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What Is It With Designer Dogs?

The Menagerie
#21

One of my objections to these crosses is that the breeders don’t seem to get the hips and eyes certified before breeding. I have no objection to owning a mutt, but I don’t want a puppy who is destined to have health problems. I know exactly what I like in a dog; tough, a bit protective, cuddly, 60-90 lbs, short hair, obedient, water loving, and doesn’t run off. Therefore, I get my purebred Chesapeake Bay Retrievers from a breeder who gets hips and eyes certified and produces what we like. We do get the returns or ones who didn’t make it in the show ring, as, like many responsible breeders, she asks owners to return dogs to her for rehoming if they cannot keep them. The breeder’s rehomed dogs or dogs who didn’t make it in the show ring, are wonderful dogs.

If the breeders of these golden doodles and puggles would act like responsible breeders, I would have no problem with people buying their dogs. Around here, the shelters are full of Pitt bull crosses. Small, seemingly healthy, mutts are adopted quickly.

#22

I have a designer dog. She was tossed out of a car, was running loose around the airport for 4 days before she was caught. I took her in. She’s a Cockalier. Cocker Spaniel and Cavalier King Charles cross. Best guess by me and my Vet. :smiley:

She cost me about $800 between paying for all her shots (since we had no idea if she was vaccinated at all), heartworm test, blood panel, spay, hernia fix, etc. etc. etc. :lol:

Here is a pic I found that looks a lot like her and how we got to the “Cockalier” thought process.

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/cockalier.htm

#23

People ask me all the time what breed my 2 are. I usually just shrug and say, "they’re ‘Huknows’ " (who knows:lol:). Yes, I’ve had more than one person say they’ve never heard of that breed! Or ask where I got them.

If pressed, I tell them that Simon is a shepherd/cattle dog MIX and that Lance is “some kind of hound cross.” (Lance has a hound head and shape, with giant Lab feet and shepherd-y markings. Who knows?)

#24

I have a a neighbor and a cousin who both spent top dollar on Goldendoodles. My neighbor’s is out of control and crashes into the window whenever I walk by with my dog. They don’t do anything with him other than open the door twice a day to poop in other peoples’ yards. I think they got him as a status symbol - “We paid $5000 for this purebred Goldendoodle!”
My cousin’s was also out of control and so clumsy he was knocking her kids over. I say “was” because when he was about a year old she couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was never groomed either and was one big mat of hair. They don’t shed or need grooming, you know. :rolleyes:
Both of them spent way too much money on dogs that never lived up to the hype.

#25

There are tons of these ship anywhere, no application, just send a check breeders that advertise online, and sell to anyone. A lot of dogs are dumped when they get too big to be cute, need training, or need vetwork like spaying/neutering. People don’t want a real dog, they want some non-pooping, instantly trained adorable dog that never needs exercise to impress people with how important and rich the owner is. It’s a shame that people think that way, and I hate that people take advantage of that.

Lots of dogs in retirement areas get dumped because the animal was a gift that wasn’t wanted, or the person bought the dog and now doesn’t want the work or bother.

My Mini Schnauzer was a dump job in the part of town that is mostly retirees, and I suspect he was owned by someone who died or was put in a nursing home. It was rather common there when the older people were put away to sell the house, dump the furniture, and dump the pets on the street. When I adopted him he was wormy, unneutered, and starved half to death from the worms I imagine. But he had a nice show style schnauzer clip. People suck sometimes.

#26

well, for some of the “designer” breeds there was originally a rationale for the cross- the labradoodle was an attempt to transfer the poodle coat onto the lab’s temperament (not sure why, standard poodles ALREADY have the kind of temperament that most people interested in labs would definitely appreciate); and things like the “puggle” are an attempt to get desirable pug-like traits into a healthier body type (less deformed), which is a laudable goal; but then it became “fashionable” and turned into a nightmare. Most of the “designer breeders” are just bad breeders out to make a quick buck, so they breed with no regard for health or temperament, and most of the buyers of “designer” dogs are just ignorant dog owners jumping onto the fashion bandwagon. People who choose their dog breed based on how fashionable it is are bound to end up with the wrong kind of dog for them.
Some of the breeders these days seem to be selecting crosses based on how “cute” the resulting name for the cross is, which is just ridiculous.

#27

[QUOTE=wendy;6554814]
well, for some of the “designer” breeds there was originally a rationale for the cross- the labradoodle was an attempt to transfer the poodle coat onto the lab’s temperament (not sure why, standard poodles ALREADY have the kind of temperament that most people interested in labs would definitely appreciate) [/QUOTE]

The labradoodles were intentionally bred to be seeing-eye dogs for those with allergies. But the backyard breeders ran with it. Finally there was a dog that they did not have to breed to any standard, do any breed-club mandated health testing, take to any kind of dog show, and still charge what good breeders charge for a purebred puppy.

Article on the invention of labradoodles and the inventor’s regrets:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/labradoodle-pioneer-regrets-fashioning-designer-dog/story-e6frg6n6-1225860829155

#28

I don’t get it either. My DIL wanted a dog and absolutely had to have a cockapoo. Now my son would have been just as happy to have gotten a mutt from the pound but, dutiful hubby that he is he caved and they got the cockapoo.

That being said she really is a good dog. I was prepared to not like her, thinking she’d be a neurotic mess but I was wrong.

She’s a little more high energy then they expected but she tries hard to please her people and most importantly, she has been protective of my 6 mo. old grandson since the day he came home from the hospital. She also tolerates him pulling on her hair and ears. He’s not ambulatory yet and the dog could easily walk away from him but she just sits there and wags her tail and licks him while he “pets” her. And yes, my son and DIL are teaching him to be gentle and how to pat her nicely but even when the baby gets too rough and is moved away from the dog, she just keeps wiggling herself back over to where he can reach her.

It’s not what I would choose but they love her and are happy with her and it’s their money to spend so I just butt out. And play with the dog when I visit. :wink:

#29

[QUOTE=aucowwy;6554114]
Ame here- I always want to say so you have a MUTT[/QUOTE]

It’s funny, I have a mutt and when people ask what she is, I tell them she’s a mutt. And I would say that the vast majority of the time, people seem very uncomfortable with that answer. Some of them even seem downright offended, which strikes me as bizarre. If it doesn’t bother me that my dog is a mutt, why would it bother you? :confused:

Though one day I was walking my son home from school with Tessa the wondermutt, and another small child and his mother asked if she was part Lab. She probably is, and I told them that the shelter had her listed as a Lab-Schnauzer cross, which is pretty plausible, but really she could be anything. And the kid said “Maybe she’s part mutt.” To which I replied “Honey, whatever else she may be, I think it’s pretty safe to say that this dog is 100% mutt.” :lol:

#30

[QUOTE=GotGait;6554585]

My cousin’s was also out of control and so clumsy he was knocking her kids over. [/QUOTE]

My 18 month purebred Standard Poodle is so clumsy she doesn’t know where her feet are. She likes to walk under the dining room chairs and she ends up knocking them over because she’s too tall to be walking under them. She is always hitting her noggin on things. She loves to leap too. Any excuse to leap over something is great fun. She leaps over the other dogs, she FLYING LEAPS off the back steps, she leaped over the surfboard that was temporarily in the living room…

#31

People ask me what Riley is all the time, as he is my Spokes-puppy for my business, I tell people he is a yellow one, and they look at me and say, “Oh, I have never heard of that breed before”.

Or at the dog park, “what is he?” my answer, “happy”. or my favorite,'yourguessisasgoodasmine".

#32

I tell people my 3 mutts are a rare French breed called a “Melange”…

#33

THIS.

I don’t know how many times I have explained to people that my primary objection isn’t just that these dogs are overpriced mutts that aren’t actually bred for a purpose. My main objection is that the type of person who intentionally breeds mixes, FAR more often than not, is also the type of person who breeds dogs without breed-appropriate health clearances.

A friend of mine has a cockapoo who has bilateral luxating patellas. I suggested she call the breeder up and let him know (after all, he is inexplicably a VETERINARIAN who breeds these mixes). He swore up and down to her that he has never bred a dog with bad knees.

If Millie’s problem was unilateral, sure. If she was a mix of two breeds that aren’t BOTH known for knee problems, sure. But bilateral bad knees by age 3? Sorry, sir. That’s a heritable conformation problem.

#34

I work for a small shelter. It amazes me what people will do.

We recently had a six month old puppy turned into the shelter. He was healthy, happy, friendly, and cute as heck. The former owners paid over $800 at a pet store for him as a “purebred” Malti-poo. They turned him in because he didn’t LOOK like what they thougth a Malti-poo should look like. Oh, and he was too active and hyper.

Ok, dog looked like a Jack Russell mix. As a pet store pup, who knows what the heck he really was. And he was the antithesis of hyper. He was adopted out within five days of arrival. He’s in a better home.

Personally, I’m going to start telling people I own an Austrailian Cattle Collie instead of a Cattle Dog/Border Collie cross. She’s cute, she could be designer. Oh, and the boxers. I have boxers too, but I want those in purebred because I LOVE their goofy natures.

#35

[QUOTE=Bicoastal;6554314]
because greeders lie about .[/QUOTE]

ROFLMAO…what a perfect Freudian slip for this topic !!!

#36

What gets me is the folks who don’t seem to learn that their overpriced designer cross who was neurotic and developed health problems might not have been from the most conscientious breeder. I know a couple who are on their THIRD goldendoodle from the same place after having problems with the first two. So they run back and pay up again. You can’t fix stupid.

Side story, about people wanting status breed listing at the vet instead of just Heinz 57, when I took Coda in for her abscess not long ago, the vet tech was entering data in the computer. “Breed?” “Siamese,” I said, as I put the carrier on the counter. She looked up, then stopped, stood up from her chair and looked closer, then said, “Wow. It really IS a Siamese.” I guess I looked puzzled, because she said, “It’s amazing what comes through here called Siamese or Siamese cross. Probably at least half of all cats. We laugh about it at lunch break, but the people get really annoyed if you call it just a DSH. They are bound and determined that this is a Siamese.” I said, “Papers at home, but this IS a Siamese.” She believed me. Even announced her to the vet as a “real” Siamese.

#37

I had a “yorkie-poo” for 13 years. If anybody asked me what breed she was I told them she was a yorkie/poodle cross or in a word: a mutt. To me she was a cute little thing but she was obviously poorly bred. She had a very thin hair coat, she was epileptic, and she had bad teeth and eyes. She had to have seizure medication twice a day from the time she was 6 months old until I had to have her put down due to kidney failure when she was 13 years old. By the time she was 10 years old she was mostly blind and nearly deaf. I paid an adoption fee of around $175 dollars for her as a teeny tiny puppy but she really never should have even existed. She was probably the most expensive dog I’ve ever owned with all her various vet bills.

#38

LOL, I think I am a bad cat mom then… I always say ‘Alley Cat’
With the exception of course of the alley cat who is a Bengal…:lol:

#39

Ugh, my years ago my brother and his then GF bought a “Jug” (Jack Russel/Pug) from the pet store. His reasoning, they wanted a pug but a purebred would be too expensive. I almost choked when he said this as the price they paid was of course insane and there there is a pug rescue around here.
Pup was super hyper, my brother and the GF should not have been dog owners. Pup ended up living at our house for 6 months until my brother agreed to finally let me try to rehome him.

My wonderful mutt came from a rescue. He’s a German Shep, bloodhound and whoknowwhatelse mix (got a designer name for that one lol).

#40

:lol::lol::lol:
In a sad way. What makes people think crossing something with a Jacky is a good idea!

There is/was that guy in Georgia, selling ‘Mascot Dalmatians’ as perfect apartment dogs…you guessed it, terrier was used to breed the Dal down…
NOW, if you did your homework, you realized that a) size does not make the apartment dog (Great Danes are generally better than most terriers) and b) that breeding a high energy dog with a high energy dog is not going to make a couch potato! :lol:

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