To hate the term 'designer' dog?

[FidoAndHisBone]

I am getting my dog in three weeks and am already being judged by other dog owners and this really gets my goat. We are getting a labradoodle btw. All pedigree dogs were 'designed', some not very long ago at all... I am also getting annoyed at the dog fascists who think cross breeds should not be allowed. AIBU?

IME, a backyard breeder of x-breeds is more likely to have alttruistic motivation for breeding and keeping dogs, than a pedigree breeder

basset hounds, pugs etc cant breath properly because of the short palate/head & face shape etc westies more often than not have seriously irritationg skin conditions, Hardly ever see a x breed with hip dysplasia

etc etc etc

what, like money?

what are these people hoping to achieve? must have taken weeks of agonising and poring over pedigree lines to choose her sister's lab as stud! and then to breed labs out of a poodle bitch. not easy for the poor little love to whelp.(they are as tall but built like greyhounds under the fluff)

to be fair, i know just as lacklustre thinking happens in the KC-registered world. but then there are the other people who really do give a shit, go abroad if necessary (thus making no money at all on the litter!), carefully research pedigrees for this disease and that, and consider the likely temperament of resultant puppies....

finding these people is hard, getting them to sell you one of their dogs is even harder..

bejeezus there have already been people in this thread whose doodle had HD, it does happen - the only reason it is less prevalent in poodles than labs is because poodles tend to stay lightly built and thin (hip scores are actually lower than average)

KC registration is almost a guarantee that the breeder couldn't give a shit about dogs and is only in it for the money/prestige. Doesn't anyone remember the King Charles scandal a couple of years ago where the dogs skulls are not big enough for their brains (hence the very 'desirable' pop-eyed look) and the poor dogs die agonising deaths? And before that German Shepherds who could hardly walk because of hip dysplasia? I would never, ever buy from a breeder.

BYB's are just as bad though.

In fact, why would anyone who truly loves dogs breed more when all of the rescues in this country are full to bursting and every day healthy dogs are put down?

Frontpaw loads of houses are not architect designed. There's hordes of people out there that claim to be architects because they can dabble in CAD. Haven't got the first clue...

But back to labradoodles, I don't really think they are designer dogs, more popular cross breeds. There's plenty of recognised cross breeds around and great dogs they are too. But designer? I don't think so

callisto i think the very definition of 'ethical breeder' would preclude such breeding choices as you mention, and i think taking 'why breed and buy whilst others die' seriously does mean breeding infrequently and taking an active role in rescue.

but i don't think it is fair to say that all pedigree dogs have gone down those roads. sadly i think that shockumentary on pedigree dogs did nothing but encourage the public to buy from people with, if anything, worse ethical standards and poorer motivations.

I've got nothing against crossbreeds. I've got two myself.

What I do hate is people who get £££ signs in their eyes, put their bitch to their mate's dog up the road (neither of whom are generally health tested), advertise the puppies as "non/low shedding", give them a stupid name and charge £900 a puppy when they've clearly spent next to nothing on the breeding process.

i agree with callisto

YANBU about the designer dog label. Pedigrees animals are "designed." I would say crossbreeds are less designer than pedigrees, as the crossbreeds don't breed true. You don't know which bits from each parents breed are going to end up in your puppy.

Because crossbreeds don't breed true, it is extremely frustrating to see them advertised as a particular "breed". Labradoodles are often advertised as non-shedding, which is ludicrous. There is no way the breed can know if the puppy will shed heavily or not from this crossing.

I think designer dog is a reasonable label. Every year I foster a new breed of stray. A family getting a Lab/Collie/Doodle etc is one thing. Dog fashion is another. I am on foster no 52 so feel totally comfortable with saying that an Australian Cattle dog, Husky, American Bulldog type dog is probably likely to end up with me because they are hard work. That doesn't mean all owners are twats but designer dog for me means the people who want a look rather than a breed. Nobody should judge you for getting a type of dog if it is best for you. BUT, why not adopt a decent, well behaved family dog if possible rather than paying someone to create even more dogs?

What bugs me is why people fork out £££ to buy a dog when there are so many helpless little pups or dogs in kennels all over the country just waiting for a nice family to adopt them.

I couldn't give a toss aout what reed of dog anyone has as long as its being treated well.

Bejezus, agreed and try working for a airline in a hot country and seeing the Pugs and overbred Persian cats dying on the tarmac. Luckily we have now banned the import and export of short noesd animals during the hot months. None of the banned pets have been x breeds. In 55c temps, a long nosed pet can cope with the 4 mins it takes from plane to Customs, a Pug would not cope.

erm...would they have a list long enough to ban all potential short-nosed heat-sensitive x-breeds?

i fail to see why pug-x type things would necessarily fare any better.

erm (how I hate that) I think it would be unreasonable to expect an airline to guess whether a cross breed looks a certain way. At least a ban shows they are at least trying to be reponsible. Please don't erm me, it is rude and offensive. I actually do know more than you about this, it was my job for 6 years.

you are buying from a byb and id guess youre probably paying well over the odds for it too

Yes, first generation x you may be looking at many of the pedigree problems still - but we'd get there eventually