July 31 is National Mutt Day, so we\u2019re here to celebrate the scruffy, the unique, the ambiguous, the literal underdogs. While coming across that pure-bred golden retriever puppy or honest-to-golly Dalmatian at your local rescue can seem like hitting the jackpot, allow us to make an argument for those classic Heinz 57s with less-than-obvious pedigrees.<\/p>\n
While we\u2019d never talk anyone out of adopting any dog for any reason, here are a few points in favor of mixed breeds.<\/p>\n
Mutts offer a variety of varieties all in a single package. If you like a husky\u2019s pointy ears but are more in the market for a beagle\u2019s size, you might not have to choose one or the other. Many of our popular \u201chybrid\u201d breeds that are popular today are perfect examples of this thinking. Goldendoodles and maltipoos are technically mutts, but can offer up the best of both breeds.<\/p>\n
Though a veterinarian can typically take a solid guess as to the types of breeds that make up a mutt, without genetic testing it is hardly an exact science. To the untrained eye, guessing a mixed-breed puppy\u2019s final form can be an even bigger mystery, since mutts often grow up to look a lot different than they did as youngsters. A puppy that seems Rottweiler-esque may top out at 30 pounds and end up looking more like a beagle. Some might say that\u2019s more of a con than a pro, but it depends on how adventurous you want to be.<\/p>\n
Every dog is unique, especially to its owner, who knows all of their dog\u2019s personality quirks and physical characteristics. But many people choose specific breeds because they have features and traits specific to those breeds. Whereas mutts are just baskets of surprises. The only one who has a mutt like yours is you<\/em>. Even within the same litter, mixed-breed puppies can end up looking vastly different from one another. That part-beagle, part-Saint Bernard but with a dash of (probably) Akita likely won\u2019t be replicated.<\/p>\n Let us be clear: There is no conclusive evidence that mutts in general are healthier than pure-bred dogs. It\u2019s a study that, in some ways, can\u2019t be conducted due to the vast variety of dog breeds and the vast variation from mutt to mutt. However, there have been studies that prove that mutts are less susceptible to some health conditions that tend to impact pure breeds. The Institute of Canine Biology<\/a>, after studying more than 27,000 dogs, found that the incidence of ten hereditary genetic disorders was 42 percent more likely in purebred dogs than in mixed breeds. Aortic stenosis, dilated cardiomyopathy, elbow dysplasia, Intervertebral disk disease, hypoadrenocorticism, atopy\/allergic dermatitis, bloat, cataracts, epilepsy, and portosystemic shunt are more likely to occur in purebred pooches. Thirteen other genetic disorders were found to have the same incidence no matter the breeding.<\/p>\n People tend to hang onto their purebred pups more often, and most purebred pups are more likely to be adopted in the off chance they do find themselves at a shelter. So consider giving a home to a dog who might not be offered one otherwise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" July 31 is National Mutt Day, so we\u2019re here to celebrate the scruffy, the unique, the ambiguous, the literal underdogs. While coming across that pure-bred golden retriever puppy or honest-to-golly Dalmatian at your local rescue can seem like hitting the jackpot, allow us to make an argument for those classic Heinz 57s with less-than-obvious pedigrees. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9389,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"5 Reasons to Celebrate Mutts","_seopress_titles_desc":"Discover how a mixed-breed dog can steal your heart! Explore the various perks of adopting a mutt & the benefits of providing a safe home for a mutt in need.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,257],"tags":[161,10,429,54,431,432,436,434,435,433],"class_list":["post-9384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adoption","category-rescues","tag-adoption","tag-dog","tag-dog-celebration","tag-dogs","tag-mixed-breed-dog","tag-mutt","tag-mutt-adoption","tag-mutt-celebration","tag-mutt-rescues","tag-national-mutt-day"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Mutts can be healthier (in some ways)<\/h2>\n
You\u2019re more likely to save a life<\/h2>\n