PORTERFIELD EXOTICS

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A Bulloxer is a relatively new hybrid breed of dog that is recognized by and registerable with the ACHC.  The Bulloxer is created by the crossing of the American Bulldog with the Boxer. 

Some might ask why cross dog breeds.  In fact all dog breeds are developed by the crossing of two or more already existing breeds and then selecting the offspring that carry the desired traits for continued breeding until they breed true and all their offspring show those desired traits.  Crossing breeds allows for several things, one is to add the desired features of two or more breeds into one dog.  With the Bulloxer our goal is to cross the playful affectionate personality of the Boxer with the bulkier more muscled body of the also playful and affectionate American Bulldog.  The American Bulldog was created the same way by crossing multiple bully breeds including Boxer and Various Bulldogs.  In essence creating the Bulloxer is just increasing the amount of Boxer blood into this breed. 

Most breeds are developed by one or just a few breeders with very tight and limited blood lines.  By out crossing to another breed you can increase your gene pool allowing you to escape some of the negative undesirable genetic traits of a particular breed while enhancing and adding to the more desirable traits.  Have you ever heard the statement "we always get a mutt, they are healthier than purebreds"?  This statement can be somewhat true in the fact that the crossing of bloodlines has widened the gene pool allowing for the elimination of some of the negative breed traits.  However, if you breed two dogs which carry the negative genes you will increase the health risks whether they are two different breeds or not.  Breeders must take great care and be very selective as to which dogs they will breed and which dogs will simply be used as pets.  In any good breeding program only the very best dogs that meet the breeders desired criteria are kept for breeding. 

Hybrid dogs are a controversial subject with many breeders and we understand their concerns.  We at Porterfield Exotics are ourselves concerned with many of the crosses that are being done and really do not see the benefit of many of those crosses.  Some would say we are creating mutts, we disagree, mutts are indiscriminate breedings usually occurring with two dogs accidentally being enabled to breed with no real thought or intentions of the breeding.  We carefully select which breeds we will cross and breed for specific qualities we like and wish to bring out in both breeds.  We believe there should be compatibility between the breeds and do not believe in the "let's see what we get if we cross" mentality.  We look at bone and muscle structure, susceptibility to health risks such as heart disease, neurological problems, skin and coat problems, whelping ease, personality, disposition and numerous other characteristics. 

We have been breeding hybrid breeds for about 12 years now.  In fact we were breeding hybrids before the current trend toward the "Designer Dogs" came into being.  We sold our first hybrids very cheap and many who bought them were criticized by others for paying good money for a mutt.  As our hybrids grew up, family and friends of those that purchased our hybrid pups saw what wonderful dogs they turned out to be and requests for further breedings increased.  Over the years we have been able to raise the prices on our hybrids to bring them into line with our purebred dog prices and our new customers now have no apprehension about paying a fair price for a hybrid dog.  Part of this is due to our track record in breeding good quality pet dogs and part is due to a change in thinking by pet owners about the importance or unimportance of "AKC papers". 

One can look at how popular a trend there is to pay hundreds of dollars to an animal shelter or rescue facility for a dog that was surrendered or seized and most often has very little background information available.  I love to hear the stories of the wonderful dog that was found at the shelter and has become a loved and cherished family pet, all to often this is not the case.  Many shelter pets are there for a reason, some have been neglected and abused and have serious issues to overcome.  Some are the result of poor or indiscriminate breeding practices and carry with them health or social issues that will never be overcome and can make them a difficult, expensive or sometimes even dangerous pet to have.  To date all our hybrid dogs produced have turned out to be fantastic family pets and we have only received good feedback from our customers regarding them.