Quotes About Mutts, and the
People Who Love Them

Talking about the cross-breeds of the dog world, many of these 16 quotes about mutts speak to the special qualities of these dogs. Some are jokes, while others are more "scholarly." You might see mutts in a different light after reading them.

If you can't decide between a Shepherd, a Setter or a Poodle, get them all ... adopt a mutt!

The intelligence of a Poodle and the loyalty of a Lassie. The bark of a Shepherd and the heart of a Saint Bernard. The spots of a Dalmatian, the size of a Schnauzer, and the speed of a Greyhound. A genuine, All-American Mutt has it all.

Hybrid vigor is an important concept in the plant world. You get this from combining the different strengths of different strains. It's the same with mutts—if you want a dog with hybrid vigor—get a mutt.

Mary Gallagher

Breed a Boxer with a German Shorthaired Pointer, you get a Boxershorts. A dog never seen in public.

Good Dog! magazine

Breed a Bulldog with a Shih Tzu and you get a Bullshitz.

Good Dog! magazine

Breed a Deerhound with a terrier, you get a Derriere. True to the end!

Good Dog! magazine

Breed a Labrador Retriever with a Curly Coated Retriever, you get a Lab Coat Retriever. The choice for research scientists.

Good Dog! magazine

Mix a Newfoundland with a Bassett Hound, you get the Newfound Asset Hound. A dog for financial advisors.

Good Dog! magazine

Breed a Pointer with an Irish Setter, you get a Pointsetter. A traditional Christmas Pet.

Good Dog! magazine

Mutts are often better to work with. Sometimes, some of the breed dogs get hyper and have lots of health problems. Mutts are just great!

Betty Linn, animal trainer, referring to the collie mix Maui, who played Murray on the television show Mad About You

Yes, he's got all them different kinds of thoroughbred blood in him, and he's got other kinds you ain't mentioned and that you ain't slick enough to see.

Don Marquis

Gratitude: that quality which the Canine Mongrel seldom lacks; which the Human Mongrel seldom possesses!

Lion P.S. Rees

I prefer mutts. The artificial construction of the gene pool is bad for the species as a whole. In a restricted gene pool, the defects pile up. The truly superior specimen is the outbred, not the inbred.

Michael Swift

He wa'n't no common dog, he wa'n't no mongrel; he was a composite. A composite dog is a dog that is made up of all the valuable qualities that's in the dog breed—kind of a syndicate; and a mongrel is made up of all riffraff that's left over.

Mark Twain

My name is Oprah Winfrey. I have a talk show. I'm single. I have eight dogs—five golden retrievers, two black labs, and a mongrel. I have four years of college.

Oprah Winfrey, when asked to describe herself during jury selection

Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men;
As hounds, and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves, are 'clept
All by the name of dogs: the valued file
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,
The housekeeper, the hunter, every one
According to the gift which bounteous nature
Hath in him closed.

William Shakespeare,
Macbeth