# What do you get when you cross a wolf and a chihuahua? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 9, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856 "2010-03-09T15:25:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/21 "2010-03-09T21:20:12Z")
On the other hand, if our guesses about my mom’s dog are correct, a German shepherd-Beagle cross produces a very handsome dog. > [@](#): > > One final note on breeding dogs, crosses between two purebreds do not always produce a standard looking dog. In one litter you could have some pups that resemble one parent or the other and some that look like a cross between the two and some that look entirely different. It takes several generations to produce a new breed that will have a standard look for all dogs of that breed If the two original parents are true purebreeds, then all the pups in the first generation will look the same (for instance, every labradoodle will look just like every other labradoodle). But if you then breed two of those “designer breeds” together, you can get almost anything: The offspring could look just like either of the original parent breeds, or like one of the parent breeds in some characteristics and the other in others, or an intermediate between the two in some, or pretty much any combination of the traits of the parents that you can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/22 "2010-03-09T21:54:18Z")
A dirty look from the chihuahua. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/23 "2010-03-09T21:55:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But if you then breed two of those “designer breeds” together, you can get almost anything: The offspring could look just like either of the original parent breeds, or like one of the parent breeds in some characteristics and the other in others, or an intermediate between the two in some, or pretty much any combination of the traits of the parents that you can think of. And, in fact, the way you turn one of those “designer breeds” into a real breed is by deciding what standard you want for the new breed and culling the dogs that don’t fit your standard. If you do this through enough generations, the dogs will breed true. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/24 "2010-03-09T22:18:32Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > And, in fact, the way you turn one of those “designer breeds” into a real breed is by deciding what standard you want for the new breed and culling the dogs that don’t fit your standard. If you do this through enough generations, the dogs will breed true. Which is exactly how those original pure bred strains were created in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/25 "2010-03-09T23:04:35Z")
So, there must be some mad genetic scientists out there who have tried something like the following: artificially inseminate a female St. Bernard, Great Dane, Wolfhound or Mastiff with the sperm of a male Chihuahua, Papillon or Bichon Frise. If someone can point me to pictures of the progeny I would be vastly interested. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/26 "2010-03-09T23:11:02Z")
Does anyone know about how many generations that would take? I guess ultimately that would depend on how many different traits you incorporate into the standard of the new breed, and how many traits are shared by the two parent breeds, but a ballpark figure for typical values? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/27 "2010-03-09T23:36:05Z")
Dudley Marjoribanks started breeding in 1865, and the Golden Retriever got registered as an official breed in 1903. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/28 "2010-03-09T23:59:35Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I’m not sure what you’d get, but I’m imagining a pack of them yipping madly as it takes down a moose. I dunno that it would take a whole pack of them. A wolf’s size/strength with a chihuahua’s attitude is gonna be one bad ass dog… ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/29 "2010-03-10T00:09:30Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Okay, seriously, first you’d have to have a really horny wolf otherwise it might decide the chihuahua is food not friend. If the chihuahua is the female and it survives the mating (you can always use artificial insemination) it will probably be unable to give birth, heck they have trouble when bred with other chihuahuas. If the chihuahua is the male then he will probably need some help with the mating or the female wolf should be asleep so she won’t notice. Like I said in the OP, artificial insemination will probably be involved. > [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > You think [this little guy](http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdb206/sets/72157622773681734/) is freaky looking? ☹ Well, no. Puppies are supposed to have really large heads. It’s when it’s an adult dog that has [a Shepherd head and a Corgi body](http://www.luvmutt.com/photos/luvmutts2/otis2.jpg)(yes, that’s what the one I saw looked like)- ‘freaky’ might not be the best word, so let’s just say “strange”. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/30 "2010-03-10T00:19:13Z")
I don’t know, but let’s call it a WOOAAWAA! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/31 "2010-03-10T01:41:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Dudley Marjoribanks started breeding in 1865, and the Golden Retriever got registered as an official breed in 1903. Interesting, looking into that a bit more, it looks like the Labrador retriever was not one of the breeding stocks that went into the development of the Golden (or at least, not a pedigreed one), despite having pre-existed the event. I would have thought the breeds would be fairly closely related. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/32 "2010-03-10T01:48:13Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > No, this isn’t a joke (though I’m sure the smart-alecs of the Dope will be submitting punchlines shortly). A wolf and a toy dog are technically the same species, right? So if you were to crossbreed a wolf and a chihuahua (I assume artificial insemination would be involved), what sort of weird hybrid would you get. Have any bored scientists actually done this? I’ve seen chihuahua/medium breed crosses (from not necessarily particularly small or good-looking chihuauas), and they look like mutts, mostly, unless the other breed is something with a distinctive appearance. Chihuauas are kind of “generic dog, only really small”, and they don’t have that many distinctive features. I’d imagine a wolf/chihuaua hybrid would look equally nondescript. > [@Chronos](#): > > If the two original parents are true purebreeds, then all the pups in the first generation will look the same (for instance, every labradoodle will look just like every other labradoodle). This is really not true. Most dog breeds are not perfectly genetically homogenous, and crossbreeds can vary quite a bit between individuals, even within the same litter. Labradoodles, for instance, show significant variation in coat texture, curliness and length; some look a lot like curly-coated retrievers while some look more like old english sheepdogs and some just look like heavy-bodied poodles. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/33 "2010-03-10T02:27:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Interesting, looking into that a bit more, it looks like the Labrador retriever was not one of the breeding stocks that went into the development of the Golden (or at least, not a pedigreed one), despite having pre-existed the event. I would have thought the breeds would be fairly closely related. Well, the modern Labrador didn’t really come about until the 1880s itself. Its ancestor was the St. John’s Waterdog (as was the Newfie.), and St. Johns Dogs were referred to sometimes in England as Labradors, but they were different than modern Labs. However, the breeds are closely related, because one of the dogs that went into the Golden Retriever was the Wavy Coated Retriever. The Wavy Coated Retriever was a cross between the Lesser St. John’s Dog (the father of the modern Lab), and a setter. So, the Lab is the Golden’s uncle, in a sense. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/34 "2010-03-10T06:01:15Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Like I said in the OP, artificial insemination will probably be involved. > … Yeah, I was kinda being facetious. But most accidental crosses are unintentional and both parties have to survive the mating to produce offspring. [QUOTE=Chronos] If the two original parents are true purebreeds, then all the pups in the first generation will look the same (for instance, every labradoodle will look just like every other labradoodle). [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=JR Brown] This is really not true. Most dog breeds are not perfectly genetically homogenous, and crossbreeds can vary quite a bit between individuals, even within the same litter. Labradoodles, for instance, show significant variation in coat texture, curliness and length; some look a lot like curly-coated retrievers while some look more like old english sheepdogs and some just look like heavy-bodied poodles. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/35 "2010-03-10T06:02:48Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Like I said in the OP, artificial insemination will probably be involved. > … Yeah, I was kinda being facetious. But most accidental crosses are unintentional and both parties have to survive the mating to produce offspring. [QUOTE=Chronos] If the two original parents are true purebreeds, then all the pups in the first generation will look the same (for instance, every labradoodle will look just like every other labradoodle). [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=JR Brown] This is really not true. Most dog breeds are not perfectly genetically homogenous, and crossbreeds can vary quite a bit between individuals, even within the same litter. Labradoodles, for instance, show significant variation in coat texture, curliness and length; some look a lot like curly-coated retrievers while some look more like old english sheepdogs and some just look like heavy-bodied poodles. [/QUOTE] What he said. I’ve seen lots of litters of puppies from two different purebreds and not all the puppies look alike. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/36 "2010-03-10T06:18:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > On the other hand, if our guesses about my mom’s dog are correct, a German shepherd-Beagle cross produces a very handsome dog. My folks had a dog that was half German Shepherd and half Beagle. I don’t think anyone would have described her as “handsome” but she was wonderfully good-tempered. Funny looking animal - Beagle face and ears, Shepherd coloring and Shepherd body. Beagle legs - she looked like a low-rider. Tail…well that must have come from a beaver or something, it was more like a paddle; she didn’t really wag her tail but rather her entire rear end would go into Full Wiggle Mode. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/37 "2010-03-10T08:18:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Funny looking animal - Beagle face and ears, Shepherd coloring and Shepherd body. Beagle legs - she looked like a low-rider. Bowser has a beagle face and German shepherd body, too, but his legs are well-proportioned to his body. And he’s not nearly as waggy as my first dog growing up, a vizsla/presumed lab cross. He is wonderfully well-behaved, though, and is absolutely devoted to my mom. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/38 "2010-03-10T13:27:35Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Well, no. Puppies are supposed to have really large heads. It’s when it’s an adult dog that has [a Shepherd head and a Corgi body](http://www.luvmutt.com/photos/luvmutts2/otis2.jpg)(yes, that’s what the one I saw looked like)- ‘freaky’ might not be the best word, so let’s just say “strange”. I see. Although the dog in this photo has its head much closer to the camera than its body, so it’s kind of hard to figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/39 "2010-03-10T13:36:05Z")
Years ago, at work, I was talking to a guy who breeds German Shepherds and I said to him, “I have worked out the perfect dog breed, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Pit Bull cross. The temperament of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with the looks of a Pit Bull.” He looked at me and said, “Or vice versa.” ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856/40 "2010-03-10T13:37:58Z")
I’d like to know what would happen if you gave the resultant hirsute hybrid a shovel 🙂 > **[Mexican wolf boy drills a big hole through the planet, jumps in.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=555255)** > > The intrepid fellow is taking a break from the hairsploitation circuit and wishes to investigate the nature of gravity. He drills a nice wide hole all the way through the planet, passing through the exact centre, takes his clothes off, rolls about in... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-a-wolf-and-a-chihuahua/531856.md?page=3)