[cos]

I just came across a thread on a different forum about how they were looking for a "schnoodle"

Not only did the name make me cringe, but the idea of someone breeding cross breeds (or seeking out a particular cross breed from a breeder) makes me a little uncomfortable. There are enough cross breeds out there in my opinion, and breeding them often causes health issues if not done carefully if I'm thinking correctly.

What are you thoughts? Personally I don't care if someone calls their dog a chiweenie so long as they're not breeding them and marking up the price ridiculous amounts and calling them "designer breeds". To me the term designer breeds rings register till sounds in my ears for irresponsible breeders trying to make some quick cash.

 

[sassafras]

I actually have zero problems with crossbreeding in and of itself, if people are breeding conscientiously.

The names I find sort of... saccharine sometimes. But at the end of the day I guess I don't care that much about that, either.

 

[Shandula]

I'm in the same boat as you, call your dog what you want (I personally refer to mine as a Wigglebum and a Tail Swoosher). However, people DO seem to think that they have some super rare dog when they have a "Puggle". Just at the dog park the other day, a woman was going on and on about her "Purebred Puggle". I didn't have the heart to correct her.

 

[harleyboysmom]

They are just mixed breeds, most likely from a opps so breedings, they come up with cutsie names for them with a price tag to boot breeding from 2 different breeds can and sometimes will bring on a bevy of health problems for the pup. This subject is a pet peeve of mine.
There are plenty of mixed breeds waiting in shelters for their forever homes, most "designer breed" pups end up there anyways.
It all comes down to greed and carelessness.

 

[cos]

They are just mixed breeds, most likely from a opps so they come up with cutsie names for name with a price tag to boot breeding from 2 different breeds can and sometimes will bring on a bevy of health problems for the pup. This subject is a pet peeve of mine.
There are plenty of mixed breeds waiting in shelters for their forever homes, most "designer breed" pups end up there anyways.
It all comes down to greed and carelessness.

Thats exactly how I feel about it. People who breed dogs like labradoodles, upmark the price, and claim they're "hypoallergenic". I've seen aussiedoodles for upwards of 1800-2500 dollars! Why someone would blend a double coat breed with the hair of a poodle I will never understand.

Pugs shouldn't be cross bred with anything in my opinion. The poor creatures have already been bred to have the flattest face and shortest legs possible because it's "cute" - as have Bulldogs. Bulldogs in particular often have birthing issues and need c sections. They're higher risk puppies to whelp.

I also disagree ethically, as cross breeds aren't a breed to begin with so they aren't adding anything to the pool of mistake puggles in shelters. There's no kind of well rounded personality that's trying to be achieved because it's a wild card to breed two different personalities, and there's no showing potential etc. not to mention I don't know any ethical breeders who have bred cross breeds. I know man down my street breeding "wolf hybrids". All he gives a crap about it money. He sells these puppies for 800 dollars a pop. They're husky mixes, not "wolf hybrids"

 

[cos]

I'm in the same boat as you, call your dog what you want (I personally refer to mine as a Wigglebum and a Tail Swoosher). However, people DO seem to think that they have some super rare dog when they have a "Puggle". Just at the dog park the other day, a woman was going on and on about her "Purebred Puggle". I didn't have the heart to correct her.

God that's awful not sure if I would have been able to shut my mouth!

I met a wonderful Rhodesian Ridgeback breeder who sold her latest little to other countries like Sweden and Germany, and she sent out someone on a plane to be sure the puppies were adjusting properly and getting along with the family for the first week as well as giving them training tips when needed. She also tells everyone who purchases a puppy that she will take back the puppies at any time if they don't want the puppy anymore. Her RR Rosie is GORGEOUS! She's such a beautiful striking red. Warms my heart to hear of responsible breeders.

 

[revolutionrocknroll]

Plenty of purebreds in shelters, maybe we should stop breeding all dogs. In fact, I've seen more purebred labs, beagles, huskies, border collies, chihuahuas, and shih tzus than any poodle mix. Clearly, it should be unethical to breed those too... :eyeroll:

Who cares what someone's breeding or what type of dog someone prefers to own as long as they go about it ethically and have done the research? I have a cockapoo and she's the best dog I've ever met. I would get one again in a heartbeat if I could find a reputable breeder or one in a shelter/rescue around here. If someone prefers to have a doodle or a puggle, what's it to you?

Obviously there are irresponsible "designer dog" breeders that only do it to make money but there are countless "purebred" breeders that are just as bad. Not really a breed problem, more of a stupid person problem.

 

[PoppyKenna]

I have a mixed breed dog. She's farm bred; the owners of her parents got together with the intention of creating more herding dogs. All the pups wound up on farms and, to some degree, worked cattle and other livestock.

I don't personally have a problem with mixing breeds as long as the humans know what they are doing and have a solid goal in mind.

I think the problem with many crossbreeders is that their mentality seems to be, "these two dogs are cute" or "this would be interesting". Most don't have any real idea what they're doing, they just kind of do it.

For me, that rule applies to ALL breeders. If you know dogs, specifically your dogs, and genetics and how to breed responsibly and take responsibility for the dogs you create - that is a good breeder. If you're just slapping two dogs together for kicks, not so much.

 

[ChessaQ]

I hate it. Because people mix dogs and then sell them for ridiculous prices just because they put a fancy name on it. A mixed breed is a mixed breed, no matter the name. And most crossbreeders-not all-are irresponsible backyard breeders.

All of my dogs are mixed breeds, and i suppose you could call Echo a Reagle and Chess a Jack-a-bee, but honestly it makes me cringe. I just say they're a rott/beagle and a jrt/beagle. They're no less special because they're mixed, but I wouldn't label them something fancy and try to sell them for 800 bucks. You can rescue that at the shelter.

 

[Russian4]

Im not a big fan of "designer breeds" personally. But if you have 2 very well tempered dogs also good looking who would make a great family pet i would take that over 2 poorly tempered labs and not a good representation of the breed.

I guess it just depends on how you look at it.

But i also do feel like there is no need to up the price because you successfully breed to dogs of different breeds together and it ended up being cute.

Good topic

 

[Rain]

I hate the cutsie names, and unless someone is coming up with a breed standard, doing genetic health test on all the parent dogs, and actually trying to create a new breed, I do not think the should be breed.

I say that as someone who owns a Chihuahua x Dachshund. He's not a Chiweenie, he is not a pure bred dog, his mix does not have a breed name, so I will not call him that.

My boy is what happens when people breed crosses without doing health and temperament checks on the parent dogs. He'll be 3 in January and so far he has luxating patella, seasonal allergies, has had colitis, has sprained his back, and is fear aggressive towards strange people and large dogs. I've spent more money on him at the vet in 3 years then I spent at the vet in 3 years on both my old dogs combined.

 

[cos]

Im not a big fan of "designer breeds" personally. But if you have 2 very well tempered dogs also good looking who would make a great family pet i would take that over 2 poorly tempered labs and not a good representation of the breed.

I guess it just depends on how you look at it.

But i also do feel like there is no need to up the price because you successfully breed to dogs of different breeds together and it ended up being cute.

Good topic

This makes sense. I just despise irresponsible breeders in general, but I guess it just rubs me the wrong way when someone has a cute mutt puppy and names them something unique or funny and then sell them for ridiculous amounts with claims of them being "Hypoallergenic". I also imagine it would be hard to breed a solid temperament out of two different breeds but I may be wrong.

Also you have to be really careful about researching health issues and knowing your breed. There was someone I knew who bred their blue Merle Aussie heeler cross with their other blue Merle Aussie and ended up with most of the litter blind and or deaf, a couple dead, and only one that got out of it with no damage. Truly tragic.

 

[Tilden]

All of the dogs I've had have been mixes. My childhood dog was part of an unplanned farm dog litter (no humane society in my hometown back then), and the three I've had as an adult I've adopted from humane societies. The three dogs I've adopted on my own have all been neutered when I got them or soon thereafter, so I've not bred any dogs. My parents opted not to neuter my childhood dog, but he was not allowed to roam freely either, and he was primarily a house dog, so he was not responsible for any additional mixed breed puppies either. All of those dogs have been trained and well-cared for as well.

I like mutts, but I don't really get the appeal of designer dogs. Why pay a great deal of money for designer dog when you can pay much less and save a dog from a shelter? However, I do know some people who are really attached to having, say, a series of cockapoos in their lives, though none of them refer to them as purebreds, so far as I know. I'm also kind of tired of having people insist that my mixes must be breeds of some sort, so I have been known to make up something that sounds like a designer breed name just to satisfy them (and because it's kind of fun to tell someone my dog is, say, an American lapstitter, and then have him/her say, with great confidence, that they've heard of that breed, when I just that minute made it up). I've also sometimes told people that my dog is indeed a purebred dog, as there's not a bit of cat in him.

People have insisted that my current dog is either completely, or in part, sheepdog, Sheltie, collie, Australian terrier, Havanese, Corgi, Westie, Yorkie, cockapoo, poodle, Dandie Dinmont terrier, and probably a dozen other things I've forgotten at this point. Why they feel it's necessary to apply a label past "rescued" to him is beyond me (he's the dog in my avatar, by the way--and I truly do not see what some of the aforementioned people are seeing).

 

[Russian4]

Also you have to be really careful about researching health issues and knowing your breed. There was someone I knew who bred their blue Merle Aussie heeler cross with their other blue Merle Aussie and ended up with most of the litter blind and or deaf, a couple dead, and only one that got out of it with no damage. Truly tragic.

I agree, if they knew what they were doing, did research and was smart about it i would think about it. I would probably still do a purebred akc dog before i looked at a designer dog. No matter how long id have to wait.

 

[traciek88]

I cringe too. I hate it. Every time I hear someone say they want/are seeking out a bull**** designer dog I just want to smack them. And when they say they're "healthier" than purebreds I want to smack them with Tyrion's medical bills.

 

[DuckDodgers]

It really rubs me the wrong way when people refer to mix/crossbreeds by those cutesy hybridized names like "chiweenie" or "labradoodle" or any of the similar ones. I absolutely despise it when people use the name to market their mixed breed puppies. I don't like it when pet owners (be it people that purchased from a "breeder" or got the dog through rescue) use those cutesy names, but I keep my mouth shut because it's frankly none of my business how they refer to their crossbred dog. However, in a conversation with them where they keep referring to their "chiweenie" I'll deliberately refer to their Chihuahua/dachshund cross I also will say something if someone tries to call their mixed breed dog a purebred.

On paper I don't have any explicit issues with crossing different breeds when there's a specific (likely work/performance related) goal in mind with thorough research done, full health testing, etc, but in reality the VAST majority of people who cross different breeds do not do these things. I can rattle off the names of good breeders in a number of breeds, bad breeders of both pure and mixed breed dogs, but I have yet to meet a breeder of mixed breed dogs that I'm comfortable with. Not to say they're not out there or it can't be done, but I've never personally seen it done right.

 

[Esand]

I don't like the idea of intentionally breeding mixed breeds unless the breeder is consciously trying to create a new breed.

Health issues and behavior and temperament are things that are seen as a trend through generations not by looking at two individual dogs and deciding they would go well together.

 

[jclark343]

I tend to think anyone that tells me they have some cutsie name is ignorant. That's my first judgement. They can prove me otherwise, but the first mention of a labradoodle or borgi and my mind thinks down on you or assumes your not educated on proper breeding methods. And that's my honest opinion. Call it a mutt, call it a labxpoodle mix, but don't use some stupid combo name to make it sound like a real AKC breed. And please, no pitch forks, I'm just being honest.

If the breeders put in the leg work, do the genetic testing, have proven parents, and believe the puppies have something to offer the world, then I'm perfectly ok with them. I also like breeders that educate owners on their mixes. Like a goldenxpoodle owner informing the people buying the dog that the dog is going to need DAILY grooming, and depending on the coat, might be more likely to mat. Instead a lot of these breeders pass their dogs off as being hypoallergenic (not proven) and easy to care for, and the dog goes into the grooming salon at a year as 1 big ball of mats and the owner has no clue why.

Breeders just need to be honest with people. And that goes for mixes or pure. If more breeders educated the buyers on what they may be getting, and not just selling the puppies to who ever for money, maybe we would have less dogs in the shelters.

 

[traciek88]

However, in a conversation with them where they keep referring to their "chiweenie" I'll deliberately refer to their Chihuahua/dachshund cross I also will say something if someone tries to call their mixed breed dog a purebred.

I do this too. =P People get so annoyed. People also seem surprised when I shrug and say Stella is "just a mutt". Doesn't mean she's not the best dog ever!

 

[mathilda]

i think it often sounds stupid, and it reminds me of Pixiv-pairings (Dönertorte anyone?) and jokes about Angela Merkel (Merkozy or Hollankel ? or perhaps better Camerkel? XD), but if people want to call their mix like that, I won't stop them. it's not like it hurts anyone.
sometimes it is difficult to find out what breeds they mean though, so I prefer when they say something like "it's a Schäfimix" or "it's a Schäferhund/Chihuahua mix"...it's easier for me.
It is also good when people would not say they know trhe mix, when the ancestors of the dog are unknown or were also already mixes. makes people think it's okay to have a 35 kg "French bulldog". :I