2016 update: You can now select one of three Mixed Breed options as a primary breed for dogs. HOWEVER, please note if you instead select a dog primary and secondary breed and leave the purebred option set to "no", our initial tests show that those dogs will be seen in more search results and receive more interest than if you select the one of the three "Mixed breed" options:
Mixed Breed (Large)
Mixed Breed (Medium)
Mixed Breed (Small)
Q: With puppies we usually don’t see the mother or father of the puppies so we don't know what breed they actually are. Can you add Mixed as a breed to your website so that we don’t mislead our adopters into thinking that the puppy they are adopting is a certain breed and will be a certain size?
A: Thank you so much for taking the time to give us your feedback!
The reason we don't recommend Mixed as a breed option is that in our user testing, potential adopters almost always select a breed when searching on our site. They very infrequently select mutt or mixed from the several mutt/mixed options in our site's breed search pull-down list. We want to help your pets get seen by potential adopters, and by selecting breeds you are doing just that. As a shelter or rescue, adopters are seeking your expertise in helping them select a pet that will be a good match for their home. Based on the puppy's age, size, appearance, and behavior, please make your best guess when selecting breeds, and please feel free to note in the pet's story if you don't know the pets parents and your breeds labels are a best educated guess.
We do also have non-specific dog breeds you can choose with the words 'Unknown Type' in the breed name, which will convey to your adopters the uncertainty you are looking to convey, and those are below.
For bigger puppies or dogs:
Hound (Unknown Type)
Retriever (Unknown Type)
Setter (Unknown Type)
Shepherd (Unknown Type)
Spitz (Unknown Type, Large)
For medium to smaller puppies or dogs:
Spaniel (Unknown Type)
Spitz (Unknown Type, Medium)
Spitz (Unknown Type, Small)
Terrier (Unknown Type, Medium)
Terrier (Unknown Type, Small)
You can have the pet's "Purebred" value set to "No" and that will add the word Mix to the end of the breed displayed. You can select two breeds too, so for example, you could have a puppy who is a
Hound (Unknown Type)/Spaniel (Unknown Type) Mix
We also have some common breed type names such as "Pit Bull Terrier" as the general breed type in addition to the full breed name values of "American Pit Bull Terrier", "American Staffordshire Terrier" and "Staffordshire Bull Terrier" among others, such as "Cocker Spaniel" for both American Cocker Spaniels and English Cocker Spaniels.
I hope that addresses your concern? Thank you again for emailing us with your request. We are always working on improvements and changes from shelter feedback, like yours. I look forward to hearing from you in the future!
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