How To Care for Your Mixed Breed Dog

Mixed breed dogs don’t come with an owner’s manual. Unlike purebred dogs, on which there are dozens of books published that outline their hereditary diseases, behavioral traits, and common challenges, there’s no how-to guide for caring for your one-of-a-kind best friend.
In honor of National Mutt Day, learn how you can support your dog’s health and happiness in a way that’s perfectly unique, just like them.

5 Ways To Care For Your Mixed Breed Dog

1. Consider getting a DNA test.
If you adopted your dog without any background information on their lineage, you can learn a lot about them with a DNA test. Guessing your dog’s breed makeup based on their appearance can be fun, but tends to be inaccurate. Even shelter workers, veterinarian, and other dog experts cannot tell what breed(s) a dog is just by looking at them. DNA tests are surprisingly easy and affordable, and can be done at home with a mail-in DNA My Dog Breed ID Test.

2. Learn as much as you can about your dog’s known breeds.
Mixed breed dogs tend to carry over many of the same traits, hereditary diseases, and quirks as their ancestors, just like purebred dogs. While their genetics tend to be more diverse, lending them to more dilute genes for hereditary conditions, mixed breed dogs are not necessarily always healthier than their purebred counterparts. For example, Goldendoodles are prone to hip and elbow dysplasia from their Golden Retriever side, but can also inherit luxating patella from their Poodle side.

3. Spay or neuter to prevent unwanted litters.
While your mixed breed dog would certainly have unique, adorable puppies, it’s best to leave breeding to breeders. Reputable dog breeders use health screening and generational records to help produce healthy puppies with predictable traits. Spaying and neutering protects your own dog’s health by preventing common cancers and pyometra, a life-threatening uterine infection. Talk to your veterinarian about the best time to spay or neuter your dog.

4. Don’t forget your dog’s mental health.
Personalities, behavioral tendencies, and temperaments can be inherited too. A herding breed mix will have likely inherited that classic herding breed intelligence, and that too-smart-for-my-own-good attitude can sometimes lead to destruction due to boredom. A Great Pyrenees mix is likely to love to bark, and a Husky mix may have inherited the escape artist trait. Managing your mixed breed dog’s mental health will be a balance of understanding their unique personality, putting their innate skills to work, and utilizing training, management, and behavioral modification to raise a great dog who’s fun to be around.

5. Explore your dog’s potential.
While important roles were once reserved for purebred dogs, this is no longer the case. In recent years, mixed breed dogs, including rescues who were adopted as adults, have been successfully working as service dogs, TV and film animal actors, online catalog models, police dogs, agility competitors, and so much more. Even if you don’t have big plans for your mixed breed dog, remember that they can do everything a purebred dog can do, and the sky’s the limit when you take the time to hone their unique talents - even if that means being the best snuggle buddy ever.