Designer dog breeds...

GeeGeeboy

GeeGeeboy

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Doodles, cock-a-poos, Cavachons, Jugs, etc etc. what are your views? As a dog groomer I see a lot of these new fad designer dogs . They usually come with a hefty price tag and a promise of hybrid vigour and are said to be hyper allergenic .
There are so many thousands of rescue dogs that are often cross breeds in centres all over the uk and also many existing pedigree breeds that are becoming endangered so why the need for all these new designer cross-breeds? Would be interested to hear your thoughts...
 
Ah, I could write so much but I will try and condense it.

Breeding X to Y because it produces 'cute' or 'nice' offspring with no health tests on the parents and then sticking an extra 0 on the price tag for the honour, I have a huge issue with, pure or crossbreed.

Mating, for example, a Poodle which carries epilepsy to a Labrador which throws hip dysplasia, does not cancel either condition out, you have just as high a chance as getting an epileptic dysplastic.

If you mate a non shedding breed to a shedding breed, it's 50/50 as to which coat the pup will take.

I think some people are being sold a pup, literally, but it's people's own money to spend on what they wish. I'm very happy with my bargain bucket dog!!
 
I've never really liked the idea of 'designer dogs'. Giving them fancy names just means people feel they can charge more for them. They're cross breeds, plain and simple. I'm a fan of crossbreeds and have only ever had one purebred dog in decades of dog ownership - so I'm not knocking them :) .

The thing is, crossing them doesn't necessarily mean they're completely healthy and that people are getting the characteristics they want. I've met many 'cockapoos', for example, that shed their coats.

I'm afraid, though, I don't like some of the effects of some of the characteristics of some pure breds either. I'd much rather see a dog that can breath properly, can walk without pain, etc. etc. etc.

I just really wish certain people would be responsible in what they do and then I wouldn't care what 'new breeds' they came up with.
 
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Bred by the greedy to sell to the gullible...........
Only reason to breed them is for money and buying one is a good sign of someone who has failed to research what type of dog is right for them.
 
agree with s4sugar. most 'designer' dogs are bred purely for looks, mostly small breeds for people who want a cute handbag dog. but with no consideration for character traits or health. 'mongrels' are always the best option- even if they aren't as 'cute' or are rescues who are no longer puppies. or responsibly bred, health checked pedigree dogs. although there are lots of 'issues' inbred with them too.
the amount of crazy named designer crosses is ridiculous! i think you can even get a shiht-poo (shih tzu x poodle!)
 
Nothing wrong with designer dogs,that's what breeders have always done. Breeding to get the best fox hound, working dog, pet or the best horse. To breed to get the most useful or marketable animal is a shrewd breeding plan.

It can be a kind of inverted snobbery to scoff at designer breeds per se. The problem is idiot breeding without a sense of responsibility and forward thinking. Some pedigree dogs could do with a bit of cross breeding to enable them to breathe or not have disabling skin conditions or mobility problems.
 
It's a mongrel!

Not that that's a bad thing. A nice dog is a nice dog regardless. It's a shame really (outside of dogs with a job to do and bred for that job) that we don't just value A Nice Healthy Dog and if we want to breed (not getting into the debate here!) put A Nice Healthy Dog to Another Nice Healthy Dog in the hope of getting more of the same. The kennel club perhaps ought to introduce this as a 'breed' then people would be more accepting and enthusiastic about it.

The shedding/hypoallergenic thing is a bit silly to me. Dogs shed. People shed (you should see my hairbrush) and both have dander to some extent. If you want less dander I suppose you have to wash them more often. Just use your hoover more and get hard floors ;)

I can't really talk though, I have two GSDs, which were designer once. I do love the breed because of everything they are personality wise. The fact that they are easy on the eye (to me) is just a bonus.
 
dogatemysalad said:
Nothing wrong with designer dogs,that's what breeders have always done. Breeding to get the best fox hound, working dog, pet or the best horse. To breed to get the most useful or marketable animal is a shrewd breeding plan.

It can be a kind of inverted snobbery to scoff at designer breeds per se. The problem is idiot breeding without a sense of responsibility and forward thinking. Some pedigree dogs could do with a bit of cross breeding to enable them to breathe or not have disabling skin conditions or mobility problems.
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agree- obviously selective breeding is what has made all the breeds we know and love, but think a lot of designer dogs are just fads for a quick 'buck' rather than trying to make a better type of dog.
 
i breed poodles and some poodle crosses-mostly westiepoos.can i please state these dogs are not non shedding-but low shedding and its wrong for them to be advertised as such.i advertise them as low shedding.believe it or not they sell better than pedigree poodles i breed aswell.i typically sell a westiepoo for £350 and a poodle for about the same.these are hybrid dogs not mongrels.both parents are health teseted.these hybrids are not new some have been around for years its just that people who are allergic to dogs are seeking them now without the allergies plus they are really cute.
 
I'm following this debate with a great deal of interest. I hope that it remains civilised, because those who may have an opposing view to the norm, may well have a case to put.

Alec.
 
Be careful when insuring a designer cross if you say its a cockerpoo or whatever you will be charged a lot more than if you say its a poodle cross
 
No problem breeding crossbreds/ mongrels (not hybrids, designer dogs yadda yadda) if both parents are properly health tested for their breed, homes have been found, breeder might like to keep one, breeder knows how to whelp, rear pups if needs be, breeder would take pups back if an issue with new home(for life) and all the other responsible things decent breeders do etc etc.

Just for the love of god call a spade a spade its not a cocker poo its a cocker spaniel X poodle- or um crossbreed/mongrel.
 
I don't have a problem with crossbreeds, as long as they are advertised as such and the pure bred parents are both health tested! It seems to be a way for greedy people to spend less and charge more.

There is a seller that I keep seeing advertising on local groups on facebook with their 'cockerpoos', that are apparently very healthy because they are a crossbreed, hybrid vigour may be true but not when crossing two pedigree dogs with their own genetic predispositions, you just combine them.

Neither are they hybrids - a hybrid is crossing 2 different species from the same family (eg tiger and lion or horse and donkey).

People need to stop being so gullible, and people need to stop being so greedy and irresponsible when breeding.
 
aintgotnohay said:
i breed poodles and some poodle crosses-mostly westiepoos.can i please state these dogs are not non shedding-but low shedding and its wrong for them to be advertised as such.i advertise them as low shedding.believe it or not they sell better than pedigree poodles i breed aswell.i typically sell a westiepoo for £350 and a poodle for about the same.these are hybrid dogs not mongrels.both parents are health teseted.these hybrids are not new some have been around for years its just that people who are allergic to dogs are seeking them now without the allergies plus they are really cute.
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Well done for soming on here and sticking up for them. I do have a couple of questions though - I am assuming, as mongrels they all look different? So they aren't hybrids, they are crossbreeds.
Well done for having them health tested, I have long assumed that 'designer' breeders don't bother. Do they have the same tests as for the pure bred matings?
Am I right in saying this means you can have a lot more litters from each bitch as you don't have to follow KC guidelines for litter numbers and frequency?
I am really interested, most poodle crosses I have seen have been dear little things.
 
i was in our local park talking to a fellow regular dog walker, she has a soft wheaten terrier and i have crossbreeds, a collie cross and a lurcher, some people walked in with a mutt leaping about like a lunatic on the lead and told us it was a westiepoo!!! the other dog walker turned to me and said "a mongrel!!" at the same time as i did. luckily the owners of the designer dog had walked away and didnt hear us. all of the various poodle crosses in our area seem tom have very nice friendly temperaments but seem to be loony!!!!hardly any of them are ever let off the lead as they wont come back...is it the cross or are the people that are buying them ignorant about how to train?
 
I am a groomer and the owner of a beautiful standard poodle. It saddens me to see all the crosses people put poodles to in the mistaken idea that the puppies will be non shedding. MOST People who breed these crosses have no idea just how high maintenance a poodles coat is and the amount of grooming that it will need for ALL of its life, Not just in summer when the weather is hot. The unsuspecting public purchase a cockerpoo or labradoodle or westipoo or cavishion or jackshit ect ect not realising that it needs professional grooming every six to eight weeks at a cost of £30 plus every time. Often the dogs come in totally matted and have to be shaved down to the skin. I had one poor dog, a cross between a pug and a shi tzu that had terrible problems with its eyes because the hair was growing in the wrinkles and making its eyes very sore. The crossing of these two breeds is IMO very irresponsible and sad to see. The dogs themselves are lovely by the way but a product of greed.
 
california dreaming said:
I am a groomer and the owner of a beautiful standard poodle. It saddens me to see all the crosses people put poodles to in the mistaken idea that the puppies will be non shedding. MOST People who breed these crosses have no idea just how high maintenance a poodles coat is and the amount of grooming that it will need for ALL of its life, Not just in summer when the weather is hot. The unsuspecting public purchase a cockerpoo or labradoodle or westipoo or cavishion or jackshit ect ect not realising that it needs professional grooming every six to eight weeks at a cost of £30 plus every time. Often the dogs come in totally matted and have to be shaved down to the skin. I had one poor dog, a cross between a pug and a shi tzu that had terrible problems with its eyes because the hair was growing in the wrinkles and making its eyes very sore. The crossing of these two breeds is IMO very irresponsible and sad to see. The dogs themselves are lovely by the way but a product of greed.
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Extremely well put!
 
I guess I am 'guilty' of buying one of these dogs, but only because for years I yearned for a pug but didn't want a dog with eye/ breathing problems so got a JR x pug, still got some of the puggy features and characteristics but she didn't have the £1k price tag and was more the price of a JRT. I don't think there's anything wrong with buying the dog I want, I didn't get her because she was a 'designer breed'.
 
NellRosk said:
I guess I am 'guilty' of buying one of these dogs, but only because for years I yearned for a pug but didn't want a dog with eye/ breathing problems so got a JR x pug, still got some of the puggy features and characteristics but she didn't have the £1k price tag and was more the price of a JRT. I don't think there's anything wrong with buying the dog I want, I didn't get her because she was a 'designer breed'.
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Absolutely not :) . I'd love to see the pug in it's present form 'phased' out and bred to be a more healthy/comfortable shape, and it's people like you, who won't buy one but wait until they find one or a cross bred one without the breathing problems, that will encourage that :) . I've had cross breeds all my life, not because they're designer breeds but just because it was a dog that needed a home and was the right dog for me at that time.

I think what most of us dislike, is those who see an opportunity to grab a quick buck and breed 'fashionable' dogs and then market them in a certain way, giving them 'cool designer' names and descriptions that often aren't quite realistic.
 
Lunchbox legend said:
Absolutely not :) . I'd love to see the pug in it's present form 'phased' out and bred to be a more healthy/comfortable shape, and it's people like you, who won't buy one but wait until they find one or a cross bred one without the breathing problems, that will encourage that :) . I've had cross breeds all my life, not because they're designer breeds but just because it was a dog that needed a home and was the right dog for me at that time.

I think what most of us dislike, is those who see an opportunity to grab a quick buck and breed 'fashionable' dogs and then market them in a certain way, giving them 'cool designer' names and descriptions that often aren't quite realistic.
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Excellent, well that's nice to know :) But also sad to think that for every breeder that is actively trying to breed healthy pugs there are 200 more breeding litters unscrupulously and then you get the unhealthy dogs :( a family friend has a French Bulldog x pug and the poor thing can hardly breathe.

Oh yes definitely and just a musing but I definitely think less doggy people buy these cute fluffy crossbreeds and have no idea how to train/ look after them. I know a couple who bought 2 labradoodle puppies who were extremely exuberant and they now have 2 very large, very badly behaved dogs because they have no idea how to discipline them.
 
Poodles are intelligent, active dogs who were bred to work, many years ago. It is a shame that anything crossed with one mean it can be a poo something as I am sure that is the main attraction for the crossbred pups. People buy a otherpoo cos it is cute and fluffy and don't realise there is a high powered little dog brain in there.
 
s4sugar said:
Bred by the greedy to sell to the gullible...........
Only reason to breed them is for money and buying one is a good sign of someone who has failed to research what type of dog is right for them.
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I have a Jackadoodle/mongrel whatever you want to call him. Fab wee dog, we did loads of research and I chose to buy him from a friend so I knew exactly where he came from, what his parents were like, knew they were both health checked and knew the vet who my friend deals with for all her health checks etc.

The rescues wouldn't have touched us because at the time we got him we lived in a 1 bed flat (hence the need for a little dog) with no fenced garden. We both work F/T but Spock goes with my OH to work with him and really enjoys all the attention he gets when he's out and about. On days he can't go with my OH he goes to my in-laws who adore him and lavish him with attention, he gets regular runs up to the park. We are active people who enjoy being out and about and we wanted a dog who could keep up with that, a JRTx was perfect.

So no, not gullible, we knew *exactly* what we were buying, how much care had gone into him before we got him and I think we paid a very fair price :)
 
Your little dog sounds great, but as others have said poodles are cracking dogs, really trainable and would probably have suited your lifestyle just as well without the uncertainty of mixing 2 breeds and not knowing which genes would come through. Not relevant in your case as your dog is healthy but to point out again that health checks and health tests are not the same.
 
MurphysMinder said:
....... just as well without the uncertainty of mixing 2 breeds and not knowing which genes would come through. ........
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Lets be honest here, there can be, and often are, elements of breeding pure bred dogs where we can't be certain that undesirable behavioural or health traits wont re-surface, from a generation or two back. In fact, the chances are high that we can and will have ancestral influence.

We've a lurcher pup, he's by a Whippet-Greyhound x Greyhound and out of a Bedlington-Whippet x Greyhound. I know both parents, and they are both as soft as soft can be. Young Dave, whilst on a lead and with my OH launched himself at a guy at dusk this evening and according to my OH, he really meant it, and the puppy's only 21 weeks of age! He's gone to the garden gate before now, all teeth and tits, and I've wondered. I'm just wondering where all this has come from. Neither parent is in any way aggressive. He's designer, or purpose bred, I suppose, but in reality, he's a cross bred dog, and I fail to see how any degree of health or temperament testing of his parents would have revealed anything.

I strongly suspect that too much reliance is placed upon testing. We've been testing for certain diseases for 20 years, with worsening results, and why, is beyond me.

ETS, I'm not suggesting that we don't health test, I'm just suggesting that we don't place too much reliance, upon it.

Alec.
 
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We have a Mini Schnauzer who had her first litter last year. Both her and the stud dog had clear eye certs and were vet checked etc. A couple of miles a way "Schnoodles" were selling for more!
 
I'm not keen. We should be striving to improve the breeds that exist, not breeding them together, claiming that that reduces the health problems and failing to deal with the issues. All of the people I have known with these "breeds" know very little about dogs, and would have been just as well off with a purebred. It really does sadden me that breeds like pugs have become so unhealthy, that needs to be dealt with for the poor dogs sake. That's why I went for a papillon, a breed with very few major health problems attributed to the breed. I want to support scrupulous breeders.
 
I've got a Labrador x poodle. Can't quite bring myself to call her by her designer name. Bought from a friend who normally breeds pure labs. Health tested and beautifully reared, I was desperate to have a pup from the bitch and it happened her last litter was with a poodle. I was under no illusion about any hypoallergenic claims. Friend have me the pick of the litter and Darcy has been the best dog I've ever owned. Lovely nature and so trainable. Will be out all day with you but perfectly happy to relax all day if needs be. She looks like a wirey haired lab not a bouffant poodle. As it happens, the breeder only ever had the one cross breed litter and struggled to sell them all, her pure labs are usually all sold within a couple of weeks.
 
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