Blended breeds often healthier
PET BULLETIN
‘Mews and Yips’ from the Central Aroostook Humane Society
Carolyn L. Cheney
Board of Directors
Many people have mixed breed dogs, and sometimes the mixed breed can be the best dog they ever have. Often they are called mongrels or Heinz 57 variety. Rather than call them mixed breed, I read somewhere the other day they were called blended. I rather like that, and it sounds nicer than mixed breed.
My first dog I ever had as an adult was a blended breed. I think he must have had every variety of dog possible in him. He was a lover, a fighter and a chaser of cats. You name it, he did it. At the time Joe, my husband, was stationed at Fort Dix, N.J., and we were living in Army housing.
Our beautiful blended dog which we named Deros was running with a group of dogs so we decided to rescue him. We are quite the softies when it comes to animals so Joe just went up the street and invited him in. He had no tags and was rather skinny so we decided he had been left on his own. That was quite common at the time for people who were leaving the service to just leave their animals to survive on their own. That is just so sad to me so we saved the life of a dog.
We were going on a camping trip when Joe brought Deros home so we put him in the car with all of our junk and off we went to Atlantic City with our new dog. We stopped and bought dog food and some dishes. We thought he must be hungry so we fed him on the way. That was our first mistake as he promptly upchucked all over the backseat. ‘Oh well,’ we said! What amateurs we were when it came to dog care. Our camping weekend went reasonably well with Deros sleeping outside the tent, and Joe holding a leash with him attached. For some reason he was unhappy inside — Deros, not Joe.
As many mixed (blended) breeds are, Deros was a friendly and faithful companion for many years. Many blended dogs are extremely bright and, like purebred dogs, they do assistance work and therapy work. With a mixed breed pup if you don’t know the parents, it can be difficult to know the kind of temperament it may have as it grows up. If you can possibly find out some background information, it can be helpful to have some kind of idea of the personality the pup will have when it matures. Although, I am a firm believer that treating a dog with kindness and love helps the temperament a great deal.
I have often read that mixed breed dogs are quite healthy, and in our situation with Deros I found that to be very true. Other than routine care, we had 17 years of love with Deros. It was a very difficult day when we had to say goodbye to him.
Please visit us at the Central Aroostook Humane Society, 26 Cross St., Presque Isle, or call 764-3441. We have many beautiful cats and dogs waiting to be adopted and have their own forever home.
