Whenever there is a talk of purebred dogs, the rationale behind it is that the other end of the spectrum consists of mixed breed and crossbred dogs. But what are the differences between them, what are their advantages and disadvantages? Keep reading to learn the answers to these questions!
A look back to history: modern-day dogs evolved from wolves
Our modern-day dogs are directly related to wolves.
Wolves live in wilderness, can run as fast as 40 mph, and are able to move as far as 20 miles a day in the quest for food. Their sense of smell and of hearing is more advanced than in dogs, and they are generally swifter and quicker.
Their survival instinct is extraordinarily strong, unlike dogs. In fact, purebred dogs are more dependent on humans than mixed breed dogs (e.g. English bulldog cannot mate nor have puppies without human interference in almost 100% of the cases).
How she-wolf raises her young
She-wolf gives birth to her young all alone, in a secluded and tranquil burrow, inaccessible but at the entrance side. That way, she cannot be caught off guard nor can intruders approach her young without her noticing. Furthermore, the young are properly sheltered from the elements.
Ideally, a cave is the best place for she-wolves to give birth to their young, as caves are also cold, often humid or wet.
To raise her young, her mother instinct has taught she-wolf to hide the cave entrance with her back, to additionally protect her young from the wind. To keep them warm, more often than not she will even pull her hair and fur from her back to lay them below the babies. When not even that is enough, she will start breathing into them to keep them warm.
That is how wolf babies are raised, and that is why they never experience any health problems – in as much as 80% they die from either hunger or in fighting.
Such are the ancestors of our pedigree dogs.
On the other hand, some of our dogs are genetically predisposed to develop parvovirus, deafness, inborn heart defects, or elbow or hip dysplasia – due to human interference with their nature.
Defining purebred dogs, mixed breeds and cross breeds
Before we continue into further discussion on the specificities of mixed breeds / cross breeds, and to avoid confusion in the long run, it is important to first learn what each of the breed types implies.
Purebred dog is a dog whose parents are also purebred and of the same breed. Purebred Doberman and purebred Doberman can further produce a purebred Doberman solely.
Cross breed is a dog whose parents are of different breeds. If you mix a Rottweiler with a Labrador, that is a Rott-Lab cross breed.
Mixed breed is a dog whose parents are either different cross breeds or mixed breeds, so basically such dogs carry genes of at least 3-4 dog breeds, or even more – depending on the mating history of each individual dog.
If you mix a Dalmatian / Collie with a Boxer / Poodle, their offspring will carry genes of a Dalmatian, Collie, Boxer and Poodle. Or, if you mix a Rottweiler / Pitbull with a German shepherd / Rottweiler, what you will get is a dog with genes of Rottweiler, Pitbull and German shepherd. Such dogs are mixed breed dogs.
However, it is important to note here that we will in this context use “mixed breed” as an umbrella term for stray dogs which usually mate without the interference of people. That is why it is quite difficult to determine their ancestors and gene combinations.
People also produce mixed breeds when they want to have dogs with specific traits, but for the sake of the occasion, we need mixed breeds = stray dogs equation to emphasize the difference between the natural mating that happens with no human involvement, and strictly controlled pedigree mating in kennels with the aim of continuing the quality pureblood genes.
Disadvantages of mixed breed dogs and crossbred dogs
A saying which postulates to “get a mixed breed dog if you want to have a healthy dog” is most often not based on fully reliable evidence.
There is also a difference between:
1) dogs originating from the mixture of pureblood, pedigree dogs, and
2) genuine mixed breed dogs with no purebred ancestors in generations.
It can often happen that breeders, in an attempt to produce the best dog possible, often mate the same dogs, especially if the mating dogs already have desirable qualities and traits. This can cause “overbreeding” and can contribute to establishing some negative qualities in the breed.
Evolution and life span in dogs function much faster than with humans. Comparing modern-day pedigree dogs with their ancestors from 50 or 100 years ago, it would come as a surprise to see how much some breeds have changed.
Modern-day dogs are much more attractive than their ancestors, but their health suffered immensely along the way.
As an illustration, if we mate a pureblood sire (regardless of the breed) with a breed likelihood for hips dysplasia, with a pedigree dam (again, regardless of the breed) with a breed likelihood for heart problems, it is more probable that their descendant is going to have certain health problems rather than being perfectly healthy.
What happens in real life, with quality breeders and kennels which support top notch quality gene pool, and which have the necessary health certificates, is that they never ever mate their dogs with another breed, let alone with a mixed breed.
Advantages of mixed breed and crossbred dogs
More similar to wolves than their purebred kindred, stray mixed breed dogs most often function in packs, find their own food, and survive (or not) by the rule of natural selection – ranging from mating, care for the young, adulthood, etc. That is why most often such mixed breeds are healthier than their purebred peers.
Bear in mind, however, that this health improvement is not the case with puppies resulting from two differing purebred dogs, let alone two pureblood dogs with numerous health issues.
Why did humans start mixing breeds?
In essence, humans started mixing breeds to try to have dogs with certain characteristics – usually characteristics that were not innate to them.
However, the plan has not worked as intended. That is why today a very big proportion of healthy mixed breeds has absolutely no qualities whatsoever except for their extraordinary survival instinct. Some tend to be healthier than, again, some purebred dog breeds, and are more intelligent in general.
However, such mixed breeds cannot exceed German Short-haired Pointer in its hunting qualities, nor can they be better guardian dogs than German shepherd or Rottweiler, nor work better than Belgian Malinois.
In short, whatever the purpose of the dog you need, a mixed breed is never the best option.
Common misconceptions about mixed breeds and crossbred dogs
On the other hand, there are crossbred dogs resulting from the mixture of specific breeds, combined to develop certain traits. Evidently, there are a significant online appraisal to such breeds. Although there is a possibility to have a quality dog this way, chances are even greater not to have it as planned.
Various online resources focus on advantages of such cross breeds or mixed breeds, as if it is only advantages that pass on to offsprings. To exemplify, mating a fierce, ugly dog with a shy yet attractive dog does not mean that the puppy will get the best genes of both parents, i.e. that it is fierce and attractive.
If genetics worked that way, someone could have mated a dog with a parrot to produce a flying, talking dog – which is not very likely to happen any time soon.
Another widely spread misconception about mixed breed or cross breeds is that they are necessarily healthier than purebred dogs, but it also does not have to be the case. Mixing breeds such as Doberman Pincher and English Pointer means that a puppy will inevitably inherit their faults as well.
Simply said, a puppy inherits both parents’ genes, regardless of their quality or the lack of it. What may happen, in fact, is that faults do not have to manifest in the puppies until they are mature enough to be used as either guarding dogs or service dogs.
Bear in mind that mixed breeds cannot exceed either of the parents in any of their traits. In other words, if a Doberman Pincher is a quality guardian dog, its crossbred puppy cannot be a better guardian dog, nor can a puppy of an English Pointer be a better hunting dog than the Pointer itself.
Due to genes combinations, mixed breed dogs can often be moody, especially if they were not socialized properly. That is why they are more prone to behavioral “incidents” than purebred dogs.
Popular Rottweiler mixes
Some of the most popular Rottweiler mixes are the German shepherd Rottweiler mix, Rottweiler Labrador mix and Rottweiler Pitbull mix. We will now briefly tackle what to expect from each of these crossbred dog breeds.
German shepherd Rottweiler mix
German shepherd resembles Rottweilers in character, intelligence and purpose – they are both primarily meant as either service or guardian dogs. This enables us to predict the behavior of offsprings of this mixture.
When physical appearance is in question, in majority of cases German shepherd Rottweiler mix would produce a big-size dog, with a skeleton slightly lighter than Rottweiler’s, black and tan in color, with ears half raised, and hair slightly longer than Rott’s.
Rottweiler Lab mix
Mixing Rottweilers with Labradors would produce a big-size dog, probably just a bit smaller than Rottweiler itself.
Majority of puppies would be black or black and tan, because that is the color that dominates in their genes.
If you hope for an intelligent dog, this is your day. However, at the same time, this intelligence could be the cause of stubbornness, or decrease the dog’s guardian instincts.
Rottweiler Pitbull mix
A mixture of Rottweiler and Pitbull could be a mid-size dog with short hair. Majority of puppies are either black or black and tan, often with a white patch on their chest. However, other hair combinations are also possible.
Be careful with this breed character – it is highly likely that the offspring of these two breeds is standoffish and unpredictable.
Instead of a conclusion
Our final tip would be to opt for purebred dogs if possible, rather than choosing crossbreed or mixed breed. They most certainly have both advantages and disadvantages, but in our experience, there is a reason why we have different breeds and we want to play it safe with keeping the breeds separate.
Here in Fere Perfectum dog kennel, where we support quality mating and the continuation of the best bloodlines, we always mate our purebred sires with purebred dams exclusively. That is how we ensure that each puppy you buy from us is healthy, with proper hips and elbows, and with good work temperament.
At the same time, each kennel is free to devise their own mating program to stick to, hence avoiding overbreeding. Only that way can we produce healthy, quality dogs in the long run.