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Yorkie mix with bichon, any experience?

92 replies

Inanutshelldaze · 03/09/2020 10:52

A lady we know very well will have yorkie/bichon pups available in the next couple of months. She lives near us & treats her dogs & pups like little babies. Has anyone any experience of this cross? My dc are dying for a puppy. The father is a dark black & tan purebred yorkie & the mother a white bichon.
Another lady in our town has cavachons due soon, need to make a decision!

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Wolfiefan · 03/09/2020 10:54

I wouldn’t personally buy a cross from a backyard breeder. I’m assuming they are breeding two pets rather than selecting a stud carefully. I would also bet that the parents won’t have had necessary health screening. Should the parents have specialist hip or eye or heart screening.
I can’t see the benefit of these crosses either. Why not a Yorkie or Bichon?

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MothershipG · 03/09/2020 11:00

So as it's a cross it could be very Yorkie like to very Bichon & anything in between so do your research on both breeds to make sure that either is suitable. This will also apply to the other cross you are considering.

How old are your children & how used to dogs are they. Obviously a small dog will need very gentle handling & may be scared by toddlers. And remember they may want a puppy but all the work & responsibilities will be yours so the most important thing is that you want a dog.

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Floralnomad · 03/09/2020 11:06

Nobody who treats her dogs and pups like little babies would be subjecting her dog to having pups , she is using her dog as a money making machine . If you do decide to go for the cavalier x make sure that the parents have had all their relevant health checks done and that doesn’t mean a quick check up at a vets .

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Inanutshelldaze · 03/09/2020 11:17

She's not a backyard breeder the father is a thoroughbred stud yorkie. Both parents have papers. This lady has people travelling across the country when she has puppies & a long wait list always. We've missed out twice before!

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ImperfectTents · 03/09/2020 11:20

I imagine this would an adorable playful but v anxious dog. We have a bichon mix and love her to death but she can't be left and can be a bit barky

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Inanutshelldaze · 03/09/2020 11:24

If anyone has any experience of either dog please let me know. DH prefers the idea of a bichon /yorkie cross partly because he knows the father dog to see from being out on his run & likes his confidence & nature! Also we have been hunting for the right dog for so long & we feel comfortable purchasing from this lady. I called her this morning & she quizzed me for half an hour, she put me on the waiting list as she knows I with from home & that my dc have a very good nature with her dogs when she meets them out walking!

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Borderstotheleftofme · 03/09/2020 11:34

I think if you know both parents and like their temperaments I would go for it, a lot of temperament is genetic so puppies often turn out with very similar temperaments to their parents regardless of their upbringing.

I don’t know any yorkie x bichon but I do know a yorkie x JRT and she’s a very sweet little girl.

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AllPlayedOut · 03/09/2020 11:40

She's a backyard breeder. There is no reason to cross breed these two dogs. I don't care how good her Yorkshire terrier's pedigree is. No ethical breeder creates designer dogs like that. There are so many problems with the whole designer dog trend.

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Costacoffeeplease · 03/09/2020 11:46

AllPlayedOut
What they said

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Borderstotheleftofme · 03/09/2020 11:46

She's a backyard breeder
How do you know that?
Because the dogs aren’t the same breed..?

There are stacks and stacks of beyond awful breeders breeding purebred, pedigreed/papered dogs.
One of the biggest puppy farmers in the UK was an ex award winning crufts breeder!

The OP sees the lady out regularly walking the dogs and knows her well.
She’s a home/hobby breeder and unlikely to be a backyard breeder in the sense that people are suggesting eg sick, dirty dogs, back to back litters, no care for where they go etc.

Home/hobby breeder is not the same as puppy farmer/backyard breeder

There is no reason to cross breed these two dogs
Why?
There’s not a single dog breed alive today that wasn’t a mix of breeds at some point!

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DeeDimer · 03/09/2020 11:49

We have a 9 year old Cavachon. She's fab. Will walk miles, sleep for hours (on DH's head), dance for treats and washes the cats. Easy to toilet train, good recall, loves the beach.

Yorkie mix with bichon, any experience?
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Inanutshelldaze · 03/09/2020 12:00

Oh she is just adorable DeeDimer!! Thanks for the info.

In relation to the breeder friends & family of ours have taken dogs from her over the years & all have recommended her so highly. The dogs thankfully are all still very well with no health issues, came well socialised as puppies & very well cared for in their early days!

Rang another ad just now regarding a yorkie mix & he is charging triple the amount that our neighbour is. I did ask her why the pups were so cheap & she replied "even though the parents are pedigrees their beautiful children are mongrels!"

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Veterinari · 03/09/2020 12:02

@Inanutshelldaze

She's not a backyard breeder the father is a thoroughbred stud yorkie. Both parents have papers. This lady has people travelling across the country when she has puppies & a long wait list always. We've missed out twice before!

Yes she is - she's producing 'designer' crossbreeds for profit.
She's not breeding to improve either breed. That's exactly what a backyard breeder is.
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Veterinari · 03/09/2020 12:04

@Borderstotheleftofme

She's a backyard breeder
How do you know that?
Because the dogs aren’t the same breed..?

There are stacks and stacks of beyond awful breeders breeding purebred, pedigreed/papered dogs.
One of the biggest puppy farmers in the UK was an ex award winning crufts breeder!

The OP sees the lady out regularly walking the dogs and knows her well.
She’s a home/hobby breeder and unlikely to be a backyard breeder in the sense that people are suggesting eg sick, dirty dogs, back to back litters, no care for where they go etc.

Home/hobby breeder is not the same as puppy farmer/backyard breeder

There is no reason to cross breed these two dogs
Why?
There’s not a single dog breed alive today that wasn’t a mix of breeds at some point!

But she's not trying to create a new breed is she? She's just churning out puppies for profit.
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AllPlayedOut · 03/09/2020 12:04

I can't stand so called hobby breeders either. The vast majority of people should not be breeding their dogs. Dogs should be bred to improve the breed. The breeder should be very particular to breed only the healthiest to minimise health problems. There's nothing particular about breeding two different breeds like this. It's just pandering to this terrible trend of designer dogs.

The breeder is not trying to create a new breed. That takes a lot of work and consideration over numerous generations of dogs. That's not to say that I agree with people trying to create new breeds just because, but she is trying to make money here. She isn't doing anything to improve either Yorkies or Bichon Frises.

I'm not a fan of breeding many purebreds either. I despair of the trend for pugs, English bulldogs and French bulldogs. They are a mess. They may be cute but they are a complete disaster in regards to health. If anyone is breeding them it should be only to try to reduce the health issues, e.g lengthening the nose but let's be honest. Most people aren't producing pugs for that purpose.

Even the man who tried to create the Labradoodle, for genuinely good reasons, now says that he regrets it because it unleashed the trend for designer dogs. www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/us/labradoodle-creator-regret.html

The people who insist upon buying from these unscrupulous people are every bit as responsible for the damage done by the designer dog trend as the so called breeders.

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AllPlayedOut · 03/09/2020 12:09

I wonder how many times the poor Mother has been bred, but no one gives a shit if she suffers, so long as their kids get a cute puppy to fuss over for a few months.

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AllPlayedOut · 03/09/2020 12:10

I did ask her why the pups were so cheap & she replied "even though the parents are pedigrees their beautiful children are mongrels!"

Then why is she breeding them? There is no reason to do so other than lining her own pockets. She isn't improving with breed. She isn't creating a new one.

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Wolfiefan · 03/09/2020 12:17

Friends and family have pups from this person? So they either have loads of breeding bitches or keep breeding from the same one or two.
Avoid!

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Pollypocket89 · 03/09/2020 12:20

Just out of curiosity, how much is she charging for cross reeds?

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Pollypocket89 · 03/09/2020 12:21

*crossbreeds

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Ihaventgottimeforthis · 03/09/2020 12:25

My SIL has one, she's a lovely little dog, just the kind of thing you would expect from a yorkie crossed with a bichon, probably favours the yorkie side a bit more. Needs a lot of grooming care. She's calm and child friendly.
Her litter mates all look very different in confirmation and face, definitely not all as appealing. The other one I know is quite nervy and yappy and has a sensitive tum.
As with any crossbreed, it's a bit of pot luck. But the apple won't fall too far from the tree, the main bit is the work you do with the puppy when you get it. And hope that she is a responsible and good breeder and is doing her utmost to rear healthy, well socialised puppies.

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Borderstotheleftofme · 03/09/2020 12:25

I think the whole attitude to dog breeding in this country is ridiculous tbh.

Most people want a friendly, tolerant, sweet and healthy family pet which is exactly what a great deal of ‘home/hobby’ breeders produce.

Yes there are awful ‘breeders’ out there but it’s definately not limited to hobby breeders!

A home/hobby breeder doesn’t need to ‘improve’ on anything; just create nice, sociable, healthy family dogs.
Which is what (good, caring, conscientious) home breeders do.

The ‘improvements’ made to the majority of breeds are anything but.
We have vast numbers of dogs who can no longer do their original purpose; collies that can’t herd, retrievers that can’t retrieve, its absolutely tragic!

And the worst of it, these dogs are praised as great examples of their breed and given medals and bred from 😖

Not to mention all the health problems, many of them a direct result of allowing one dog (often a top, crufts titled dog from a so called ‘reputable’ breeder) to father thousands and thousands of puppies and many of them a direct result of breeding for a certain ‘look’

There’s nothing wrong with breeding different breeds as long as it is done sensibly.

I think it’s really sad that the second a cross breed is mentioned it is immediately stated as fact that the breeder must be unethical, cruel, breeding back to back etc etc.
Maybe they are, but you don’t know they are.
Good breeders that breed crossbreeds or unregistered dogs do exist..

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AllPlayedOut · 03/09/2020 12:42

A home/hobby breeder doesn’t need to ‘improve’ on anything; just create nice, sociable, healthy family dogs.
Which is what (good, caring, conscientious) home breeders do.

Most of them are anything but that and there are more than enough unwanted dogs out there without a plethora of money hungry "hobby breeders" adding to the pile.

There is nothing to be gained by the dogs in breeding crossbreeds. They are not filling a niche. They are not producing healthier dogs. They are just making money for their owners, reducing the chances of other unwanted dogs finding a home and often producing yet another poor dog to be passed from pillar to post when the appeal of their cuteness wears off.

As mentioned earlier I'm far from a fan of continuing to breed many purebreds too, those with numerous health issues, unless sensible breeders are trying to breed out the issues but that doesn't mean it's fine for backyard breeders to shrug their shoulders, say well some purebreds are worse and continue to add to the suffering.

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Borderstotheleftofme · 03/09/2020 12:51

There is nothing to be gained by the dogs in breeding crossbreeds. They are not filling a niche
These breeders are providing what the majority of people are looking for in a pet dog.

Most people are looking for something very friendly and sociable, very cute, more people are opting for smaller dogs as our homes seem to be being built smaller and smaller and a lot of people want what they perceive to be an easy care/low allergen coat.
The home breeders providing poodle/bichon mixes provide exactly that.
There’s a reason why poo mixes are so, so popular.

And I do agree that they are often puppy farmed or bred by people that don’t neglect the dog per se but are literally only looking at the money (as are many pure breeds), but not ALL crossbreed breeders are like that.

Some do take good care of the dogs and put great effort into socialising the puppies, getting prospective homes etc

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Floralnomad · 03/09/2020 13:00

I have no interest in getting into an argument about BYB , hobby breeders or cross breeds but it does need saying that the only reason this person is breeding dogs is because she wants to make money , it’s not because the pups are cute and it’s definitely not because her dog likes having pups . Unfortunately the rise of so called designer cross breeds has opened up the option for lots of people to make money out of breeding dogs which lets face it is a lot easier than actually going to work . I wonder how many of these home breeders actually declare their earnings to the tax man .

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