If you’re looking for the best mixed breed dogs, it’s important to understand the parameters around your search. The correct answer is it depends
Let me explain.
I personally am the proud owner of a mixed breed dog. His name is Wally and he’s a medium sized Feist mix, but I’m not sure what else he’s mixed with. To me, he’s just a loveable Mutt dog!
My vet says she sees some Shiba Inu features in him, especially around his neck area which is more fluffy than the rest of his body. I would have to do a dog DNA test with Wally to find out for sure.
But even without knowing his exact genetic breed make-up, Wally’s a great mixed breed dog for me personally. That’s because he’s a medium sized, active squirrel hunting dog who doesn’t bark too often and is fine with 2 hours of daily exercise.
These qualities make him perfect for my current apartment/home office lifestyle. As I’m self employed, I’m home a lot and can easily schedule Wally’s walks around my work hours.
However, while he’s good natured towards people and kids, he’s somewhat bossy towards other dogs which may support the vet’s Shiba Inu suspicion.
Thanks to his hunting genes, he also wants to chase every small, fast moving critter he sees – squirrels, rabbits, cats, birds, you name it, he wants it.
So if you were a first time dog owner, his bossy hunting dog nature may not make him the perfect mixed dog breed for you personally.
I say that because it means that you have to understand how to handle both, and this requires prior experience with dogs that have these traits.
Keeping that in mind, you’ll have to specify if you’re looking for the best mixed breed dogs for first time dog owners?
Or for the best mixed breed dogs for apartment life? Or for families and seniors?
I think you get my point. So in this blog post, we’ll look at the best mixed breed dogs in various categories!
Best Mixed Breed Dogs for First Time Owners and Seniors
Let’s start with mixed breed dog suggestions for the first time dog owner.
These dog breed mixes are good natured, don’t shed excessively and have low- medium exercise requirements, which also makes them great dogs for seniors:
- Peekapoo. Mix between a Pekingese and a Poodle.
- Cav-A-Malt. Mix between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Maltese.
- Maltipoo. Mix between a Maltese and a Toy- or Miniature Poodle.
- Cav-A-Chon. Mix between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon Frisé.
- Corgi-Bichon. Mix between a Cardigan Welsh Corgi and a Bichon Frisé.
If you’re a first time dog owner or a senior with an active lifestyle who’s looking for mixed breed dogs with higher energy requirements, check out the following:
- Labradoodle. Mix between a Labrador and a Poodle.
- Goldador. Mix between a Golden Retriever and a Labrador Retriever.
- Shorkie. Mix between a Shih Tzu and a Yorkshire Terrier.
Best Mixed Breed Dogs for Apartments
Next up, let’s take a look at mixed dog breeds suited for apartment life.
The mixed breed dogs in this section are different sized pups with medium exercise requirements who aren’t known to bark excessively.
Yep, that takes Beagle mixes and Chihuahua mixes off the table since they’re pretty vocal, but also dogs that are mixed with certain breeds that apartment complexes typically don’t allow.
For instance, German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Chow Chows, Dobermans, Akitas, Rottweilers, Mastiffs and American Pit Bull Terriers.
That said, apartment life doesn’t necessarily rule out larger dog mixes because some are mellow, gentle giants.
At the end of the day, it depends on your apartment complex’s dog weight limitations, so be sure to ask about it before bringing a large mixed breed dog home to live with you.
In addition to the pups I mentioned for first time dog owners, the following mixed dog breeds also do great in apartments:
- Affenchon. Mix between an Affenpinscher and a Bichon Frisé.
- Boxador. Mix between a Boxer and a Labrador.
- Boxerdoodle. Mix between a Boxer and Poodle.
- Boxane. Mix between a Boxer and a Great Dane.
- Cavanese. Mix between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Havanese.
- Frug. Mix between a French Bulldog and a Pug.
- Havachon. Mix between a Javanese and a Bichon Frisé.
- Jatzu. Mix between Japanese Chin and Shih Tzu.
- Pugapoo. Mix between a Pug and a Poodle.
- Scotchon. Mix between a Scottish Terrier and a Bichon Frisé.
- Tibetan Spaltese. Mix between a Tibetan Spaniel and a Maltese.
Best Mixed Breed Dogs for Families
Moving on to mixed breed dogs for families, they’ll have to be good with smaller kids, enjoy snuggles, be affectionate and not drool all over the place.
Keeping these qualifications in mind, the following cross-breed dogs make great family pups:
- Boxer Basset. Mix between a Boxer and a Basset Hound.
- Cavachon. Mix between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon Frisée.
- Cavapoo. Mix between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Poodle.
- Chipoo. Mix between a Chihuahua and a Poodle.
- Corgipoo. Mix between a Cardigan Welsh Corgi and a Poodle.
- Goldendoodle. Mix between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle.
- Husky Shepherds. Mix between a Husky and a German Shepherd.
- Morkie. Mix between a Maltese and a Yorkshire Terrier.
- Puggle. Mix between a Pug and a Beagle.
- Pomsky. Mix between a Pomeranian and a Husky.
- Schnoodle. Mix between a Schnauzer and a Poodle.
- Shorkie. Mix between a Shih-Tzu and a Yorkshire Terrier.
While these dogs are all known to be great with kids, you should still supervise any dog-kiddo interaction.
It’s also important to teach kids how to properly behave around dogs.
That includes no tail or ear pulling, and to leave dogs alone while they’re eating and sleeping.
Smartest Mixed Breed Dogs
And what about mixed breed dogs that are eager to learn, quick to train and great problem solvers?
Let’s have a look at the following pups who are hybrid dogs of intelligent dog breeds:
- Cavachon. Mix between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon Frisé.
- Chiweenie. Mix between a Chihuahua and a Dachshund.
- Cockapoo. Mix between a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle.
- Goldendoodle. Mix between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle.
- Goldador. Mix between a Golden Retriever and a Labrador Retriever.
- Labsky. Mix between a Labrador Retriever and a Siberian Husky.
- Rotterman. Mix between a Rottweiler and a Doberman.
- Schnoodle. Mix between a Schnauzer and a Poodle.
- Sheltie Heeler. Mix between a Shetland Sheepdog and an Australian Cattle Dog.
- Shepsky. Mix between a German Shepherd and a Siberian Husky.
- Sheepadoodle. Mix between an Old English Sheepdog and a Poodle.
- Shichi. Mix between a Shih Tzu and a Chihuahua.
- Shollie. Mix between a German Shepherd and a Border Collie.
- Whoodle. Mix between a Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier and a Poodle.
While highly intelligent dogs are easy to train, they also require lots of mental stimulation to keep themselves out of trouble!
Definitely something to keep in mind before bringing one of these smart guys home with you.
Best Dog DNA Test for Hybrid Dogs
Before Wally, I was the proud owner of Missy & Buzz, two Boxer mixes from the same litter of 9 puppies.
With them, I was super curious and wanted to know what else they were besides the cutest little Boxer puppies, so I did a DNA test with them.
DNA tests for mixed breed dogs are fun to do as they screen for 300+ dog breeds in order to identify your mixed breed pup’s family tree.
Some also point out hereditary disease predispositions and even have a sibling database that lets you connect with owners of your dog’s siblings.
Doggie DNA tests range in price from $65-$160 and only require a cheek swab. The turnaround time for these DNA kits is anywhere between 1-4 weeks.
There are a variety of DNA tests for mixed breed dogs, for example:
Bonus: Once you’re aware of the different breeds that make up your pup’s DNA, you can answer people’s questions about what kind of dog your pup is!
I used the Wisdom Panel dog DNA test to learn about Missy’s & Buzz’s genetic breed make-up back in 2012.
Turns out they also had Chow-Chow, Lakeland Terrier, Bull Terrier, Belgian Malinois, Norwegian Buhund and Cardigan Welsh Corgi DNA!
Super interesting for sure, but I never would have guessed any of these other breeds just by looking at the pups.
My best guess prior to doing the DNA test is that they were Lab-Boxer or maybe Rottweiler-Boxer mixes.
What do you think?
Bottom Line
There are so many wonderful hybrid dogs that it’s impossible to point out which ones make the best mixed breed dogs!
Remember, it depends on what exactly you’re looking for:
- Mixed breed dogs that do great in apartments
- Cross-breed dogs for first time dog owners
- Mixed dog breeds for people with active lifestyles
- Dog breed mixes for families
- Highly trainable and intelligent mutts
If you already have a loveable mutt and are curious to learn more about their genetic make-up, consider doing a dog DNA test.
They’re available from different brands and some even offer additional insight into your mixed breed dog’s health.