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Quote: Originally posted by Colin21 on 27/1/2018

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Whether or not a dog is a pure breed or a mongrel depends entirely on the passage of time. Every "breed" known to man is a cross-breed, it just depends how far back in time you go. Surely all domestic dogs are descended from the Wolf? Think of the Mexican Hairless then think of the Newfoundland, that's the work of Man. Mankind has shaped the dog into whatever he wanted at the time, and this has resulted in the "breeds" we know today. Not long ago the KC didn't recognise the Border Collie as a breed, and there are many other examples of this. I suspect that many dogs that are regarded as cross-breeds or mongrels today will be regarded as breeds in themselves in years to come.

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Quote: Originally posted by Nicepix on 27/1/2018

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Pedigrees tend to produce offspring of a similar likeness to the parents in shape, size, colour and behavioural characteristics. This is down to generations of breeding to harden the genes so to speak. Once you cross a breed, in the case of a springer and a cocker for example, the first generation may come out alike and be similar in characteristics to the parents in different ways. However, the offspring of sprockers are less homogeneous and the offspring of that generation will be even less like the parents.

With mixed breeds you often get throw backs to the constituent parts of the parents. So a Jack Russell type cross breed might produce pups that resemble the Yorkshire Terrier that got in with its great-grandmother 3 generations back. Sometimes you get a mixed bag of different looking pups dependant on how many breeds or types are in the gene pool and their influence.

Some cross-breeds are specifically bred to fill a gap that pure breeds are lacking. The Plummer Terrier for example. But in the early crosses there is no guarantee that you will get the best characteristics of both breeds unless you really know the genetics side of things, and even then these custom cross-breeds rarely produce replicas if bred together in the first generations. Many pedigree animals are the result of many generations of breeding to stabilise the breed type.

The current fad for cockerdoos and the like owes more to amusing lexicography than breed standards.     

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Quote: Originally posted by Mike3003 on 27/1/2018

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The Bulldog - Shih Tzu cross has now been recognised by the KC, it is officially now the Bullshiht.

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Quote: Originally posted by Mike3003 on 27/1/2018

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The Bulldog - Shih Tzu cross has now been recognised by the KC, it is officially now the Bullshiht.

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Quote: Originally posted by RAF35Y on 07/2/2018

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We had a dog that could play the piano!!

It could even write it's own music, in fact the tunes were so good I told the wife to get it orchestrated.

We never saw the dog again.

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Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 07/2/2018

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Quote: Originally posted by RAF35Y on 07/2/2018

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We had a dog that could play the piano!!

It could even write it's own music, in fact the tunes were so good I told the wife to get it orchestrated.

We never saw the dog again.

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What was it's favourite tune...'I aint nothing but a hound dog'.

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