Introduction
The term "designer dog" comes from the late 20th century when dog breeders began to cross purebreds with other purebred breeds in order to obtain a dog with various desirable characteristics from both chosen breeds. An experiment so to say but which really turned into frenzy with success achieved from certain hybrids. As the term denotes the breeding is done by design, as opposed to an accidental breeding. In the modern world this has gone a step further with breeders breeding a specific crossbreed to others of the same cross in order to create a new breed of dog. This article ventures into the world of designer dog breeds and studies some very interesting dog breeds which had been loved and desired for as pets. This article turns the spotlight on some of the most popular dog breeds, trends in the designer dog market and sorts those head turners which rules the roost in the industry
Designer Dogs - Breeding by design
The easiest identifying mark of a designer dog' is that the resulting breed are called by a portmanteau word made up of syllables from the breed names of the two purebred parents, such as schnoodle which comes from the cross breeding of a Schnauzer and poodle. Other purebred breeds continue to be experiment with to provide designer dogs described with an endless range of created labels, such as the Puggle which is a Pug and Beagle cross.
The designer dog market has over time turned into a market where dog breeds are positioned in the same status quo as designer accessories like purses or shoes. For example the demand for the handbag size purebred dogs like Chihuahua went huge following Paris Hilton's pet dog. Easy to carry and cute to look, presently a very thin line exists between the way dog breeds has been bred for its looks and any problems caused to the genetics of the dog breed.
Although designer dogs are often selected by for their novelty, the underlying motive for hybridization or cross breeding is an attempt to reduce the incidence of certain hereditary problems found in the purebred breeds used for the cross, while retaining their more appealing traits. For example the dog breed "Chihuachshund is the resulting cross between a Chihuahua and a dachshund which is one typical breed which doesn't have the hereditary problems as faced by the original breed. But crossbreeding for a particular style of designer dog may not work out as intended- instead of the desirable traits; the resulting litter may have a combination of the undesirable traits of the two purebred breeds. For example the cross breed labradoodle which is a mix between the Labrador and poodle comes with certain DNA problems which can change into physical deformities in the breed. As some traits are dominant, crossbreed dogs tend to manifest some physical characteristics more frequently than others. For example - Border Collies and some Spaniels often produce crossbreed offspring with similar coats and ears to their parents. The crossbreed offspring of German Shepherds often have characteristic Shepherd faces and other characteristics. But all crossbred dogs will vary in which characteristics of their purebred parents they inherit would be slightly different from each other.
Designer dogs - Reality vs Fads
One of the advantages of designer dogs is the vast number of varieties available, courtesy a long lineage of experimentation and cross breeding. More than 200 different hybrid combinations exist, which means that there is a designer dog for every taste. Most of these hybrids are small and designed to have good personality combined with adorability. Designer dogs are created to fit every need - from pocket-size dogs for easy travel to low-shed dogs for those with allergies. Many of these designer-dog creations are free of some of the traits that can make life difficult for the purebred dog. For example, some purebreds, like the Pug, have a very short snout, making breathing difficult. But the popular Puggle - the hybrid of a Pug and a Beagle - has a longer nose while still maintaining the Pug's wrinkled forehead and loopy gait.
Designer dog breeds are produced mostly with a inclined approach to the "cost & profit approach" than the health or welfare of the breed which inherently creates the tendency to slacken on the far more necessary aspects needed in a breed. Usually designer dog breeds bring higher prices than the purebreds from which they are bred which is one of the obvious reasons where in the run for making profits out of the trends no care is given to the quality of the breed genes. Consumers too are conditioned by the media which always plays a key factor in their buying decisions. Those breeders who select their breeding stock for cost-effectiveness and who skip health testing will not produce puppies that are as reliably healthy as those bred by more conscious breeders. However, studies of longevity in dogs have found some advantage for crossbreeds compared to purebred dogs. Thus finding a breeder who does health testing and considers hereditary compatibility of breeding stock is as important for a designer dog as it is for a purebred.
But given the popularity of designer dog breeds which started with the puggle breed there has been a up slide in the crossbreeding of different breeds for looks and the style of it. There is a ongoing rift that is being created between the demand for purebreds and the opposing favoritism for designer doggies. The rift seems to epitomize a peculiarly American tension: between tradition and improvisation, institutions and fads. The American Canine Hybrid Club, one of a growing number of hybrid dog registries, will soon recognize its 400th different kind of purebred-to-purebred cross. There are meanwhile roughly only 400 pure breeds of dog in the world, and the American Kennel Club, the world's largest purebred registry, has recognized only 155 of them so far in its 123 year-history.
Here are few of the most popular dog breeds which continues to attract popular fancy and desirability for the last couple of years :-
Designer dog breed - Affenchon
Cross bred between - Affenpinscher x Bichon Frise
Designer dog breed - Affengriffon
Cross bred between - Brussels Griffon x Affenpinscher
Designer dog breed - Affenhuahua
Cross bred between - Chihuahua x Affenpinscher
Designer dog breed - Alaskan Pit Bull
Cross bred between - Alaskan Malamute x Pit Bull
Designer dog breed - Alaskan Shepherd
Cross bred between - German Shepherd Dog x Alaskan Malamute
Designer dog breed - American Dane
Cross bred between - Great Dane x American Bulldog
Designer dog breed - American Eagle Dog
Cross bred between - American Eskimo Dog x Beagle
Designer Dogs & Trends
With the growing interest in pets and designer dogs has come the challenge of putting the right attention or time in maintaining these pets. Usually when people buy dogs especially designer dogs, most of the people go for the last advertisement they saw on the television or the last movie where they saw a cute dog with their celebrity. But least of attention is paid to the specific needs of the breeds. In most cases with the passing off of the fashion trend the dogs are also forgotten or left off. There has been dog breeds which enjoyed a king's status in the 80's but with time have been shifted to the sidelines. An exemplary case is that of the bull-dog which in the 80's was the crown of anyone who had a bull-dog as a pet. But the media frenzy with bull-dogs in the late 80's completely shifted the adorability to a terror fad where many incidents completely jeopardized its previous popularity.
Neverthless as easy as it is for trends to define the life style of today the frenzy with designer dogs have reached epic proportions. The market is now flooded with products which service the needs & wants of these designer dogs for people who even don't have time for the regular upkeep of these animals. For ones who want to have pets and still need their personal freedom technological gimmickry have arrived which promises to do deliver what it stands for. Now, dogs can be attended by timed, refrigerated feeders and water fountains, monitored by Webcam or consoled through PetsCell cellular telephones around their necks. For kennels where cutout kitchen doggie doors were made, the latest products like the motorized Power Pet, triggered by a sensor in the dog's collar work better, since homeowners worry about possible thefts. The Power Pet slides up and swiftly deadbolts shut again permitting dogs to safely exit and relieve themselves. Now designer dogs are increasingly being litter-trained and dozens of prep schools for dogs have arrived which modify their behavior. Not to say about the hundreds of pet saloons where designer dogs go to have the greatest time of their lives being taken care like loyalty figures.
After a century of breeding dogs chiefly for looks and not sufficiently controlling for health, medical reports do hint at genetic problems which arise in the long term. The array of defects and degenerative conditions starts at bad hips and stretches toward the absurd, bull terriers with a particular neurological disorder can spend 80 percent of their time chasing their own tails. While designer-dog sellers often claim to combine only the most functional and lovable qualities of each breed, many times that would create a combination of the breeds most problematic areas. At the end of the day a lot depends on the owners of the dogs and how well they are aware of the specific needs & demands of that particular breed. Money spent on a dog may be best justified as a premium paid for knowledge about its human breeder: an investment in how deftly he can shape and distinguish a dog's bloodline from randomness and how reliably he can tell us what to expect from that dog.