Customer Reviews

Designer Dogs: Portraits and Profiles of Popular New Crossbreeds

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Anna Kuperberg is one of the best dog photographers I have ever seen!! Her photos are unposed and unscripted, and she finds each dog's personality in every single shot. A must have for dog lovers!! A++++

Not everyone wants a pure breed, and for those of us in the market for a pound puppy- this is the best book. It give such a great account of each dogs potential personality and the pictures are beautiful.

As the president of the Australian Labradoodle Association of America, International Labradoodle Association (International Australian Labradoodle Association), I am please that this book is the first to correctly educate families to our breeds. For years we have tried to educate families and the press as to the difference between the Australian Labradoodle and Labradoodle, even to the fact that there is a difference, resulting in little progress. It is this misinformation that leads families to purchase puppies that shed, when they believing the dog will not, are higher energy or higher drive when they perceived the dog would be low in energy or laid back. This miss-information even leads wantabee breeders to breed a lab to a poodle thinking they will produce a Labradoodle more true to the breed standard (those more true to the standard are second generation, first generation Labradoodle bred to a poodle also known as a F1B) when in fact these wantabee breeders are producing a first generation Labradoodle, F1, which is typically a shedding, higher energy and higher drive dog. Although these first generation dogs make many families happy they are also the dogs that end up in shelters as they are sold to families as allergy friendly or low shedding, when neither is accurate.

Furthermore, this book explains in very easy to understand terms the idea of hybrid vigor and that hybrid vigor is just not applicable to Multigenerational dogs and those health issues present in both parent breeds (which is almost all major health issues, for example hip dysplasia). All parent breeds should be screened for these health issues, designer dogs and purebred dogs.

The book has beautiful pictures of many real dogs, explanations of each dog type, the basics of the breed results. I am impressed, more than a coffee table book, but just as beautiful.

I was disappointed by the limited information in this book. I much prefer "Hot Dogs" which I found to be much more informative, thorough and practical. The pictures are great and there is a general overview of different dogs but the overall tone is very "cutesy" and it doesn't give you the proper information so that you can make an informed decision about a specific mixed breed dog. It is fine for a general overview and some adorable photos but would not be the go-to resource bible on mixed breed dogs. Ironically, the author wrote a really excellent book on purebred dogs called the "Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds." Check it out if you are interested in a purebred dog.

We thoroughly enjoy this book. It does help that our little pup is one of the featured dogs, but I encourage everyone with a love of dogs to give this a try. The pictures are creative, colorful and taken with an expert eye. Anna Kuperberg does a great job with each uniqure personality on display. This book has an extensive description of all these wonderful mixed breeds.