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If two cross breeds mate, their offspring are also mixed breeds. A "cross breed" is a dog whose parents were purebreds. The terms "random breed" and "mixed breed" usually refer to a dog of unknown gene pool. Adopting one of these unwanted dogs means you are literally saving a life – and the odds are he will make a great companion. Others are simply abandoned in parks or at highway rest stops. Many come into the world as "surprises," born of a homeless stray or a roaming house pet, then sent off to an animal shelter. Call him a random-breed, a mixed-breed or a mongrel, at his best he's loyal, healthy, smart and friendly – a virtual melting pot of positive canine characteristics.įor many animal lovers, owning a mutt is a badge of honor. “You’ll get the hardiness of a mutt with the look and, potentially, behavioral tendencies of your chosen breed.The mutt is the all-American dog. “One strategy to get the best of both worlds - choose a mutt that is primarily of your chosen breed,” Katribe said. If you really like purebreds, you can find a mutt that’s pretty close.While the puppies get sold, the parents can live in these horrible conditions for many, many years.” “For dogs that are bred and born in puppy mill situations or by irresponsible breeders, both the parents and puppies are often kept in inhumane and unsanitary conditions. Most mutts are not born in cruel puppy mills or other unfortunate circumstances, according to Katribe.“The reality is that every dog is an individual.” “While some breeds do have behavioral tendencies related to their breeding (for example, herding behavior in dogs bred for that purpose), there are no guarantees that a purebred dog will follow that tendency,” Katribe said. The temperament of a mutt can be just as solid as a purebred.“Hereditary problems are very common at puppy mills or with irresponsible breeders, as breeding stock is not selected for based on any health criteria.” “Even when breeders make efforts to remove dogs with heritable medical problems from their breeding pools, some conditions will get by undetected in earlier generations,” Katribe said. Mixed breed dogs (aka mutts) tend to have a lower risk of hereditary diseases than purebred dogs.“Every time I walk through a shelter, large or small, I see a stunning array of dogs of all shapes and sizes,” Katribe said. That can make your dog the talk of your block, the latest social media star or simply a great companion. That’s why Best Friends Animal Society is celebrating National Mutt Day on July 31 by sharing why mutts often make for the very best of friends: Those who have adopted pets all have stories like this.

“In the beginning, it was about canine distemper, and now it’s about love and life as only a dog can teach us humans,” she said. More recently, Franklin, a Hurricane Harvey and distemper survivor who is an indiscernible combination of breeds, continues to teach Katribe. Akasha and I were immediately connected, and we spent the next 16 years together. “As an adult, the first dog I had was a rescue mutt that I encountered at the local nonprofit clinic where I was volunteering before vet school. Even the currently fashionable “doodles” selling for thousands of dollars are a mix of two dogs (which is really just a mutt).Īsk veterinarian Erin Katribe, Best Friends Animal Society’s medical director, and she’ll tell you about two very special mutts that hold a place in her heart. Heroic mutts such as Balto, the sled dog who brought lifesaving diphtheria medication to remote corners of Alaska, are immortalized in bronze statue form. Two of the cinema’s most famous dogs - Spike from “Old Yeller” and Higgins from “Benji” - were mutts adopted from shelters. America has a long history of affection for mutts.