Having read a couple of threads on here about crossbreeds, I was thinking back many years when any crossbreed was called a mongrel, any they were usually not identifiable as any particular breed, but they did have traits in common. They usually had a slightly curled tail, were short haired and either black or sandy coloured, and they always trotted along in a slightly diagonal manner. They were also street wise (okay, there wasn't so much traffic in the sixties), never wore collars, and the poo they left behind was always white.(or that's how I remember it!)
I have not seen a dog like this for many years. We had one ourselves and she was a wonderful, sweet and intelligent dog that came from the RSPCA, but she would never have won any prizes for her conformation or movement.
I think it's a shame that crossbreeding has become such a big business, with a lot of trial and error involved. These dogs were the result of several generations of mongrels being allowed to wander, un neutered, and breed indiscriminately, which is not a good thing I know, but having just seen some puppies advertised which are a first cross of bichon frise and shar pei (just why?), I sometimes yearn for the diagonally trotting mongrels of my youth.