Purebred and hybrid dogs
There seems to be one big, ugly, giant dog war going on today, with people fighting whether hybrid dogs like the labadoodle or purebred dogs like the border collie are the best of the lot. With so many dogs being bred today, with their breeders ranging from top professionals to back yard people who want “Fido" to have just one litter before neutering her (which usually never gets done), the words hybrid and purebred have become interchanged with designer dogs. And the average breeder or purchaser doesn’t have a clue what any of this means, unfortunately. So maybe before we go any further, we should define each word very carefully.
Purebred
First of all, and top of the line, is the purebred. This should be the
one you need to breed or to purchase for a specific reason or need,
when you want a breed of dog that is 100% that breed of dog. A
purebred Border Bollie is a Border Collie. No Pug or American Cocker
or German Shepherd is mixed with it to improve or change its looks. The
lineage is pure, and you know what to expect from them in regard to
their looks, temperament, what their capabilities are, and how they
work. But unfortunately, the average public is buying this purebred dog
without even looking at their background: they purchase a high quality
border collie dog and turn around two years later, getting rid of it
after it displays high temperament or chases cars, both of which have
been bred into the dog for a specific purpose.
Why breed a dog to herd
cattle that won’t herd or run? But on the streets, or in a family home,
this would be something dangerous and not acceptable. So the border
collie hits the rescue centre, and is unfortunately one of the dog
breeds most likely to do so.
Hybrid
The hybrid dog is fast becoming the dog of the public: cockapoo, cockapoo, schnoodle, bogle, bugg,s, puggle, cavachon, labradoodle - the list is endless. What this dog consists of is a mixture of a purebred mother and a purebred father, of two different breeds. This is a dog made to sell to the desires of the average public for a pet, a family dog, and the dog registries are adding these dogs to their registry because of this public need. Also, many purebred registries are adding hybrid registries to their list of services to show the public that the dam and sire are actual purebreds, not mixed breeds. And many hybrid breeds are bringing in higher prices as compared to the purebred breeds, due to the public need and demand for them.
Anyone who has had a purebred cross knows how fantastic these animals can be - I had a German Shepherd Border Collie cross long before it would have been fashionable to call it a German Collie or Border Shepherd! The positive traits of both breeds came to the fore (but not without a LOT of training from me) and she was without doubt one of the most intelligent and well behaved dogs I have ever come across. She had her own agent, and went on to become an Animal ACTOR, raking in a fee for shooting films and ads. But it didn't come because of clever breeding - it came from at least 3 years of living hell training her every single day for hours at a time.
