Conference misery::feline_v1

    Just to clarify a bit.  I think what you are asking is why did anyone
    ever put two breeds together to form a new one, and why did any
    association accept that breed for registration.  Those questions
    I can't answer for you.  CFA feels that unless a breed can breed
    true, they won't accept if for registration.  Other associations
    are quicker to recognize new breeds.  
    
    Right now, several breeds of cats are allowed to breed to other
    breeds.  Balinese breeders are allowed to breed to Siamese to
    strengthen their type and to expand their genetic pool.  Javanese
    breeders can breed to Balinese for the same reasons.  Oriental breeders
    can breed to Siamese for the same reason.  Basically, all these
    cats are the same cat underneath, they have just been given a different
    name to indentify them as either being of an unrecognized Siamese
    color, or pattern, or of an unrecognized Siamese coat length.
    
    Tonkinese is another man-made breed.  Burmese were bred to Siamese
    to create this breed.  I believe that they now have to confine their
    breedings to other Tonkinese.
    
    Sometimes breeders are allowed to open their breeds up to outcrosses
    in order to expand the gene pool and provide genetic diversity for
    the breed.        
                                          
    I think it would be a generalization to imply that all cat breeders
    are out there mixing their breeds without any thought to what they
    are doing.  I don't see myself as being any different from your
    average dog breeder--I breed the best of my breed to make pure/healthy
    cats with sound temperaments.  I think that the majority of legitimate,
    responsible breeders do the same.  
    
    Jo
    
    
    

A good example is the Korat I am purchasing. Since I am
going to be breeding, I can ONLY breed to another Korat,
and nothing else. It's in the contract I will be signing,
and as far as I know, it's been that way since the beginning -
Korat to Korat or it's not anything.

Cheryl

    Several breeds of cats originated with a genetic mutation.  Such
    breeds include Scottish Folds, American Curls and the Spinx.  The
    mutations occurred spontaneously and the decision was made to try
    and stabilize it into a new breed.  
    
    With Scottish Folds you always breed straight ear to folded ear for
    health reasons and the straight-ear in the mating can be either a
    straight earred fold or American or British Shorthair.  This is also
    for health reasons - both breeds have a large gene pool and are very
    hearty breeds.  This improves the quality of the folds.
    
    Also, I wanted to remind you of some interesting dog breeds ie. the
    cock-a-poo and the peek-a-poo which are cocker spaniel/poodle crosses
    and peekanese(sp?)/poodle crosses.  now I don't know as these are AKA
    accepted breeds, but I do know you can pay plenty for these breeds at
    pet stores.  So it seems that crossing breeds is not restricted to
    cat breeders.
      Nancy DC
    
      

    Yeah, Nancy!!
    

    
    
    I think the reason you may not hear of dog breeders cross breeding as
    often is because there are already so many established breeds that are
    recognized by the registries as pure-bred.  The poodle crosses have yet
    to earn this distinction but consider the Bullmastiff, a bull dog and
    mastiff cross, the Doberman, created by combining many breeds, the 
    varieties of Dachshunds, by crossing a smoothe with a terrier you get
    a wire-hair and a smooth with a spaniel gets a long hair. Keep in mind
    that these crosses were made MANY years ago.  There are still some 
    people out there trying to create new breeds but it must be more
    difficult with dogs.  It seems that only more recently has there been
    a move toward creating new cat breeds.  Dogs were created for a
    utilitarian purpose, cats it seems are for our enjoyment.  If cat
    breeders keep up the hard work and dedication we will be fortunate to 
    have a good selection/variety of cats to choose from. 
    
    
    MaryAnne

several breeds of dogs are, indeed, the result of carefully planned cross
breedings of several other breeds and even wolves to get the desired result.
The breed I am most familiar with is the Doberman, a human-created result
of cross-breedings.  Now, dobermans breed true - meaning that you breed
two dobermans together and you get lots of little dobermans - but this has
not always been true.

You are more aware of it in cats because cats are becomming more popular
now that we are losing living space due to our population growth.  However,
dog breeds are still being created somewhere in this world.  Bet on it. 

    RE: .3
    
    NANCY,
    
    Cock-a-poos and peke-a-poos are not recognized by AKC as true breeds. 
    If a Cock-a-poo is bred to either I believe the pups are mixed.  Just
    letting you know.  Same with the peke-a-poo by the way.  Did anyone
    know that the Boston Terrier actually a cross between a staffordshire
    terrier and something else?   Pretty neat huh?
    
    Lisa

    A friend of mine has attributed the idea that peke-a-poos and
    cock-a-poos are purebreds to "Doktor Pet" who has sold them for
    big $$ to unsuspecting folks.  Her sister just bought the cutest
    little black cock-a-poo (named "nosey") for $200.  Now that's cheap
    relative to the $600 Margaret paid for her Shar-pei, but then the
    Shar-pei is a real purebred (and a real cutie too!).  In this case
    I think they wanted to be sure they got a healthy dog.
      N
    

    re: .8 - I forgot to mention that Margaret's sister bought the
    cock-a-poo from a breeder, NOT a pet store, because she wanted
    to be sure she got a good healthy dog.