Designer-dogs ... or mongrels?
In the beginning there was the wolf ... then man got involved and decided to make some modifications to aid daily life. Selective breeding was undertaken to enhance desirable traits such as size, colouring, temperament and practical abilities in order to assist specific needs. Eventually exchanges took place between communities, thus intensifying the initial inbreeding of characteristics and expanding the evolution of domesticated dogs. Scientific analysis of a number of dog breeds has since found substantiation as to relationships between breeds, and how they could have been descended from different locations. [i]
In the early 19th century bloodlines started to be recorded specifically to aid the classification of dogs into breeds rather than just attributed characteristics, thus enabling a further refining as to particular abilities (for example the herding instinct or honing retrieving skills). Also the popularity in ownership of these selective breeds was becoming widespread amongst those with money and so, as a result of dog exhibitions taking on a more competitive edge a group of gentlemen founded the Kennel Club. They established a set of rules as to the requirements of field trial (undertaken mostly by the aristocracy) and breed specific for the activity of showing, which was to eventually become a pastime open to all classes of society.
It was not until 1874 that a studbook was compiled containing over four-thousand dogs that had been the recorded winners in the new sport of showing dogs, which resulted in the establishment of breed rules and classifications.[ii] The registration of new breeds to the Kennel Club is ongoing, but it is still subject to stringent requirements.
Therefore, as all dogs were originally descendents from the domesticated wolf, and they have all evolved as a result of humans breeding specifically to enhance desired traits ... then technically, regardless of background they could all be classed as designer dogs.