Recognised dog breed crosses, there are some weird and strange ones (to me).

[Mad Doug Biker]

That can be the case, but its not quite that simple.

Firstly, people get show lines confused with general breed lines or working lines. Theyre totally different.

Show stock can have some profoundly unpleasant characteristics bred into the in the name of appearance. Regular pedigree lines do not - they are bred for utility and the limes controlled to minimise genetic health issues.

Also, as aforementioned, with a pedigree you can research back the generations and make a reasonably informed prediction about what you're getting. Its not an ironclad guaranteed, but its massively better rodds than mongrels with undocumented and uncontrolled bloodlines. Some extremely unpleasant characters arise with some of these mixes that make the problems with some pedigree show lines seem tame in comparison.

I said 'many', not all pedigrees.

In fact, coming to think about it, I have only actually heard of problems with certain breeds like Alsatians (hip displacement), Boxers (fits), etc.

We had a Pedigree Stafford (rescue) who had skin issues, but seemingly that is common in Staffies regardless of provenance.

As for Mongrels, I have not really heard of problems, but I guess it is a lucky dip with anything unknown like that.

Please tell me of the problems with cross - breeds.

 

[Venod]

Daughter has a Cockerpoo, its a full size Poodle cross, he has massive paws, daft as a brush but intelligent too.

 

[Reynard]

FWIW, I am aware that the Labradoodle (I think anyway), is hypoallergenic (or so people say anyway), which makes them popular.

They're not hypoallergenic. They just don't tend to shed naturally, which is completely different.

What that means, is that these dogs require almost daily grooming to remove loose hairs and stop their coats from matting. And regular haircuts to also help keep on top of the grooming. The problem is compounded if the coat gets wet.

There's an article / interview somewhere on the BBC website with the bloke who first developed the labrador-poodle cross as a "breed", and he says he now wishes he'd never done it.