Rant - The Current Dog 'Pandemic'

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Im amazed all these people can afford to these dogs at such inflated prices. Mind you I suppose the annual holiday abroad couldnt be had so saving money there. But they then put them into rescue (those that are resold) and thereby lose £2-3K.
ETA that should say those who arent resold
 

Pearlsasinger

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Not my experience at all, unfortunately.

Nor mine!

There seems to be an absolute rash of them round here, not sure if theyare all from the same breeder but they certainly aren't all the same age. They are almost all badly behaved, or their owners are useless, or both.

I wouldn't have one given!
 

TPO

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Under ten in total so not a great sample but the cocker and malti poos that my friends own are all lovely dogs.

It pains me to say that because I'm really against these designer mongrels
 

TPO

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Nor mine!

There seems to be an absolute rash of them round here, not sure if theyare all from the same breeder but they certainly aren't all the same age. They are almost all badly behaved, or their owners are useless, or both.

I wouldn't have one given!

They do seem to appeal to first time owners plus ring craft/puppy classes were all stopped during lockdown. So people with good intentions didn't always manage to follow through with their training plans.

Not that any of that is an excuse for bad mannered and untrained dogs.
 

AShetlandBitMeOnce

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Nor mine!

There seems to be an absolute rash of them round here, not sure if theyare all from the same breeder but they certainly aren't all the same age. They are almost all badly behaved, or their owners are useless, or both.

I wouldn't have one given!

Mine neither. I did always wonder how a poodle, which can be high drive, very large, high exercise requirement, emotionally sensitive and prone to nuisance barking - not to mention the health issues and coat maintenance, suddently became the best dog to cross for all family dog requirements.. but some people seem to love them and I have met a couple of nice ones, albeit they were in the minority ime.
 

sportsmansB

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A friend of my mums in her 70's recently got a mini schnauzer - well, its about a year old now.
This lady's last dog was a behavioural nightmare, but this one was smaller and cuter so seemingly they thought it would work.
They have had it for a year now, of that it has spent 3 months in residential training with a behaviourist and a further 4 months at weekly sessions
they still cannot walk it sensibly on a lead in a park, and it jumped up 15 times on my mums visit yesterday (my stepdad counted, he's not a fan) - my mum growled at it in her doctor / teacher voice and it didn't jump on her again, but the owner's corrections were not heeded at all.

They cannot walk the dog enough to tire it out as it is so badly behaved on the lead, so its a vicious circle...
My collie pup rescued 4 weeks ago on the other hand got 5 stars for behaviour at dinner. He has learned to sit, lie down, not jump up, walk on a lead and come when he is called in that time, having made it to 6 months without any of those skills from his lock down purchasers...
 

DressageCob

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I'm yet to meet a cockerpoo that wasn't a neurotic mess to be honest. Maybe that says more about the people who buy them than the cross itself, I don't know. Severe separation anxiety, resource guarding, yapping, inappropriate responses to canine interaction. Plus the heavily matted coats because people think either they don't need grooming or they just need a once over with a soft brush.

I'm not a poodle fan but they are definitely done a disservice by mixing them into whatever breed takes someone's fancy. They are intelligent, working dogs, but I can see how that intelligence and drive causes problems when mixed with a breed with either a completely different nature, or worse, a dog that is not physically capable of activity, sports or anything capable of meeting the brain's needs.
 

deb_l222

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I’ve met a lot of cockerpoos, and they’ve all been delightful, wonderful family dogs. I’m quite a fan actually.

I've recently been offered a labradoodle and she's fabulous. As it happens she's staying put for the time being and my friend is attempting to sort out the issues between her two dogs accepting the new one. All the cockerpoos I've met have also been lovely, if a little skittish but that's possibly because Willow freaks them out!!

While ever there is customer demand for these 'designer' breeds, there will be plenty of unscrupulous 'greeders' to breed them. I do however think we have reached a peak in prices now and these will start to come down. There are definitely more dogs starting to appear in rescues as lockdown measures ease and normality returns. Who will re-home these dogs though is anyone's guess??
 

fankino04

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I think I'm a bit biased against cockerpoos as the FILs is so annoying (probably his fault a bit but the issues do seem common to the breed), can't be left, is terrified of most things, severely needy for constant attention etc, I think it annoys me most because when they visit they have to bring him but because he was scared of our dog she had to be shut away so he could be with everyone and be happy ???. I did hear but not sure if true that the reason their coats are so bad for matting is that the cocker coat sheds but gets trapped under the non shedding poodle coat, those mats must be uncomfortable so if this is true it's cruel breeding these dogs to have these issues.
 

paisley

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My dog pandemic gripe is that I'm finding walks stressful when you have to second guess other dog owners all the time, and I don't know if it's the increasing numbers, lockdown puppies hitting adolescence or that people just don't give a damn about how their dog's behaviour impacts on others.

Is that enormous dog bounding up and ignoring its owner's call going to knock my old girl off her feet, am I going to get bitten if I hold the collar of the dog who is currently climbing my leg trying to get in my treat pocket while my dog is on the cusp of exploding on the lead behind me, should I say something to the man who has just hit it now he's got it back, is that dog who's been hupped into a sit on the verge going to break its stay and splat my dog like it did the last time we met it...

Oh, I don't know its all bad- I mean I now get up at stupid oclock to walk the whippet and avoid all the eejits you describe so I'm getting tons of other stuff done ?. Does mean I'm ready for bed about now, but there you go.

My whinge is all the lockdown puppies have made renting with a pet go from tricky to blood- with- a- y impossible. And the Pet Protection Bill is almost useless- there are suddenly record numbers of landlords with severe allergies ?, one of the few clauses that permits them to outright refuse animals
 

coblets

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Playing devils advocate: you liked your Rottie crosses, I love Rotties too, but why would you cross a breed with so many health issues with another breed indescriminately. At best you may breed some health issues out, at worst you get a cross with health issues from both sides.
I suppose it depends on what you’re crossing it with. But tbf I’d rather have a rottie cross than a rottie bred from show lines - hybrid vigour and all that.

All the dachshunds I see out and about are very robust little dogs. They still do working tests/send them down holes in Germany but I guess that it unpalatable for a lot of people
Fair enough if they’re still working in Germany but doesn’t their conformation lend itself to back problems? Plus they seem to one of many ‘toy breeds’ like Pomis or Chihuahuas which are getting bred to be ridiculously small. Some videos on YouTube…
 

CorvusCorax

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What do you mean by hybrid vigour though?? A few people I know work and show their Rotts along European lines and they are fab dogs.

Their conformation lends them to go down small holes after quarry. Their name is literally badger dog.
It's the pet market (smaller, cuter, no drive) which is causing a lot of the problems.
 

TPO

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*deleted*

most of the problem is armchair “experts” with absolutely no idea….. ???

Who are the armchair experts in your opinion?

The majority of people posting on this thread are very experienced across numerous breeds and different disciplines.

I strongly doubt the uniqueness of your account
 

Meowy Catkin

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I suppose it depends on what you’re crossing it with. But tbf I’d rather have a rottie cross than a rottie bred from show lines - hybrid vigour and all that.

That wouldn't be a hybrid though, it would just be a crossbreed dog so no hybrid vigour. Wolf x dog would be hybrid biologically speaking as you need different species within the same genus. The other issue with breeding hybrid animals is that you can get a different result depending on which species is the sire and which is the dam. Think of Mules V Hinnies or Tygons V Ligers.
 

millikins

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Do you think Herr Dobermann was vilified when he created his crossbreed to do a job which was needed at the time?
I think there's a mix of issues here, do we need to adapt historic breeds for a modern purpose? How to prevent indiscriminate breeding especially of poor quality stock and the general level of dud dog ownership so often on display.
 

CorvusCorax

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And we need new breeds for what, exactly? There's plenty out there to choose from. What purpose? Hunting and many dog sports/training/activities are being eroded on all sides by AR lobbying.
 

splashgirl45

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I only know a few, they are all very cute lively, friendly dogs. They all have high grooming costs and severe separation anxiety.

so nice to see you back with your proper name ,well done for getting it sorted:)

these poo crosses are hard work even for experienced owners so first timers are struggling as they dont know what they are doing and the ones in my area are mostly nervous, dog aggressive and never get let off the lead as they wont come back. my friends dog groomer has recently taken on 2 cavapoos as the owner couldnt cope, she is trying to rehome them by word of mouth through her clients and i was asked if i would like one.. guess what my answer was :D
 

MinKo

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Um I have a
oh agree. its terrible. Yesterday I meet someone who out of pity had rescued (bless them I wouldn't have) a yorkie poodle cross. I mean why breed that? I mean I know why but. ?
Um, I have a yorkie X poodle!! She's 9yo and not a health issue ever! Apart from a recent infection in a bite she got trying to catch a rat! She's tiny and perfect and my vet said she is the perfect little dog. Her re call is perfect, she loves EVERYONE and never causes any problems
 

Pearlsasinger

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My aunt had several poodles that were retired from breeding (all from the same breeder), they were clever little dogs. My neighbour is an expereinced dog owner, her family used to have a bearded collie, which was perfectly nice, confident, well-mannerd dog. She now has a neurotic cockerpoo, I am tempted to think that it is the dog's breeding rather than its owner's ignorance which is the cause of its neurotic behaviour.
 
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