The movie was part of a mini-cycle of dog attack pictures which had been a staple of the mid-late 1970s. These canine attack movies included: 'Dogs' (1976), 'Dracula's Dog' (aka 'Zoltan: Hound of Dracula') (1978), 'The Pack' (1977), 'Mongrel' (1982), 'White Dog' (1982) 'Cujo' (1983) and 'Rottweiler: Dogs of Hell' (1983).
The picture was first released during an early-mid 1980s cycle of werewolf movies. These included "Wolfen (1981)," "The Howling (1981)," "Teen Wolf (1985)," "Howling II: ... Your Sister Is a Werewolf (1985)," "Full Moon High (1981)," "Teen Wolf Too (1987)," "The Company of Wolves (1984)," "Howling III (1987)," and "An American Werewolf in London (1981)."
The picture followed a series of three ''Doberman'' movies in a franchise of films that had all been made and released during the last decade. These movies, unrelated to this 'Mongrel' film, were: 'The Daring Dobermans' (1973), 'The Amazing Dobermans' (1976) and 'Alex and the Doberman Gang' (1980) (TV Movie).