[doganjo]

For information.

There is no such thing as a designer cross breed dog – it's just a posh name for a mongrel (Cockapoo, Goldiepoo, Bringer, Bullshit etc etc are mongrels)

Don't believe the hype that they are healthier than pedigree dogs, there is absolutely no proof!

If you cross-breed two dogs from two breeds that have the same genetic disease that is caused by
the same genetic basis and you don't do the tests for it, you can still produce puppies that have the
disease.  Hip dysplasia for instance is prevalent in Labradors and Poodles - so if you want to breed labradoodles do the BVA hip tests

There is absolutely no guarantee when crossing two different breeds that you will only get the best
traits of both parents in the puppies.  Instead of the desirable traits, the resulting litter may have a
combination of the undesirable traits of the two pure-bred breeds.

With a pure-bred dog, the main benefit is that you know pretty much exactly what you're getting in
terms of look, temperament, exercise, grooming requirements, size, lifespan and potential health issues.

The predictability of pure-breds is the reason for them to exist.

A first generation cross gives none of this certainty.
There are no breeding guidelines produced for breeders of cross-breeds, there arefor pedigree
dog breeders.  There are Breed Standards - just as in other walks of life, standards help to ensure quality.  The closer you get to the standard the better the article should be.
Finding a breeder who does health testing and considers hereditary compatibility of breeding stock
is as important for a cross-breed as it is for a pure-bred.
There are many ridiculously-named cross-breeds being produced with little care and attention by
the unscrupulous, money-grabbing, uncaring, or just plain ignorant. And they are bought in some
numbers by a gullible public. Bizarre crosses are done solely to combine the breed names into a
funny mix e.g. shih tzu x bulldog etc.
Not only that you cannot get more of that type by breeding two of them together - for instance two labradoodles mated together do not produce labradoodle puppies and they can look like anything, and have any temperament or any coat type.

So all I ask is, for the sake if your best friend, think twice before buying a 'designer' dog, or breeding such a litter.  Do the tests, do the research, then decide. 
We do in farm animals so why not in dogs.
Annie

[SallyintNorth]

It's good advice to research the health issues of the parents, of course, whatever you're buying.

I often think, when crossbreed dogs are being discussed, of the prevalence of the Mule sheep, and your mentioning farm animals brought it to mind again.  The Mule is the offspring of the Blue-faced Leicester tup on a hill ewe, and over the decades, BFLs, Swales and Blackies have been refined to produce an extremely predictable first cross.  Until the last 20 years, the Mule has been the mainstay of the British sheep industry.  (She's being superseded now by the Texel, but it's interesting to see that commercial meat farmers often use crossed ewes rather than pure Texel, as using a purebred ewe can give a lot of problems.).

Some BFL breeders are renown for producing tups that 'put good faces' on his Mule daughters, and some even advertise 'Crossing Leicesters' as distinct from pedigree Leicesters.  It's widely known within the hill farming community that a 100% pure BFL won't produce as good a Mule as one with a touch of Teeswater . Or latterly, Kerry Hill has been used.

Taking the analogy further, the top Blackface flocks are known to occasionally bring in a touch of Swaledale to lengthen the leg and straighten the back.  Meanwhile, some Swaledale flocks use a touch of Blackie now and again, to widen the chest and improve the carcase.

In general, in farming, an occasional 'touch of foreign' from time to time is regarded as a necessary element of maintaining breed health.