Cross breeds

[Crugeran Celt]

Ok I have just seen an advert on facebook for cockerpoo puppies costing £850 each. I am astounded and would like to know how we have gone from owners giving away cross bred puppies to them costing more than a pedegree. Seems completely mad to me.

 

[CorvusCorax]

*BING BONG*
Customer service colleague to aisle two please, canned goods department, worm section.
*BING BONG*

 

[CMcC]

Ok I have just seen an advert on facebook for cockerpoo puppies costing £850 each. I am astounded and would like to know how we have gone from owners giving away cross bred puppies to them costing more than a pedegree. Seems completely mad to me.

That is cheap. My sister was looking at Cockerpoos last year, one woman wanted over £1,000. Sister bought a proper Cocker for far less!

Saw an ad for whippet X poodle - £750!

 

[blackcob]

*KLAXON*

Aroooogah!

 

[AmyMay]

Yep, sister in law paid £950 for theirs.

To be fair they are a fantastic cross for the active family - but the price tags are enormous.

 

[{97702}]

Ok I have just seen an advert on facebook for cockerpoo puppies costing £850 each. I am astounded and would like to know how we have gone from owners giving away cross bred puppies to them costing more than a pedegree. Seems completely mad to me.

It IS totally mad..... people are suckered in by the claims made for these cross breeds, if only they researched their breeds properly they would find a pure bred which would meet their needs (e.g. perfect family dog) and they wouldn't be funding these BYBs

 

[TGM]

The trouble is most people want dogs just as pets, they are not concerned with having papers for breeding or showing. So many pedigree breeders have succumbed to breeding exaggerated features for the show ring that they have frightened the average pet dog owner away. So they opt for the cross bred instead, particularly if bred by someone they know. I know a lot of pedigree breeders are now doing health testing, but customer confidence has been badly eroded and will take time to rebuild.

 

[CorvusCorax]

As I've said before and it is maybe a regional variation, all the ones here are extremely reactive and don't seem to be able to cope with normal, everyday, busy, noisy environments. That's not what I call a good family pet.
Paying almost 1k for something that looks cute but cacks itself when someone drops a saucepan or dissolves into a barking mess when another dog walks down the other side of the street is lunacy IMO.
And with no papers or ID checks you don't know who is who and generations of weak-nerved dogs will be interbreeding with each other.
That stands for any sort of established breed or crossbreed.

I saw an ad earlier for a working GSD pup from titled, health tested parents, the sire has been to the world championships and his father was world champion a few years back. The female is by a dog who was in the world top ten, amongst other accomplishments...for £950.

 

[AmyMay]

That's not been my experience of them CC. Happy, great confident temperaments and bouncy characters. Not reactive or nervous in the slightest.

 

[Clodagh]

I'm with CC. All the ones round here - who, to be fair are mainly related as a woman in the next town has many litters of them - are all bonkers, untrainable, reactive, yappy and have to be shaved every four weeks. A pure bred spaniel or pooidle would no doubt be easier, or no more difficult.
I am sure there are some nice ones, but as with any mutts it is pure luck that gives you a nice offpsring, rather than planning.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Like I say, I appreciate there are regional differences but it's a symptom of a wider problem of breeding for looks or trends and not health and temperament, in both crossbreeds and pedigree dogs.

 

[dreamcometrue]

We have one. He is a fantastic, well behaved cuddly dog. We have always had pedigree dogs in the past but heard such good things about the temperament of Cocker x Poodle that when our lovely Springer passed away we decided to get one.

 

[ester]

They look cute

the photos of the matting on groomers pages would be enough to put me off though

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Like CC, we must have one breeder churning them out. The groomers at my yard have streams of cockapoos with overshot jaws. Looks horrendous.

I don’t get why people say the cockatoo temperament is good. Surely you can put together any two nice dogs and get-mostly-nice temperaments in the puppy. I gather the dam is key, obviously, as the pups spend time with and learn from her. Isn’t this why you’re meant o see the dam with the pups (also trying to avoid puppy farming)?

There was a cockatoo breeder on mumsnet defending her breeding of them. I asked why she’d chosen to breed that particular cross. Funnily enough, she didn’t answer. Must be something to do with someone mentioning bandwagon and money. :rolleyes3:

 

[CorvusCorax]

I gather the dam is key, obviously, as the pups spend time with and learn from her. Isn’t this why you’re meant o see the dam with the pups (also trying to avoid puppy farming)?

Yes and no. The dam is probably the biggest influence but the grandparents, great grandparents and further back can have an impact. I have seen how one just dog can impact future generations down through the years, for good or ill. And that's in a pedigree that's written down :/

 

[Crugeran Celt]

I have no problem with cross breeds, I have an amazing springer x collie that has been a complete joy to own but she cost me £30 just to cover the cost of her keep and her first jab. I just don't get the extortionate prices people are willing to pay for them and they seem to be getting more and more expensive. Spoke to a man this week who was walking a very pretty little dog that jumped up at me so I made a fuss of him, asked owner what he was as never seen one before, his answer ' not sure but he cost me £500'!! Nuts.

 

[Crugeran Celt]

I am also surprised that they gave good temperaments as most cocker spaniels I have come across tend to be yapping and not great with other dogs and only ever met one poodle and it bit me as I walked past it!

 

[Crugeran Celt]

*BING BONG*
Customer service colleague to aisle two please, canned goods department, worm section.
*BING BONG*

Am I missing something here? I don't understand this post

 

[CorvusCorax]

Worms. Can of. Open. Everywhere.

 

[oldie48]

I've met some lovely cockerpoos, labradoodles, maltipoos etc I honestly can't see a problem in breeding from good bitches and dogs, provided that are both health tested and have good temperaments. If people are happy to pay lots of money for them and make sensible checks on who they buy from, surely that's fine? I predict that some of these cross breeds will be recognised as breeds in their own right in the future.

 

[ycbm]

The trouble is most people want dogs just as pets, they are not concerned with having papers for breeding or showing. So many pedigree breeders have succumbed to breeding exaggerated features for the show ring that they have frightened the average pet dog owner away. So they opt for the cross bred instead, particularly if bred by someone they know. I know a lot of pedigree breeders are now doing health testing, but customer confidence has been badly eroded and will take time to rebuild.

I've met some lovely cockerpoos, labradoodles, maltipoos etc I honestly can't see a problem in breeding from good bitches and dogs, provided that are both health tested and have good temperaments. If people are happy to pay lots of money for them and make sensible checks on who they buy from, surely that's fine? I predict that some of these cross breeds will be recognised as breeds in their own right in the future.

Completely with you both. Puppy farming needs better control, but the cross breeds are not the issue as 'purebreds' are also farmed. Cocker Poos that are immediately recognisable as Cocker Poos are my childhood dream 'teddy bear come alive' dog.




Is there a pedigree breed with the same looks, size, joie de vivre, activity level? I'm not up on all pedigree dog breeds but I don't know one. Surely these dogs were bred in the first place because the equivalent pedigree breed didn't exist or couldn't be bought? If there is an equivalent breed, how easy is it to actually find a reputable breeder and get hold of a puppy?

 

[Clodagh]

I've met some lovely cockerpoos, labradoodles, maltipoos etc I honestly can't see a problem in breeding from good bitches and dogs, provided that are both health tested and have good temperaments. If people are happy to pay lots of money for them and make sensible checks on who they buy from, surely that's fine? I predict that some of these cross breeds will be recognised as breeds in their own right in the future.

I agree with tihs. BUT I am yet to see any health tested cross breeds? They may be out there.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Completely with you both. Puppy farming needs better control, but the cross breeds are not the issue as 'purebreds' are also farmed. Cocker Poos that are immediately recognisable as Cocker Poos are my childhood dream 'teddy bear come alive' dog.




Is there a pedigree breed with the same looks, size, joie de vivre, activity level? I'm not up on all pedigree dog breeds but I don't know one. Surely these dogs were bred in the first place because the equivalent pedigree breed didn't exist or couldn't be bought? If there is an equivalent breed, how easy is it to actually find a reputable breeder and get hold of a puppy?

There are hundreds. People could, you know, just do some research, and wait. The all-pervasive 'I want this, and I want it now' is another big issue. A lot of people read more reviews and do more research into a mobile phone than a pet that's going to live in their house for a decade or more.
Or they could get a perfectly reasonable pet dog from mixed parentage from someone that isn't going to charge the earth. Less of a cool story to tell people though.

Breeding dogs to look like 'teddy bears' or 'wolves' with no thought for health or temperament? I think teddies would be a better option all round TBH.

 

[DabDab]

The trouble is most people want dogs just as pets, they are not concerned with having papers for breeding or showing. So many pedigree breeders have succumbed to breeding exaggerated features for the show ring that they have frightened the average pet dog owner away. So they opt for the cross bred instead, particularly if bred by someone they know. I know a lot of pedigree breeders are now doing health testing, but customer confidence has been badly eroded and will take time to rebuild.

Completely agree. The whole dog showing world has become an elitist oddity that the average person can't relate to. Then along came these cross breeds who were being marketed as being bred specifically for family life, so of course people went mad for them.

Of course it's nonsense that they have better temperaments than purebreds, but it's all about perception

 

[DabDab]

YCBM - the purebred fun Teddy bear dog with joie de vivre you're after is a Westie

 

[ycbm]

I've had a Westie. They are nothing like.

 

[ycbm]

There are hundreds

So tell me a few.

Breeding dogs to look like 'teddy bears' or 'wolves' with no thought for health or temperament?

No-one is suggesting this. And it really doesn't help the argument of breeders of pedigree dogs to talk as if they are the only people in the country who are capable of breeding healthy dogs.

In-breeding and very selective breeding programs of the past are, after all, what has made it necessary to have health testing in the first place. And it hasn't stopped, has it? We had a dachshund breeder recently on the forum tell us that one in FOUR dachshunds will suffer back issues that are life changing. Is it ethical to continue the breed if there are such problems with it?

 

[Tinkerbee]

It does seem a bit mad but then I think the cockerpoos etc do fill a certain niche. I paid for a crossbreed because none of the rescues around me would approve us on a home visit (large 2 acre garden, but not fenced to six foot all the way round) and I wanted a scruffy little terrier but couldn't afford/can't justify the prices being charged for Border Terriers. *flings even more worms around*

 

[DabDab]

I've had a Westie. They are nothing like.

Looks and is cuddly like a Teddy bear.... Tick
Joie de vivre... Definite tick
Energetic.... Tick

That was your whole spec. I've never owned a cockerpoo but have had quite a bit to do with a few and do agree that (the ones I have met) are lovely dogs with a certain something about them. My JRT x is probably much more that kind of temperament but she doesnt look like a Teddy bear and moults everywhere. She is what I would describe as the perfect family dog though (despite being a cross breed, probably irresponsibly bred with unknown parentage ), in that she loves and is very tolerant of children, is fun, easy, appropriately sized, very trainable, never a health complaint in sight....

 

[ycbm]

No it wasn't my whole spec Size.

But I would also add thicker hairs for coat is not as strokeable or cuddly, sharp ears give a totally different look to the face, short legs change the athletic ability, white coat is a nightmare for yellow brown staining, etc. They are nothing like Cocker Poos if a cocker poo is what you want.