Just out of Curiosity: Mixed Breeds

[RSX JDM Integra]

I debated about this with someone recently. This is about mixed-bred dogs.

If both parents are purebreds from different breeds and had a litter, would the litter consist of all puppies looking similar and alike? Alike as in the same appearance, similar height and weight or will they differ with one looking more like the father and one like the mother?

 

[noludoru]

Any combo of the above.

Puppies can end up looking like either parent in anything--muzzle/tail/paw/eye shape, coat coloring, size, or they could be a perfect blend of the two. All the puppies could look very alike in some or all ways, or they could be a mishmash of colors, coat type, size, and conformation. It's purely random.

For instance, say you breed a Merle Aussie to a GSD... Mom has one copy of the Merle gene, so in theory she would pass it on to 1/2 of her puppies. All the puppies could be merle. None could be merle. Half could be, etc. You never know!

However, if a dog has TWO copies of a dominant gene, they will ALWAYS be passed to puppy. So say you have a double-merle (NOT advisable to breed for, they often have health problems) Aussie this time. ALL the pups would be merle, 100% of the time.

 

[RSX JDM Integra]

So let's say like my puppy is a Mixed Corgi/JRT. She has the coat of a Corgi and a JRT facial appearance and long legs with a tail. Would that mean her litter siblings have the same appearance besides the color of the coating?

 

[Herschel]

So let's say like my puppy is a Mixed Corgi/JRT. She has the coat of a Corgi and a JRT facial appearance and long legs with a tail. Would that mean her litter siblings have the same appearance besides the color of the coating?

No.

They likely look completely different.

 

[RSX JDM Integra]

Thanks for the answers

Now I shall tell my buddy that he was wrong and I was right.

 

[Fran27]

It's a bit like identical and fraternal twins. Identicals are in the same placenta and have the same DNA... while fraternals are in different placentas and have different DNA - and can look completely different.

As far as I know, puppies all have their own sack, so it's like fraternal twins.