Mya the “Pomsky” is a Mutt.

The recent wave of news and social media posts about Mya, the pomsky, have set off an old pet peeve of mine (pun intended). Granted she is cute, but I worry that three months from now we will see a new crop of ads for expensive designer pomsky’s showing up on sites like Craig’s list.

It makes me cringe when I hear about people paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for their darling “puggle”, “peekapoo” or, “labradoodle”. Sorry, but giving a dog a cutesy label doesn’t make it a breed, or guarantee it will have the particular traits you are hoping for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mya is a Pomeranian and Siberian Husky cross. Crossing two different breeds can produce a dog like Mya, but it can also produce a dog that strongly resembles just one of the parents, or sometimes will resemble neither.

I will use my own dog as an example. This is Inu. She was a rescued stray of unknown origin, aka mystery mutt. When I adopted her I thought she might be a German Shepherd crossed with some smaller breed. Imagine my surprise when I had her DNA tested and the results came back as Siberian Husky, Malamute, and BULLMASTIFF. Well, the husky wasn’t a big surprise, and I can buy the Malamute… but BULLMASTIFF?!

Inu is a slim 45 lbs, much like the Husky photo. Malamutes can reach up to 100 lbs, and Bullmastifs can weigh up to, and exceeding, 130 lbs. Anyone who was hoping for a Mastiff sized Husky would have been sorely disappointed with Inu, who really only inherited the Mastiff ears and tail.

If you cross two or more breeds of dogs, the results are unpredictable. The last time Pomsky’s popped up in social media it was as Pomeranian sized Husky’s. I’ve seen crooked breeders post photos of Pomsky puppies claiming they were fully grown. This is transferable to any designer dogs. Crossing any dog with a poodle does not in any way guarantee they’ll inherit the poodle’s low shedding coat, and crossing a toy dog doesn’t guarantee the offspring will be toys.

I’m not saying it will never work out well. In a game of chance there will always be the odd winner, but buying a designer dog from an online or newspaper ad comes with a lot of risks. There is the risk that the puppy won’t grow up to be what you expected, the risk of health problems, and the risk of supporting people who make their living on the the mistreatment of the dogs in their care. Backyard breeders and puppy mills will do their best to make it sound like they have your dream dog, but the reality is too many of these dogs live with substandard conditions and care, are bred indiscriminately, and can have serious health problems as a result. An internet search will bring up many cases of people spending thousands of dollars for their designer dog and discover too late that their puppies have serious problems that require extensive veterinary care or, sadly, even euthanasia.

Pure bred dogs exist for a reason. They are carefully bred to ensure that the offspring meet consistent standards. If you want very specific traits in your dog, you’re better off doing the research to find a dog breed with the traits you want and contacting your local kennel club for a list of reputable, registered breeders.

For those people who must have a foxy little dog like Mya, or a miniature Husky type Pomsky, you may want to consider a Shiba Inu, assuming an independent, high energy dog will suit your life style.