Border/Staffy was a thing for a while in agility, but I haven’t heard about any new ones lately. Locally, we had Border/Jacks (but that didn’t last very long) and I know of a litter of Border/Paps…
Google littermate syndrome. Most people do not recommend it but of course it can be done if you are prepared and diligent.
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Bernadoodle? Peke-a-poo? Maybe I should optimize the marketing strategy for the rescued dogs I am rehoming.
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Well, I have to mention, there is a website where you can find dogs of most breeds to adopt from across the U.S. You can find them by state and some dogs are in pounds and you find out nothing about them, and some dogs are at rescues or owner surrenders: elderly going into rest home situations, people moving etc. rescueme.org is the website. We got our last two from it. One from a rescue, one from a private party. It is a really well made charity website to wander around, except I want to rescue all of them when I do it, so I try not to check it out unless we have room in our pack. They have horses and all manner of other animals on it too.
Speaking of mixed breeds… I agree, I don’t know for the life of me why breed mixes other than puppy mill money. My father-in-law bought my mother-in-law a $900 Havanese crossed with Shih Tzu at a pet shop. The only saving grace was my father-in-law died shortly after and then so did her older dog, so her puppy was a precious present from him. Still… she could have gotten a rescue much cheaper and just as sweet of a little thing. The dog has a very neurotic temperament too. I’m convinced she came from a puppy mill situation where the mother passed on her skeevy personality traits developed in some filthy cage with no human contact.
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Some times you wonder, like this current craiglist ad:
"Mother is anatolian shepherd 1/8 great pyrenees. Father we think is the Male we have running with her. He’s anatolian shepherd and great pyrenees mix also. Will be ready to go in 3 weeks. "
Ad has very cute puppy pictures.
This thread has given me lots to think about and some breeds to seriously consider and a few to cross off my list. lol. There are a few rescues close which I do check out, no problem with a rescue dog per se, would like to know what I am getting tho.
I wonder about the DNA identification also.
Peke-a-poo made me laugh 
Here is a cute video of Boxers. These dogs need sweaters and have a thin coat, so they are not in the running for you OP, but this breed is known for being super goofy and funny. We adopted a Boxer who was dumb as a box of rocks (flunked obedience the first time he took it) but the most loveable goofball imaginable who made us laugh all the time. I still miss him. He was so loving, cuddly and when he thought he had to protect us he turned into a tiger (which was weird because most of the time he was a big candya$$). Ours wanted to sleep under the covers as soon as he saw the Chi doing it and wore a sweater on rainy and cold days in Cali.
https://www.facebook.com/animaltales…7990826598178/
This is probably the best video compilation of Boxers I have ever seen. It epitomizes how fun this breed can be. They talk to you in weird wooing noises no other dog breeds make. I’ve never had another dog that would jump for joy, just pure joy.
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I have kept two litter mates in the past, and we kept three pups from our Dec litter. It obviously takes more time than one, and you need to be sure to give them time apart regularly. If you don’t have another dog(s) that they are bonding with, time apart, everyday, training, walking, and crated, is absolutely critical. If they are only with each other all day/night, then that is who they bond with. I know someone with two rhodesian ridgeback litter mates who had a terrible time as they bonded with each other and not her. Something to be very careful of.
That said, my pups are 5 months and I am having fun now training two at a time some days. We are trying to get ready for rally competition. Whoever sits first, gets the cookie first. A little competition is motivating them to work. My over achiever has figured the game out and got very upset with my husband one day, when she “won” and he mistakenly rewarded her sister first, lol. Mostly my husband and I each work with one, (three pups and mom), and then practice two dog recalls, which are fun and productive.
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I wanted to add that not all breeds require a 2 year wait. My breed, many breeders have litters infrequently. I have a couple people on my wait list, but won’t have a litter for at least two years, so I offer people who contact me the names of responsible breeders with upcoming litters, or litters on the ground, if they don’t want to wait that long, and they don’t mind arranging transportation/taking a long drive. Other breeders do the same. I sold one pup to a show/obedience home through word of mouth, and they drove 12+ hours to get her. I don’t know if breeders of other breeds do the same.
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I think a lot of backyard breeders use the phrase “health testing” by meaning they take the puppies to the vet before selling them and get a vet to sign off on a “health certificate.” Which only means that as far as the vet can tell, they have no health problems. But unsuspecting buyers think this is more significant - and/or the breeder implies that it is.
That is not at all what ethical breeders consider “health testing” - and typically most good breeders also have vet health certificates before selling. That just means that the puppies were examined, vaccinated, dewormed, and are being sold as “not sick” and without any obvious defect.
Any breeder that actually does health testing on their breeding dogs would advertise it WITH the link to OFA (or at least the dog’s OFA # so that it can be checked.) One of the benefits of registering with OFA and sending your results is to demonstrate to others (buyers, other breeders, people on the internet, etc.) that you have done your due diligence before breeding. That’s why a lot of breeders don’t like Penn Hip, even though I think the evaluation is probably more accurate than the OFA rating. They want people to be able to see their results and they want to be able to check on other dogs.
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The biggest problem we have found with two puppies raised together is, once mature, some differences they never did sort out as puppies come to the front, to the point of some having serious fights.
A friend had that problem, got a puppy, then found another on the highway, so he raised both together.
He did everything right, but still ended up with two dogs that as adults had to be kept separated or they would have serious fights.
For years he had one dog yard on one side of the house, another in the other and would only let one dog in at the time, unless he was there to keep the peace.
Strange, several years later, dogs old now, he moved to a different house and now both dogs can be kept together without fighting?
Must have been about territory and in the new house no one claims any space?
Another local family bought two ACD puppies, meant to get one but ended up with two.
That is one of the more aggressive dog breeds anyway.
At two years old, the now adults finally got in such a bad fight, the female was injured where she died.
Heartbreaking when that happens, especially when it could have been avoided.
After training dogs for decades and watching how other humans and their dogs grow up and train and how they are to live with, I would not get two puppies to raise in the same house, at the same time, unless they will be mostly kennel dogs.
I know more situations where that didn’t work than where it was successful, unless someone is a dog breeder and trainer and works hard at raising them mostly separately, even if in the same house.
I think that raising two puppies together in the same pet house may work fine, then it may also be a very bad risk.
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I did three at once. They were not littermates. I went from NO dogs, to 3 dogs, in about 2 months – lived in SC and found them outside dumped. :no:
It was not easy. They are all ~8 now. The biggest thing was always staying ahead of any “conflict” – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, etc; so many people don’t realize how much trouble can be eliminated if you think smart about conflict avoidance.
One was a food mugger (male), the other two were very good and sweet (females). Always fed them very far apart - and taught them that they did not get fed until they went to their respective “corners” (far away from each other, too). That eliminated resource guarding over food, which in “ditch puppies”, can sometimes be an issue.
The biggest thing, I think, is eliminating any potential to resource guard. They only got toys outside and way more than they needed. Especially high prize toys were not dispensed out when they were in groups. No toys in the house. No being allowed on the bed and/or couch. No treats or scraps given at the table, etc.
It was very time consuming caring for 3 pups of the same age, that all needed to be socialized, trained, house-trained, etc. We used to do “carousel training”, to quote my SO - two puppies would play outside while we trained one inside, then swap, so on so forth. Walking them, or teaching them to be leash trained, was work!
But they all grew up to be wonderful dogs. I never had a single fight between them… but I also suspect that breed factors into this immensely. All three of them were some sort of pit-bull/staffie mix, think the quintessential “ditch dogs” - tan and/or black, stout, 50lb. I think I would have had a very hard time if it was three breeds that are known to be very high drive over owners, like herding breeds that view their owners as their “job” and resource guard their people.
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Their CHIC numbers for the parents are even included in the contract. Anyone who is interested in my kennel can look up the testing history on OFA. One issue we’re seeing in my breed is folks advertising their dog as tested–but it’s only the genetic testing, not the all important OFA testing
I think you are right. The line my bitch comes from is very soft, and she is fabulous with other dogs. If a dog snarks at her she basically just ignores it, never escalates (obviously the snarking dog is not making physical contact, just on leash or behind a fence). Her pups are following in her pawprints so far. I am not too worried about them fighting as they age, although I am keeping my eye on them. I think if I am going to have a problem it will be when they come into heat.
My friend has 2 young cattle dogs, half siblings which she got a few months apart.I think they are 9 and 12 months now, and she has had a few instances of the female (who is older), beating up on the male. Not drawing blood, she does inhibit her bite. She has mostly cured the behavior now thankfully. I might add, she takes training classes 3-4 days a week, two classes each of those days, at two different training places. She is putting a lot of work into them.
I will also add that she is in Austria. One place she trains at is a private trainer, who’s prices are comperable to around here. The other is a club. I think it cost her about 120 euros for the season for the first dog and less for the other two (she has 1 adult that goes too). I wish there was a club like that close to me. Classes get to be outrageously expensive when you have multiples, and I like working with others.
Aah, it is off topic but I can’t help but chime in re: doodles.
I work at a dog daycare and probably half of our clients are doodles, seriously. If I can remember correctly: we have:
Many, many goldendoodles
Labradoodles
Mini goldendoodles (I have no idea if there’s another breed in there to get the smaller size)
Mini Australian Labradoodle (this is apparently Labradoodle with Cocker Spaniel?)
Aussiedoodle
Mini Aussiedoodle
Mini Bernedoodle
Sheepdog/poodle
Cavapoo (CKCS/poodle)
Cockapoo
Mini Labradoodle
Double doodle
Most of them are complete terrors, especially the labradoodles. Most of the goldendoodles are also terrors but at least they are sweet and always interested in belly rubs :lol: What strikes me about all of the doodles, esp. the goldendoodles, is that most of them look completely different from one another, especially the mini ones. It’s not like identifying a golden immediately at first glance. You can tell it’s a doodle of course, because of the coat, but the coat textures/size/color/personality are really all over the map.
I’m happy to know a few of them but would definitely never own one after working with them so much.
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Yikes. I got this dog? My sister rescuers a “Large Guardian Dog” for me. She was in a puppy mill. Yes like her. But…I live on a farm. So NOT a house dog.
All I gotta say is :eek:
How are the owners of the doodles? I somehow suspect that’s the biggest issue.
People crossing to try to create a new purpose-bred breed is s fine, but selling f1 pups for a significant sum makes zero sense to me.
I do not interact with the clients personally, but I definitely agree that most of their issues are likely due to being spoiled rotten. I would say a solid 70% of them have their own Instagram pages lol. Most of them tout being F1 and F1B (not sure what F1B means).
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I had to look this but am regretting it now. F1B is a “backcross” – so Poodle x Golden = F1. Then a breeding of the F1 offspring x Poodle = F1B. So it is 75% poodle. (Rather than an F2 which would be F1 x F1). So it is a “muttier” mutt.
I actually have to stop looking because the breeding discussions is are all about doodle breeds and other “hybrid” or “designer” breeds. They talk about the F2b being 75% purebred, but still having enough “hybrid vigor” (for what, I don’t know.)
And, if you stay on those sites long enough you will get a pop-up for a free 7-day, online ethical dog breeding class. :mad::no:
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