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A purebred dog breed was originally bred for a purpose. If a person who wants a dog is going to have a good chance of buying predictability, a purebred dog is the best choice. Unlike a mixed breed that was often accidentally created by the whims of the mother or the mistakes or ignorance of the mother's owner, the original breeders of purebred dogs selected the type of dog, probably based on the dog they had that was best at doing what they wanted. They then selectively bred to get that type by line breeding. As a result, purebred dogs tend to show consistency of appearance (also called type) and actions (also called temperament). A non-purebred or mixed breed has a combination of types and temperaments based on the often unknown parentage they received from their parents and grandparents. They may also have genetic problems based on the unknown health issues in the breeds that they have in their backgrounds.
The American Kennel Club, also known as the AKC-a hundred year old registry of purebred dogs, says that [t]he bonus of selecting a purebred dog is their predictability in size, coat, care requirements and temperament. A quality purebred breeder who raises AKC puppies will often raise a puppy that is far more predictable with a far better start in life than a mixed breed often gets. Knowing what your cute puppy will look like and the kind of care he will need as an adult is a key in selecting the breed for you. (http://www.akc.org/f uture_dog_owner/abou t_buying_a_dog.cfm) So if you want predictability with a purebred, rather than a surprise with a mixed breed, and the ability to anticipate what your dog will need, rather than finding out later, then a purebred is for you.
Choosing a mixed breed, on the other hand, does not guarantee that you will have any idea about the size, appearance or temperament of the dog. You might be able to meet the parents, but oftentimes the owner only has the mother with the father being a lucky guy one day with an attitude mama liked at the moment during raging hormones. Her choice is similar to meeting a person at a bar one night and deciding to have a baby with them that evening. This might be a lucky choice, or it might be a very bad choice based on poor judgment at the time. A non-purebred can have a disposition that mimics the mother's breed disposition at times and the father's breed disposition at other times. This can result in a very undependable disposition.
There is no shame in purchasing or owning a mixed breed dog. If you adopted a mixed breed, you have created a home for a dog that might have been homeless. If you choose a mixed breed, you are not making a wrong decision; however, there are very likely to be greater risks of disappointment and unknown health issues that arise as the animal matures.
There are some difficulties involved in getting a mixed breed dog that one should know before making a choice. Do you know the parents? This often does not happen with mixed breed dogs, but with purebred dogs, you often can see both parents. Did you see the certificates showing that the parents had been checked for the genetic problems in the breed of the mother and the breed of the father? With purebred puppies, you often will; however, this is unlikely with mixed breed puppies. Did the owner/breeder take time to socialize the puppies? Most purebred breeders are dedicated dog enthusiasts and do socialize their puppies while many mixed breed puppy owners are just trying to find a home for the surprise bundles of joy. Did the puppy get the proper shots and treatments? Purebred owners have an investment and often a great love for the breed and so take great care of the puppies while mixed breed owners might not even know about the proper inoculations and care. Did the owner show the dog the proper care from humans? Quality purebred owners breed for the love of the breed, but often mixed breed puppy owners breed by accident or sometimes neglect. Did the puppy learn that it was important and valued or was it treated as if it was a liability so that it believes itself to be bad? Quality purebred breeders love their dogs and raise dogs with sound emotional development! Did the two breeds (the mother's breed and the father's breed) complement each other? If not, you could get a combination of a hunter and a biter a dog that will seek out whatever it considers prey, including small children, to bite. On the other hand, with proper socialization and the right owner, most dogs can be raised to be trusted if they are kept in the right environment.
Additionally, when you choose a purebred, you can narrow down the choices to those with attributes which most clearly fit into your personal lifestyle and interests according to Dogs, NSW, Promoting Responsible Dog Ownership (http://www.dogsnsw.o rg.au/why-choose-pur ebreeds). Purebred dogs give the puppy buyer a choice of variety, appearance, and disposition. Mixed breeds are just that a mixture of two or more breeds often the owner does not know the parents and cannot predict what the mixed breed puppy will be like as an adult or even what it will look like! The temperament and appearance of a mixed breed has often already been pre-determined, and you will discover it as the dog grows. Will you like it? Who knows?
Choosing a purebred dog from the right breeder gives a puppy owner, and later dog owner, a mentorsomeone who knows the dog breed, the disposition, how to raise and care for it, and oftentimes the parents and grandparents of the dog. It is very seldom that an owner of a mother dog who produced a mixed breed puppy is willing to help the new puppy owner. Most of the time, they are just relieved that the puppy has a home. If you choose a purebred, you can probably meet both parents to see if their dispositions are what you want and like. Often a mixed breed puppy has a father who is a lucky traveling salesman. If you purchase from a reputable breeder, you will often have someone to help guide you on the problems you might encounter and the methods of training that work best for your breed. Even if the owner is not available, there are often clubs that will give you advice and care tips. With a mixed breed, there are few areas to find help on problems other than to spend the money on a trainer. Of course, choosing the right breeder is essential in your quest to get a good dog because, as most people know, there are excellent breeders and then there are puppy mill breeders.
If any dog has physical problems, you can live with them even though they might be expensive. But if it has a temperament that you cannot predict because it is a mixed breed, this could create problems that make the dog an unacceptable pet. Choosing a mixed breed does not allow the owner to know what size the dog will be. Most purebred dogs will be within 10% of the size that is determined by the breed. Seeing the parents will give an even better estimate of the final size of the puppy. I have known a few friends who chose a mixed breed puppy. They thought that the puppy was going to be small, they were told it would be small, but it grew up to be larger than 40 pounds medium sized dog. They wanted a small dog, so what was predicted didn't happen. Although they were disappointed, the dog was usually a family pet by the time it was grown, so they often did not dispose of the dog. However, I have seen many mixed breed dogs in backyards, ignored, because the owner anticipated the dog would be a different size or temperament than it turned out to be. If they had purchased a purebred, they would have dependably known what to expect.
With a mixed breed, you also do not know if the parents were healthy. You might have seen the mother, and sometimes the father, but very seldom does a person who mixes breeds check for important issues like genetic problems in the breed. Mixed breed owners often claim that mixed breed dogs are healthier; although there is some merit in the idea that outcrossing creates viability, what a dog inherits from his ancestors is determined by those ancestors' genes. People most often have blue eyes or brown eyes like their parents. If a mixed breed dog has parents with hip dysplasia, heart problems or diabetes, it is likely that the mixed breed dog will develop those issues as she matures. Reputable breeders know the problems in the breed, and most have taken the parents to specialists to make sure that the parents are as free of genetic disease as possible. Oftentimes mixed breed owners have no idea about the problems in the breed of the father since they did not own that breed themselves and may not even know who the father is! Quality purebred breeders, on the other hand, have done many tests to the parents of the puppy to assure that the puppy has the potential to be a healthy, sound pet.
There are no guarantees with any dog. However, if you want to know what your dog will appear like, if you want to have a good idea about disposition that will develop as your dog grows, and if you want some assurance that your dog will not have genetic issues that could be heartbreaking and costly, buy a purebred from a reliable breeder. Although a purebred dog's cost is often a greater investment than you will have with a mixed breed, a healthy, sound purebred from a good breeder will be far less likely to have issues with growth, disposition and health than if you get a mixed breed dog.
Learn more about this author, Kay Fielding.
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No
Some people look at mutts with a view of snobbery. They would never own anything other than a purebred. Purebred, however, does not mean quality. There are probably more low quality purebred dogs than there are good quality ones. Many people have simply bred their dogs because they were purebreds, and for no other reason than making a profit selling the pups.
What is a Purebred?
A purebred is nothing more than an animal with papers stating who its parents are, and recognizing that they are of the same breed. Nothing more. It is not a recognition, or proof, of quality.
What is Mutt?
A mutt is anything, and everything else. A mutt can have two registered parents, but if it is not registered itself it cannot be referred to as a purebred. Many mutts have unknown parentage and may be a combination of several breeds.
What is Hybrid Vigor?
One of the first things veterinarians-in-tra ining learn about is something called Hybrid Vigor. While true hybrids are animals who are not of the same species, such as a cross between a donkey and a horse, the term has been applied to the crossing of different breeds of dogs, cats, and horses. In other words it covers mixed breed dogs, domestic cats, and grade horses.
When dogs of one breed are bred together it can form a shrinking gene pool. The shrinking gene pool is one of the reasons purebred dogs often have genetic health problems and concerns. One way of dealing with this is by breeding two very unrelated animals together to give the off spring a different mix of genes. This is best accomplished by breeding animals of two different breeds.
The result is that dogs of mixed gene pools often have fewer genetic health problems and typically have a longer lifespan.
How is Quality Determined in a Dog?
The most common way of determining if a dog is a top quality animal is by taking it to dog shows and competing against other dogs. The dog is examined on the basis of conformation for its breeds standards, as such these classes are for registered purebreds only. Other types of shows, including obedience and agility are open to mutts. Field trials for hunting dogs may be exclusive to registered dogs only or open to mixed breeds.
Typically because conformation classes are held with breeding in mind, they are not open to mutts, thus for the most part mutts cannot be compared against purebreds in terms of physical appearance.
Veterinarians can also offer assessments of a dog, they can check their mouth, ears, eyes, and hips, for problems. If a vet suggests a dog is a poor quality animal, there is no point in having it go to a conformational type show or considering it worthy of being bred. Many vets will note that on average they see more genetic problems in purebreds than they do in mutts.
Breeding for Profit
Because purebreds generally sell for more than mutts, many people who own purebred animals breed them without taking them to prove their worthiness as a breeding animal. Thus many purebreds are of inferior quality. Most, but not all, of these lower quality purebreds are sold through pet stores, but some breeders also sell them. These people are referred to as back-yard-breeders, and will not have show records on their dogs prior to breeding them. Generally veterinarian checks will not be done either, but these should not be confused with vaccinations, which many back-yard-breeders do follow through with.
Many of these lower quality breeders produce dogs only for making profit, or making cute pups, or simply because they can. There is no reason to assume these dogs, although purebred, are genetically any superior to a mutt. Good breeders do not make profit because they have invested so much money and time into proving their dog is worthy of breeding.
The Breeding Contraction...
A lot of people become confused as to why if hybrid vigor is good, should a person not simply breed mutts. The problem is two fold. Generally speaking those who are allowing their dogs to breed and create mutts, or designer dogs (crosses of two dog breeds, often sold with an inflated price tag), are those with lower quality dogs to begin with. As mentioned earlier a breeder with top dogs would presumably be showing and breeding purebreds only. The other problems is that with millions of mutts euthanized in shelters yearly in the USA alone, there is no reason to intentionally create more.
Finally many designer dogs are sold with inflated price tags that do not represent the quality of the dog in as much as they represent the greed of the breeder.
Getting a Dog?
If you are considering buying a dog, you will wish to consider if you want a purebred or a mutt. A purebred is suited to somebody who may wish to show or be competitive. The advantage of a purebred is you generally know what traits, and health problems, that dog is likely to have. Of course it must be remembered that not all purebreds are quality, or come from quality parents. Always ask to see the parent dogs, their genetic health certificates (checks on hips, eyes, and ears), and their show records. Pet stores do not sell quality purebreds.
Mutts can be found at animal shelters or often in newspaper ads. One caution, never pay a cent for a dog or pup that has not been seen by a veterinarian and come with some sort of health guarantees. Never accept a free pet unless you intend to get the medical, vaccinations, deworming, etc, done immediately. Do not be tricked into paying a higher price for a Designer dog, such as a Golden Doodle, remember this is just a mutt with a fancy name, and an enlarged price tag.
Adopting from animal shelters has a huge advantage in that they have lots of selection, and you are truly saving a life. Although typically shelters are associated with mutts, they do get purebreds from time to time. Shelters are non-profit. The price you pay is the minimum. All in all if you are only looking for a companion animal, a pet, a mutt could be a wise choice.
Note:
Good breeders of purebred dogs invest so much time and money into showing their dogs and proving their worth as breeding animals that they do not make a profit. People who breed simply for the sake of producing pups to sell are inflating their prices because they realize that the public is unaware of how to determine a good breeder from a bad one. There are some excellent quality purebred dogs, but on the whole we cannot assume that all purebreds are any better than the average mutt.
Learn more about this author, Brenda Nelson.
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