddled with problems - many of which won't come to light until the dogs reach maturity. 

Mixed Breed Pros

• In contrast to the shallower gene pool of purebred dogs, mixed breed dogs have a much larger gene pool and therefore more genetic vigor.  This simply means that because their genetic library (if you will) has been expanded due to the mix of seperate distinct gene (breed) lines, they have a lower tendency to develop diseases that were lurking in their ancestral breed lines individually.  As always, this isn't an absolute - the statistics simply suggest that the mix of genes usually results in a healthier dog.

• Sometimes a particular mutt's traits can be an even more perfect fit for you than either of the breeds in it's ancestry.  As an example,  assume you are interested in medium-sized active dog for a running partner but you don't want one that sheds.  That will rule out a lot of the possible breeds you might otherwise consider and then you find a nice poodle-hound mix who doesn't shed and is active enough to partner with you - problem solved!

• Mutts are significantly less expensive to acquire than purebred dogs.  Although some specific mixes (Cockapoos, Labradoodles, etc) are becoming so popular that their prices are rising, a lot of mixed breed dogs are free to good homes or require a reasonably small fee for adoption.  This can offset the normal cost of raising a dog and therefore make dog ownership a less financially-taxing prospect.

• Granted that no two dogs are identical in personality but within breed lines, the looks at least are very uniform, of course.  Conversely, there's a greater variety of mixed breed dogs (simple mathematics) out there and so your chances of finding a truly unique-looking dog are high. 

Mixed Breed Cons

• Most mixed breed dogs' ancestry can't be traced and so it's lucky that their genetic vigor gives them somewhat of health advantage because the health history of the parents is also unknown. 

• Sometimes a mutt has so many breed lines mixed in or is a product of individually mixed parental lines himself that it's very difficult if not impossible to tell anything about it's ancestry.  Not knowing ancestry means that one would have to hazard a guess at the possible temperament, size he will be at maturity, as well as other attributes  (i.e. shedding, length of hair, etc).

And that about sums it up!  If you're reading this because you're considering adopting or buying a dog soon, I hope this has been informative. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or even pictures you'd like to share.  My email address is canine.companion@yahoo.com.  Best of luck to you in your quest to find a great canine companion!

* For more Sean Boley cartoons, visit  http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c123/kr2nist/