Why Did This Happen?

[StillandSilent]

A friend of a friend (against all my advice) went out and bought herself two $600 Puggles last year. Polly and Pippen are littermates and look like most Puggles, mostly puggy, but a medium brown color. Cute, but still BYB mutts.
Well, you can guess what happened. Despite me telling them over and over to fix the dogs, Pippen got Polly pregnant. The puppies are now about 8 weeks old.
Now, here comes the mystery. None of the puppies look like their parents. Every pup either looks like a pure beagle or a pure pug. No variation, no tricolor pugs or fawn beagles. They look just like grandma and grandpa must have.
Does anyone know why? Is it in the genes that an F2 cross will look nothing like an F1?
The best part? I got asked if it would be wrong to sell the puppies as purebred beagles and purebred pugs. She gave that idea up when I asked what people would think when they saw the obvious mixed breed nursing the babies. She claims Polly is going to be spayed after she weans them, but I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[oc_spirit]

Thats actually quite typical which is why for the most part, designer litters are F1 crosses.

 

[bcmoffatt]

Yup, my friend's parent's just bought a 'Puggle.' It's definitely an f2, cuz the thing's ALL beagle.

 

[Juicy]

My shih poo x poodle bred with a purebred shih tzu, and all the pups had no traits of poodle, neither does the mom.

 

[Punkygirl0101]

My pug/beagle mix must be F1 then, cause he looks like a pug/beagle mix! lol

We had a toy poodle who bred with a standard dachshund. Their puppies looked like Australian terriers! Nobody would have guessed that they were poodle/dachshund mixes. (This was back in my mothers irresponsible days..and omg, before poo mixes became popular! I wonder how many Doxiepoos there are?!

 

[HoundedByHounds]

This is why it is very hard to fix type with only two breeds. They will ALWAYS tend to one side of the pedigree or the other.

 

[bubbatd]

When will people learn to be responsible dog owners !!!!!!!

 

[ihartgonzo]

OMG.

Don't tell me the parents are brother and sister! D;

 

[HarleyD]

That's just sad and wrong! I wish people would realize that all they are doing is contibuting to overpopulation and being byb's.

 

[lakotasong]

Wow, what a sad situation. I shudder to think the type of physical and temperamental problems those puppies will end up with.

 

[FrenchKissed]

Does anyone know why? Is it in the genes that an F2 cross will look nothing like an F1?
The best part? I got asked if it would be wrong to sell the puppies as purebred beagles and purebred pugs. She gave that idea up when I asked what people would think when they saw the obvious mixed breed nursing the babies. She claims Polly is going to be spayed after she weans them, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Probably not.

The reason why these guys produced their "parents" is because both of them are very similar genetically, i.e. they are siblings. 50% is from the sire and 50% is from the dam, and since both dogs (barring any breakage or linkage in the DNA strands when replicating) they are basically carring the same genes. One just has an X extra and one a Y chromosome, making them male and female.

The two dogs being inbred together, has brought back together the genes that had been seperated. What you have whitnessed is the ultimate "inbreeding" and a prime example how inbreeding can really "set" type.

 

[skittledoo]

OMG I seriously hope she gets those dogs fixed... Ugh... I'm sorry... people like that just make me absolutely sick to my stomach... hope she doesn't plan on breeding them again

 

[StillandSilent]

OMG.

Don't tell me the parents are brother and sister! D;

Yes, they are. She and I had to have a long discussion about Pyometria and Testicular cancer, as well as a trip through our shelter (where I pointed out three homeless puggles) before it finally sank in. We made an appointment for Polly to be spayed in a month or so (once the babies are gone and her milk dries). Pippen will have to wait a bit, but he will also be getting neutered.
She isn't a bad person, she is just sort of ignorent when it comes to dogs. Hopefully this has opened her eyes.

 

[Boemy]

Man, that must have been frustrating for you, after warning her and everything!

Weird about how they've "reverted to type", though!

 

[YodelDogs]

Now, here comes the mystery. None of the puppies look like their parents. Every pup either looks like a pure beagle or a pure pug. No variation, no tricolor pugs or fawn beagles. They look just like grandma and grandpa must have.
Does anyone know why? Is it in the genes that an F2 cross will look nothing like an F1?

In easy-to-follow terms, each parent contributes 50% of its genes to its offspring. Thus, breeding a 100% Pug to a 100% Beagle will give you puppies that are 50% Pug and 50% Beagle, a cross commonly referred to as a Puggle. Things get a bit tricky for F2 (Puggle x Puggle).

Although each Puggle parent has 50% Pug and 50% Beagle genes, it does NOT mean it will pass along 25% Pug, 25% Beagle to each puppy. (Remember each parent can only pass along 50% total each puppy.) The percentages of traits will be random and some puppies will get a high percentage of "Pug genes" from both parents and look like Pugs, others will get a high percentage of "Beagle genes" and look like Beagles while still others will fall somewhere in between. You will find this true of ALL crossbred (aka "designer hybrids"). Trying to get a second generation to look like a first generation cross is not going to occur reliably.

 

[ihartgonzo]

That makes sense, Yodeldogs! : ) How strange it is try to make a breed of out simply crossing two breeds, and combining the breed names.

I just remembered a weird childhood friend's family. They got a puppy, a female, who was half Chow Chow and half Australian Cattle Dog. Their neighbors decided to get a male puppy from the same litter. Guess what happened, a year later?! They had 4 puppies. 2 were incredibly fluffy and Chow-like, and 2 had smooth coats and looked very ACD-ish... one even had a bob tail. I always thought that was bizarre.