Good crossbreeds

[Griffin]

Aforementioned lab x cocker. Unfortunately looking fatter than usual and also tail-less. ?View attachment 67643

Look at him though, such a lovely boy!

 

[Annette4]

good luck with finding that cross, i had a whippet/border collie and she was fantastic, looked like a whippet but easy to train like a collie(photo) ...my next one was whippet/bearded collie/bedlington and was very different, a really high prey drive and quite difficult to get her attention for training as she didnt do treats or toys or balls.. now have a border collie/lab and 2 terrier mixes, all mongrels....the only pedigree i ever had was a deerhound which was my dream dogView attachment 67618

There are lots of them about on the flyball scene but I'm cautious about having a sport bred one for a couple of reasons including having the pressure of the breeder expectations. We're not in a rush so we'll see what we can find when we are looking.

 

[buddylove]

My old red and white collie had a love affair with the neighbouring farm's GSD resulting in two lovely litters. Both litters were black and tan, looked quite GSD-like, and predominantly longer haired.
They were fab dogs, and the one pup my dad kept was his constant companion, a super dog was Bob ?

 

[BaronSamedi]

In our family we have 5 terrier crosses 1 shih tzu cross and a PWD. Lillith is Yorkie x something and it the biggest cuddle bug ever but has a squashed up face so grunts and snores a lot, Elvis is the shih tzu cross and just looks like a giant shih tzu with the temperament of one too, crocus and daffodil (spring puppies hence the names) are border terrier x jack Russel and are nuts! Tito is some sort of terrier cross but as he was black but at 3yo is fading to grey we have no idea what. Marius is the PWD and the most intelligent dog I have ever met.
Edited because I missed off Mutley he is JR x border x Norfolk and the biggest numpty I’ve ever met. He tries to help Elvis hunt mice but is so daft when they run at him he runs away ??

Lillith and Daffodil are mums, Marius is my sisters, Tito and Crocus are my brothers, Elvis and Muttley are mine

 

[millikins]

I will openly admit to being a bitof a purebred snob but I do like the idea of a nice sprocker for the next sport dog.

Some years back I met a couple with 2 large, hairy good looking dogs. They put me in mind of my Rottie/GSD so I asked what cross they were. "Actually they're Leonbergers" was the rather chilly reply.

 

[Kaylum]

We have a rescue who is a scottie x cairn
She has the scottie stubbornness with the cairn intelligence. This cross is known as a bushland terrier. She is not good with kids or strangers which is why she probably ended up at the Blue Cross but we manage those situations. She is very protective as well. These things are never thought of when breeding crosses. Scotties are very loyal to one person and these things do come out when crossbreeding.

 

[gryff]

Whippet collie and whippet greyhound.
These two are my 4th and 5th lurchers. I would never have another type of dog. Affectionate and trainable. I am a fan of lurchers with a very big dose of whippet in.

 

[fankino04]

I'm wondering what breeds people think might be helped by crossing out, for example I love KCCs but wouldn't dare get one due to their health problems and not knowing enough to make the right choice, would these breed be improved by crossing with other spaniels or something else or just being more selective in which ones get bred? There seems to be a fondness for spaniel x lab but if you get the best of both what benefit is there over one or the other, and if you get the worst how bad is that?

 

[Errin Paddywack]

A friend of mine used to have a CKC, he was a lovely boy with none of the common problems for his breed. She would have oved another but didn't want to risk one with problems. She heard of someone who was trying crossing to a cocker then back to CKC hoping to create a healthier CKC. She had one of their first cross puppies and she is the most delightful little dog, more CKC than cocker but you can see the cocker in her. I would say based on her that that is a 'good' cross.

 

[TGM]

First was Rottie/GSD (long haired) a stunning dog who was abandoned at the kennels where I worked

My parents had a rescue Rottie x GSD - she had a lovely temperament and was very easy-going.

 

[ihatework]

The best mixes I have seen consistently are lab x springer and lab x collie

 

[P3LH]

I'm wondering what breeds people think might be helped by crossing out, for example I love KCCs but wouldn't dare get one due to their health problems and not knowing enough to make the right choice, would these breed be improved by crossing with other spaniels or something else or just being more selective in which ones get bred? There seems to be a fondness for spaniel x lab but if you get the best of both what benefit is there over one or the other, and if you get the worst how bad is that?

Careful outcrossing of cavalier to small cockers and/or phalenes could work I’ve always thought.

 

[Clodagh]

The best mixes I have seen consistently are lab x springer and lab x collie

We get a lot of those out shooting. Neighbouring keeper has 3/4 lab and 1/4 springers, he says the spaniel just revs the lab up a bit. They all look different though.

 

[Clodagh]

I've got a Kelpie Collie cross and he's ace. He's a complicated, complex, sensitive, independent, intelligent, good looking dog. Wouldn't be without him.

Need a photo! I had a kelpie x heeler, she was a nightmare tbh but I loved her to bits.

 

[minesadouble]

Our old lurcher was out of a collie bitch by a Saluki x Deerhound dog. He was quite highly strung, which we always put down to the Saluki.

He was stunning, enormous, and despite his size lived for 15 years. I love lurchers but since getting a Hungarian Vizsla I don't think I'd have another sighthound.

 

[P3LH]

I think crossbreeding within groups or types of dogs should actually be encouraged personally. So generic spaniels, collies, retrievers, shepherd dogs, hounds, spitzes, little floofs, terrorists etc etc.

I think problems crop up when you cross two very different breeds. But problems also result from the close breeding necessary to keep every single breed "pure".

I'm more of a lumper than a splitter basically.

From your pool of crossed within type dog you could have them assessed for breed, so you get a 'collie of border collie type' if you want. You could still have conformation showing but the focus would be more on soundness and temperament and general conformation than on how much it looks like just one thing. More like horse showing in a way.

There. My controversial vision for dog breeding. Jazz hands.

I have spent most of my life around working terriers, and the people who kept and bred them. I remember an old boy, a friend of my grandparents, who told me when I was small and asked if one of his dogs was a Jack Russell - ‘if they come out white they’re a russell, black they’re a patterdale, and red or black n tan makes them a lakie!’

And true to form I remember, in most of our friends who bred terriers, their litters of fat little pups would consist of a rainbow of colours and by virtue of colour they ‘became’ what they were, but in general they were all just terriers.

and they all seemed to live forever with no health issues, whelped easy, were good tempered, and fun to live with - so clearly there’s some method to the madness.

 

[Cloball]

My uncle has had a variety of lab crosses that has all been very healthy vital family dogs one was a lab X jrt (no idea how she came about going back many years here) one was a lurcher I think lab X whippety dog, and another was lab X spaniel.

 

[HeyMich]

The best mixes I have seen consistently are lab x springer and lab x collie

We get a lot of those out shooting. Neighbouring keeper has 3/4 lab and 1/4 springers, he says the spaniel just revs the lab up a bit. They all look different though.

Agreed. We would have another Splab in a heartbeat. If anyone knows of any litters on the horizon, please let me know!

 

[Aru]

Controversially...I love the standard poodle×labs. To the point I own one ?
Mines got the fabulous nature of her labrador mother and the coat of the poodle father. It helps that he was is a very mellow,non neurotic poodle! It still slightly embarrasses me to call her a labradoodle...but I do like to call her my water retriever.
She's been a bomb proof incredibly easy puppy so far(7 months old) and I finally understand the appeal of the oodles now.

I just wanted a pup out of her Mum that would shed less then a lab! I like to call her my Covid madness. I was working a lot less then normal... so health tested my brothers lab and bred her to a poodle to get a keeper pup for when the lab goes back to her original family.
I regret nothing. I also still keep in touch with all her siblings(as have a will have any pup I've bred back at any point agreement with their owners) and they have all turned out into some great pets.

 

[Aru]

Siblings at 6 months old. I kept the Brown Girl- Keri, on the lower right.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Met a couple from the village today with their 6 month old pup. She is a rescue Cane Corsa x Labrador and the most delightful dog you can imagine. She is a a dark brindle and going to be big. She is being spayed very soon as she is from RSPCA and they insist on it. Too soon in my opinion but has to be. They are doing everything right with her and I think she will make a gorgeous adult.

 

[Indy]

Need a photo! I had a kelpie x heeler, she was a nightmare tbh but I loved her to bits.

Tried to attach a picture but it says it's too big for the server or something

 

[Meredith]

Tried to attach a picture but it says it's too big for the server or something

I use ‘Photo compress’

 

[Cinnamontoast]

I think anything brachy would benefit from outcrossing. I cannot believe people breed (or buy!) a dog that isn’t fit for function and can’t breathe. I saw a jogger out with his pug the other day, poor little thing was heaving.

 

[Clodagh]

I think anything brachy would benefit from outcrossing. I cannot believe people breed (or buy!) a dog that isn’t fit for function and can’t breathe. I saw a jogger out with his pug the other day, poor little thing was heaving.

But not with a beagle! I have seen a few ‘puggles’ and the poor little things have certainly fallen out of the ugly tree.

A man near here jogs with his English bulldog. Insanity.

 

[Clodagh]

Tried to attach a picture but it says it's too big for the server or something

I’m technoincompetent and email them to myself on my phone.

 

[Odyssey]

We have a 15 yr old Splab (Springer x Lab) and she's an awesome mix. Born before the crazy crosses were a thing, so she cost us £70 as an accidental mongrel. I like to refer to her as a 'love child'.

Funny that they have two names, also called Springador, as I'm sure you know. ? That's easier to say I think. They're lovely dogs.

 

[fiwen30]

I’ve posted before about my Rough Collie/Jack Russell, who logically should never have been bred, but who is just the best dog in the world (biased? Me?). He is conformationally challenged, as evidenced by the cruciate surgery he’s currently rehabbing from, but is good-natured, easy going, friendly with everyone and everything, incredibly smart without being neurotic, and loving without being clingy. I’ve less than no idea where to start looking for his successor when the time comes - he was adopted at 9 months from TDT, surrendered along with his brother who was identical, but on longer collie legs, instead of Rogan’s stumpy JR ones.

A few years ago we met what I’m positive was a littermate of his - a dog with a heavier rough collie body & coat, but the same little legs, same age, from the same area, and the same cross as the owner had bought direct from the breeder. They had been a litter of 11, and the poor Jack Russell had been the mother!

 

[Griffin]

I think anything brachy would benefit from outcrossing. I cannot believe people breed (or buy!) a dog that isn’t fit for function and can’t breathe. I saw a jogger out with his pug the other day, poor little thing was heaving.

I know someone with a 'Jug' (JRT X Pug) and he has pug colouring, tail and markings but with a longer nose and a more JRT type body. He is a lovely dog but completely hyperactive.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

I’m not sure about the popular pug/beagle cross: a dog that loves to run and sniff crossed with a brachy breed? Maybe not the best cross ever.