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When I hear the term "designer dogs", images of a famous actress carrying a small, foppish pooch comes to mind. The word designer alone almost makes me think that they acquired the canine in much the same way as they would their latest Mercedes or BMW. The term "Designer Dogs" however refers to what dog breeders have been doing for centuries, creating hybrid breeds.

Today's AKC breeds did not miraculously appear as they look today. They were dogs of certain characteristics that were purposely bred to create desired traits in the offspring. Often the offspring over time would become a breed onto themselves. The key hear is careful breeding over time.

Creating a designer dog in essence is this same process, minus the continued breeding to finally produce a breed that can be accepted as an AKC breed. With a designer dog, the breeder is simply taking two "pure-bred" breeds and producing a first generation hybrid breed. These hybrids often will exhibit a blend of traits from both parental breeds. For example, a popular designer dog is the Puggle (Pug/Beagle). The Puggle is playful and hearty like a beagle, while still being a home-body/lap-dog like the Pug.

The reason that they are termed "Designer Dogs" is that new owners can often find dogs that are combined for their specific traits, or the most desirable one. The most common combination is a "oodle" hybrid. This is where a Poodle with its curly, low shed coat, is combined with another breed that the owner finds appealing. A great example of this is the Labradoodle (Lab/Poodle). The puppies from this mating will often be large intelligent hunting dogs that are curly coated, low shed, and extremely agile.

My journey into hybrids began 4 years ago when my wife, who hates dogs, agreed to get one if I could find one that did not shed. Thanks to the internet, this search did not take long, and I began to learn about all kinds of different breeds and their advantages. From my research I settled on the Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel/Poodle), the most popular designer dog. While not totally "non-shedding", it is "low-shed" because of the poodle coat. When we brought her home I was pleased to discover the many positives of the designer breed. Along with the "low-shed", she was hyper intelligent, extremely agile, and very easily switched between times of high activity to times of low activity, like snuggling.

Since my first designer dog I have increased my pack to a total of three. I have two Cockapoos and one Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle), all of which are "low-shed" and exhibit the same wonderful qualities of my first.

If you decide to look into becoming the owner of a designer dog, here are a couple of tips to consider:

1) There are many non-reputable breeders out there. If you are using the internet, or the newspaper to find a breeder, make sure you take the time to call them as well as visit their kennel.
2) Not all designer breeds come as a perfect 50/50 mix. It is very common to have a hybrid exhibit some of the traits of one of the parents more strongly than the other. With my Schnoodle it coat more closely resembles the poodles, while with my Cockapoos they more closely resemble the Cocker Spaniel. When you go to pick your puppy pick the one that exhibits the traits you desire the most.
3) There is no such thing as "non-shedding" designer dogs. There are "low-shed", and for many people this works out well. Consider the two breeds used to determine how "low-shedding" the dog will be. A Lhasapoo (Lhasa Apso/Poodle) would be a extremely "low-shedder" compared to a Puggle (Pug/Beagle).
4) Genetic disorders from inbreeding, while very uncommon in designer dogs, can happen so do not be fooled by a breeder advertising that as an advantage.

Learn more about this author, Jeremy Moulton.
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