Heterosis and the Hybrid Dog

Breeders of Poodle mixes (also known as hybrid dogs) all agree that these delightful dogs possess exceptional temperaments, beauty and grace, as well as being low-shedding and having low-allergenic properties, meaning they can be tolerated considerably better by allergy sufferers.

However, the allure of Poodle mixes, and hybrid dogs in general, extends even beyond that, breeders believe in something called heterosis (also referred to as hybrid vigor) which is the belief that cross breeding two pure-breds will produce a genetically superior animal to that of either of its parents.  Although this has become a controversial subject, the belief is that the more generations the parents have been kept apart, the better, as their offspring will tend to have fewer genetic maladies in common within their gene pools since the parent breeds are unrelated.  For obvious reasons this is a good thing since we, of course, prefer our dogs to live longer, healthier lives.  In contrast, the pure-bred gene pool has in many cases been circulating for centuries, with the same going around over and over again.  It is believed that this may make them more susceptible to various diseases or disorders that will keep showing up in the breed no matter what is done to prevent them.

Although hybrid vigor is a great benefit to owning a Poodle hybrid dog it is not to say that health issues will be nonexistent in Poodle mixes, so care should always be taken to provide your dog with the best possible health opportunities by following your veterinarian’s schedule of check-ups.