Defining a Designer or Hybrid Dog

What's a designer pup?

Here's the recipe for a designer or hybrid pup:

Take two purebred dogs - the most popular combos are Cocker Spaniel and Poodle (Cockapoo), Pug and Beagle (Puggle), and Labrador and Poodle (Labradoodle) - and breed them. The resulting litter has (hopefully) the best characteristics of both breeds, although that's not always the case. The web is full of variations on this recipe - just google "designer dog" or "hybrid dog."

You can see live examples of the three most popular types of designer dogs on YouTube: Designer Dogs on "Mornings with Kerri-Anne," an Aussie program.

A slight variation on the original recipe is a cross between a designer dog and a purebred. Case in point - Alvin the Bichon Cockapoo. Here's his picture at 8 weeks from Puppyfind.com. Note the eyebrows - I wanted to call him Groucho, but that name didn't work for his co-owner.

Alvin is a handsome pup with prominent black eyes and the colors of his parents and grandparents – a white Bichon Frise mother, a Cockapoo father, and black Toy Poodle and buff American cocker grandparents. Also, he’s an easily trainable (house and otherwise) and friendly pup with a stubborn steak. I’m not sure about the stubbornness, but the other traits are inherited.

And oh yeah - he's hypoallergenic, a trait that's absolutely wonderful for people who are allergic to dog fur.

So, that's the definition of a designer dog. More on Alvin and how to find a designer pup in a future post.