Crossbreeds, Mixed Breeds and Designer Dogs

A crossbred dog is a hybrid of two breeds of dog. Crossbreeding has been happening for centuries as, in addition to the practice of mating different types of animals, cross-breeding was also used alongside selective breeding

When Does a Crossbreed become a Breed?

A crossbreed will only become a breed when an interbreeding community of crossbreeds is able to maintain the crossbreed characteristics over many generations.

Crossbreeds are considered difficult to breed, and will usually only be created by cross-breeding breeding stock rather than from a pair of crossbred dogs.

For example, to get the desired traits of a Labradoodle, you usually need to breed a poodle with a labrador rather than interbreed two Labradoodles.

Once a stable interbreeding community can be established, the various Kennel Clubs will need to classify them as a breed.