What is hybrid vigor?
Hybrid vigor, also known as heterosis, refers to the possibility that a healthier offspring (puppy) may be produced from two parties (in this case, dogs). As we all know, its generally healthier to have a broad genetic pool rather than a narrow genetic pool. That is why there are laws against inbreeding! When genetics are too close there can be problems and when a breed is bred again and again they begin to develop issues that are very common to their breed. Cross-breeding is done to reproduce desirable traits in two breeds and eliminate undesirable breed-specific traits. An eye defect called Retinal Atrophy can be found in Labs but is extremely rare in Standard Poodles. A purebred Lab would be more likely to have or carry the Retinal Atrophy defective gene than a Labradoodle because the Lab is being bred with a Poodle, a breed that does not tend to have the defect. The idea that the hybrid puppy is less likely to have such a defect is known as hybrid vigor. You can see the benefit of
