Crossbreed, mixed breed, mutts, this kind of dogs has many names. These last decades, mixed breed dogs have become more and more popular, astonishing everyone with their beauty, grace, and improbable personalities. After all, you never know how a mutt is going to end up as an adult, and that’s kind of exciting, isn’t it?
But, crossbreeds can be tricky, and you might be hesitating to adopt one. We want you to take that decision though, because all dogs deserve adoption, even the ones that are not “pure”, in a biological sense of the term (and come on, in 2018, we shouldn’t care about pureness).
So, if you are still wondering if you should adopt a mixed breed dog or not, think no more. Discover with us some amazing facts about mutts, and if they don’t convince you that mixed breeds are great, then I honestly don’t know what will.
First of all, you should know that crossbreeds are healthier
Because there is no inbreeding involved, crossbreed dogs are less likely to develop some of the less wanted hereditary traits of their parents, such as some pretty serious genetic disorders that ruin a dog’s life. This phenomenon is called “hybrid vigor”, and it simply means that, due to a richer genetic pool, mutts are usually stronger, hardier, and live longer than purebred dogs.
They also live longer
Naturally, if mixed breed dogs are healthier than purebred ones, they end up living longer than them. Some statistics have been done, the numbers have been counted (counted? Do we say that about numbers? Man, I haven’t studied mathematics since high school, so please excuse my general lack of knowledge in this area), and, as it turns out, mixed breed dogs live way longer than purebred ones, sometimes up to 18 or 20 years.
You will never know how they will turn out, physically speaking
A bit like a few people from my middle school who definitely Longbottomed (if you don’t know this term, please refer to the Harry Potter series, or, at worse, to the Urban Dictionary), a lot of mixed breeds can start as ugly puppies (though I still believe there are no ugly puppies, just people with bad eyesight) and end up as magical creatures, as beautiful and majestic as any purebred dog.
See, because a mixed breed dog is the result of a cross between two purebred dogs, there is no saying on how cute or scary looking he’ll end up being. Crossbreed dogs are a mix of both their parents, genetically speaking, which makes it fun to watch them grow up from puppies to dogs, because you never know how small or big they will be.
You won’t be able to predict their temperament either
Well, of course, if your mutt is a mix between two purebreds that are similar in temperament (such as the Pomsky, the mix between a Pomeranian and a Siberian Husky), you might be able to predict how he’s going to behave while growing up. But sometimes, your baby best friend can be a combination of two completely different dogs, and it’s going to be all about your luck and your training skills if your dog ends up being a friendly, sociable one, or a calm and reserved one.
They are cheaper to adopt (or purchase)
First of all, let’s get one thing out of the way: only acquire a crossbreed dog if you know for a fact that the breeder is trustworthy, and you have all the information about the purebred parents.
Well, now that this is out of the way, you should know that, naturally, mutts are cheaper to purchase than purebreds. But not only that, even when you are adopting a dog from a shelter, you still have to donate an amount of money. This amount usually varies between 20$ and 500$ if you are adopting a mixed breed dog, but if you are going for a purebred, you might have to donate up to a thousand dollars, which is still quite an important amount of money.
Finally
You should never look down on a mutt. Just because he doesn’t come from a pure line of dogs doesn’t mean he is not worth your love (this isn’t feudal Europe after all folks). So, if you have a mutt, be it a Cheewinie or a Morkie, treat him well, train him, make sure he’s socialized, and most importantly, give him all the love you can, because no matter his breed, a dog will always love you and be loyal to you.
