Cross Breed or Mongrel?

Hi all,

Just a really random one. We have been having a debate at work today regarding cross breeds.

I always thought if a dog has two parents of different breeds but that both breeds are known, ie Staffy and Boxer as in Mistys case then they were called a cross breed. I thought if a dog had unknown parents then they were a mongrel as the two breeds could not be determined. However at work I've been told that any dog, unless it's parents are the same breed is a mongrel.
Is this correct? What do you call a dog with different breeds as parents.

Note - I don't care if Misty is a mongrel, I've nothing against any dog and couldn't care less about breeding. It's just interesting to know what everyone else thinks.

If both parents are of a specific type then in my view that makes a cross.

If one parents breed is unknown i.e. what I would call a Heinz, then that would be a mongrel... but I'm in no way scientific

if you know the parents its a crossbreed but if I dnt know its a heinz 57 varieties

i think years ago they were known as mongrels,my mum and dad had a dog when we were kids and she was the most strangest dog ever,we all called her a heinz 57 she was a brilliant dog thou these days i think most people say their dog is a cross breed

a cross breed is a dog that has parents that are two different, distinct breeds.

a mongrel is a mix of anything & everything!

Both are technically correct it seems , well sort of

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mongrel

aren't they two different things? mongrel you don't know who the parents are and cross breeds you do.
I just call mine mutts bit of everything.

gillybrent wrote:a cross breed is a dog that has parents that are two different, distinct breeds.

a mongrel is a mix of anything & everything!

I'm with this explanation but Gilly said it better

^ me too!

That's exactly what I thought! Now I can go back into the office and tell them all that I'm right and they are wrong! Today is going to be a good day