Three crossbreed dog breeds are no healthier than their purebred progenitors as per the findings of a study. I would suggest that the findings probably apply as well to domestic cats but the study is purely about three selected hybrid dog breeds. Read on…
This is a study (citation at base of article) that scotches the theory or desire that when breeders create designer crossbreed dogs such as the Labradoodle they create dogs that are healthier than either of the two breeds from which they create the new one.
For the Labradoodle this would be the Labrador and the Poodle. The same goes for the other two crossbreed dogs in the study: Cavapoo, Cockapoo. The former is a cross between the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Poodle and the latter is a cross between the Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle.
The researchers found that the three crossbreed dogs studied “had higher odds for 7.0% (n = 24) of disorders studied, and lower odds for 6.4% (n = 22)”. That means in for 24 disorders/illnesses the crossbreeds were more likely to suffer from them than the purebred dogs while for 22 of the illnesses it was the opposite.
They compared the 57 most common disorders across the three designer-crossbreed and found little difference to their purebred cousins. In 86.6 per cent of the comparisons the prevalence of the illnesses/conditions “did not differ statistically significantly between designer crossbreeds and their relevant progenitor breeds.”
The study goes against the concept of ‘hybrid vigour‘ which is when a breeder introduces new genes into the bloodline of a purebred dog or cat by mating the foundation dog or cat with an animal of another breed or a non-purebred companion animal. This improves genetic diversity and minimised inbreeding which causes inbreeding depression i.e. general ill-health, genetic illnesses and a shortened lifespan.
The booming market in these ‘designer’ dogs’ may partly be due to purchasers’ belief that they are buying a healthier dog. It seems they are mistaken.
The researchers assessed 9,400 dogs in the UK.
They said that the crossbreeding of dogs “was often motivated by perceived enhanced health”. However, there was “limited evidence” supporting the claim that hybrid dogs were healthier.
The researchers used a questionnaire to ask dog owners about the prevalence of 57 common diseases such as kennel cough, obesity, seizures and lameness. Note: unsure why they assessed obesity as this is commonly caused by overfeeding not an inherent health issue.
Note: purbred dogs have a poor status in terms of inherent health. The worst on my assessment is the most popular! The French Bulldog with a curtailed lifespan of little longer than 7 years, which is less than half the lifespan of your average domestic cat.
Regret
Wally Conron, the person who created the Labradoodle says that his creation is his “life’s regret” and he hasn’t “got a clue” why people are still breeding them today. He believes that he opened a Pandora’s Box because many others now breed this dog and according to him, they do a poor job of it in creating dogs with inherited diseases. He said that he ‘released a Frankenstein’. And “People are just breeding for the money. Unscrupulous breeders are crossing poodles with inappropriate dogs simply so they can say they were the first to do it.” Wally, who’s Australian, created the labradoodle in the late 1980s.
Citation
Title: The doodle dilemma: How the physical health of ‘Designer-crossbreed’ Cockapoo, Labradoodle and Cavapoo dogs’ compares to their purebred progenitor breeds. Link: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306350. Researchers: Gina T. Bryson, Dan G. O’Neill, Claire L. Brand, Zoe Belshaw, Rowena M. A. Packer.
Thanks for this, Rocky. I’ll add this information to the page or another page.
It’s interesting to note that the creator of the Labradoodle severely regrets unleashing them upon the world according to the NY Times. The article is behind a paywall but the BBC have an article on this: click here to read it.