Designer Dogs

[sunday_silence]

Ugh.

http://www.designerdoggies.com/

Q: Isn’t a hybrid just another fancy name for a mutt?
A: No, there are 3 classes of dogs. Hybrids, Mixed Breeds (also known as mutts) and Purebreds.

Q: What is the difference between a mixed breed and a hybrid?
A: A mixed breed is usually conceived

Comments

[bunn]

There is sort of a point, I suppose.

We tend to describe rescue dogs as 'collie x' or 'Dobe x labrador' or whatever, if we can tell - because that does give you a bit of extra info about how the dog is likely to behave, the size and exercise needs and sometimes even the likely health issues.

Whereas 'crossbreed' (which is what we call mutts in the UK as shorthand for 'your guess is as good as mine') doesn't tell you anything about the dog at all. In fact when I'm writing up dog descriptions for the web, I tend to skip that, and say something like 'this loving brindle chap' 'this stunning black dog', cos I think even 'crossbreed' can sound a little derogatory: better just to be really positive about the looks, and try to get the reader to fall a little in love.

Though having said that, there are some breeds where it's tempting to tag on the name if there's any justification at all: anything that is labelled 'whippet x' always attracts a lot of attention, so if you have a long-leggedy medium mutt... Whereas 'staffy' is a label that seems to get people passing on by. Sad.