Mixed Breed

[Deborah]

Is there such a thing as a mix between short and longhaired breeds? If so, what do they look like? My friend has one of each and intends to let them breed, and I'm wondering what the pups will look like.

[Carol A. Smith]

Deborah: What you are talking about is called cross coat breeding. While it is done, and the pups can be registered, most breeders don't do it. The United States is the only country that allows it, by the way. Unless there is some really compelling reason (conformationally) to do this, I see no reason to cross coat. I personally don't do it at all, ever.

If you cross a long with a smooth, you can get longs and/or smooths, depending on what is behind the smooth. If the smooth carrys a gene for long, you can get both long and smooth pups in the litter. If the smooth is pure for smooth, all you will get is smooth, carrying the long gene. And pedigrees that are now a mish-mash of coat, which can lead to surprises down the line for someone else.

If longhairs do appear, many times their coat is not really very long or full, but they will be lonhairs, nonetheless.

Wire breeders sometimes cross coat with smooths to improve the harshness of the wire coat. In this case as well, depending on what is behind the dogs genetically, you can get wire and/or smooth pups...

Carol