by Brenda Nelson

Created on: August 06, 2009

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-training 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,

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