People have long had a love affair with mixed breed dogs or “mutts”. These dogs tend to differ quite a lot in size, looks and disposition, even when they come from the same litter. Mutts typically have very superior health and they make great pets.

A mutt is a dog that is a product of an unknown pedigree. They are not of one specific breed and it is usually indefinite if there parents are of purebred status. Mutts have an unidentified parentage and a uncertain genetic line.

A purebred has two parents of the identical breed. Usually there are extended genetic records that go back many generations. Breeders meticulously select the dogs they will breed so as to guarantee that the strongest traits are characteristic in the pups.

You may prefer a purebred for a pet or you may favor a mutt. A mutt will usually have robust health and they do make fantastic pets but a purebred has definite character that are bred in. There also is another alternative that you may take into account and that is the hybrid dog or the “designer dog”.

A hybrid or designer dog is a dog that has two purebred parents from two separate breeds. They are separate from a mutt in that their pedigree is proven. The parents of the dog have a distinct genetic line that can be confirmed.

Hybrid dogs are becoming quite the fad these days. You see them all over from movies to dog shows. These dogs tend to have the best personality from each of the breeds and generally a good combination of both breeds.

These hybrid dogs frequently have very amusing names such as a cockapoo for a cocker and poodle mix, a puggle, which is a pug and beagle mix, a goldendoodle, which is a golden retriever and poodle combination and of course, many other fun mixtures of the two purebred names.

Hybrids are fantastic pets and if you are having a difficult time deciding on a breed a hybrid can get you the best of two breeds. They as a rule have good health and they are clever and fun dogs to own.