To think that a labracockapoodle is a mongrel

[voluptuagoodshag]

So why can't folk just say so. Or would that be to justify the extortionate amount they paid for it so they don't come across as mugs.

TBH I think a sprollie is more a dog you pick up from a rescue centre than a breed you aspire to own.

People always ask what dogs are, but I wouldn't assume that they actually know what a cockapoo or even a labradoodle actually is.

My current dog is a Rottweiler, I've been asked if he's a Doberman, a mastiff puppy and once if he was a black lab.

He's just a normal looking Black and Tan Rottweiler.

But then several people have been adamant that he must be a cross because he has a tail.

People in general aren't hugely good with dog breeds.

Diseases 'I wish that the KC had welfare at heart and not show standards' - if that were the case, they may not find the need for extravagant offices in Mayfair either

Where are these rescue dogs? I have been looking on and off for a lot of today, on a lot of sites. I can't find a dog that suits and appeals (and this is down to personal taste - but we all have personal taste - I don't want a small dog and I don't want a bull terrier type simply because it I grew up with labs and would prefer something like that). Where are the ones with few enough issues for a family?

I think you should register your interest with a couple of relatively near to you rescues, get a homecheck if they will do it in advance and then wait until they have the right dog for you. Most rescues have a steady stream of dogs coming through, they may not have the right dog today, but likely will in the next few months. Or look at breed specific rescues if you have something in mind.

if I were looking for a family dog (particularly children under 8) I would go to the centre and see a few dogs, talk to the staff and get a feel for what kind of dog would be suitable.

The problem is that some dogs who end up in rescue centres are a bit of an unknown quantity and other dogs have known problems.

Dogs that are definitely suitable for young families are out there, but it can take a while to find them. Also, rescue centres are sometimes cautious about families because it is Much more challenging to have a dog when you have young children. The dog may be lovely but it will often be there because the previous owner underestimated how demanding it would be.

If I were looking for a particular breed I would go to a breed rescue, but (and I'm happy to be corrected on this) I would guess that the dogs that people take there are not young, healthy well trained dogs with no behaviour problems. I would expect to compromise on age, health or behaviour.

I think the perfect rescue dog will involve compromise somewhere, and tbh, breed might be the easiest place to compromise.

Meant to say dogs that end up in rescue centres can be a bit of an unknown quantity, not are.

I really find it interesting that there is so much emphasis put on temperament, yes, some breeders breed include "good temperament" in the characteristics they want to breed, especially when it comes to working dogs. Backyard breeders tend to be interested only in looks or size.

Having said that, not even paying thousands for the puppy with the best temperament in the litter is a guarantee that you will end up with a nice dog, because 3/4 parts of what makes a dog great is how the dog is socialised and trained by the owners. Most vicious dogs are the result of bad upbringing not genetics.

One of my dogs was amazingly well behaved, one time I left them with some friends for a week, and come back to find him chomping a pot of flowers of my friend in the middle of their expensive living room rug. We were told that he had been weeing around the house and growling if they wanted to sit on the same piece of furniture he was sitting on. As it happened, they had spent the full week pandering to cute puppy's whims, so the dog had assumed he was running the household and was making everyone march to his own rules. I really couldn't believe it... As soon as we took him home he was his usual well behaved self, while my friends have spent the last 15 years with a string of apparently vicious dogs (that they have paid an awful amount of money for).

Week after we got our 9 week from the Dogs Trust, they had a whole large litter of labradors come in. I know because my friend was looking to replace her lab at that time and she'd heard about them. Like my dog's litter no issues just the unsold product of an irresponsible back street breeder, or so I heard. At the Dogs Trust puppy training classes, there was a variety of pups from the Dogs Trust - only one from my dog's litter. Pups with no known issues get surrendered all the time.

Genetics are far more important in temperament then are being given credit here (including epi-genetics). Nervousness/fearfulness has been shown to be extremely heritable and aggressive behaviour is often rooted in fear. We can mitigate these heritable traits with socialisation but tbh so much damage can be done by 8 weeks that if you have a dog who has a potentially dodgy temperament it may be too late to eliminate issues.

The neo-natal environment and the first 8 weeks is crucial to the development of the puppy - a stressed mother in an unsuitable environment will affect the puppies. But even doing all the wrong/right things if you have parents with a strong genetic predisposition to a certain trait it's unlikely you will overcome it.

Anecdata time - my own dog is the sweetest and happiest dog with people. He was bred in sub par circumstances, socialised mostly with other dogs for the first 18mths of his life and then was abused and a serious welfare case. Going by environment argument he should be very good with other dogs and awful with people. In reality he is unpredictable around other dogs and I would be very, very surprised if he even got close to biting a person (having handled him when I was a stranger and he was in a lot if pain). That is 100% a genetic predisposition.

Joffrey had the pups been weaned and taken from the bitch at the correct time?

Interesting Fisher. But that's also why I am so wary of a rescue dog - I want to see the pups and mum together as we have kids. We got our dog as the mother was so chilled with us and pups around her it was unreal. Is there anything you can look out for in a pup if the mum is no longer around and information given is limited?

Anyone in the South East looking for a rescue, try Pro Dogs Direct. They have a very pragmatic approach to rehoming with children and all dogs are in foster homes so fully assessed.

I have three rescues, two are pedigree labs. All three would be wonderful family dogs now. Dog two was 14 months old and had had 4 homes already. He was a bit bonkers when he arrived, but just needed more exercise and boundaries setting. He settled down quickly. Dog three was from Romania and very nervous. Even she is settling well 8 weeks in. Dog 1 came straight from her first owner, a very expensive pedigree chosen "the right way" (good breeder, seen with mum etc) but still too much for novice owners in a tiny house with no garden. When they had a baby they just couldn't cope.

I truly think that exercise, handling and patience count for much more than breeding. In most cases, a rescue dog only has problems because of it's owner, and most can easily be overcome with a little effort.

Good luck for Thursday. OldBoot!

I'm soft too. That's how I ended up with the Romanian one, saw a video!

I'm a doodle owner after years of pedigree and rescue dogs and I'd never have any other breed again! We walk with lots of doodles regularly and they have the most amazing temperaments and seem to just get the best of both breeds. Ours is golden retriever cross standard poodle or goldendoodle and to me it's irrelevant what he cost or what he's called! I don't give any other dog owner grief over their choice of breed so can't understand why people think they can pick on doodlers!

Unless you are breeding or showing your dog yourself, there is zero difference in practical terms of having paid for a labradoodle or a pure bred anything. It's a free market, people obviously luke the look of a labradoodle. Why is that sillier than paying for a pure bred?? And who is to say a pure bred pug is a better or nicer dog than a labradoodle.

Well it'd be pretty silly to get a pug instead of a labradoodle given how different pugs are to either poodles or Labradors...

But there could be quite a big difference between one labradoodle and another in a way that there wouldn't be between one poodle and another.

I've never understood it either, I had a cross between a shitzu & dashound - I bought him as he was so unbelievably cute. The lady tried to tell me the bread was something pretentious...i registered him at the vets as a shithound just as I found it funnier (although explaining to my then five yearold he was a shitzu cross sausage dog...she innocently asked if he was a shit sausage then )
Call them what you like, pay what you like - but lets be fair they are all made up so no need to for people be all uppity. Some crosses work out lovely and variety of more cuteness isn't a bad thing :)

Owl, yes this one in fact stayed with her a bit longer but she was a rubbish mum and the breeder did a fair bit of intervention (I got the dog cheaper on the understanding I'd return her for the breeder to get one litter from her at a later date - her sister was the top one of that breed and she was actually about second best, having won plenty of CCs and was Crufts qualified).... I was really pissed off with the breeder, who just laughed it off as "Hah! Grandad was like that too!" - when she'd taken my money it was all "Of course we breed for temperament!"

We used to joke she was a supermodel, having won so many shows all over the UK and Ireland, and being so beautiful as well as having the temperament of a (very patient) saint. But it turned out those must have been mum's genes as dad's really were nothing to write home about (he must have looked pretty though!)

Another thought re. labradabrdoodles whatever they is called... so what happens when they want to breed a second generation of these dogs? Back to the labs n poodles? Or will people start breeding a labradabrathingy to another labradabrathingy? And if they did the second option - what's that doing to the genetics? Can they start crossing them out to get rid of the undesirable characteristics? How does it work?

Tough, that sums it up, really.

I don't understand why we don't have a government that has the will to do something about this, once and for all. Yet another puppy farm horror story on TV this week... Same old, same old.

I think this new fad for crossbreeds is very worrying; just a new development when many people thought how could this get any worse? Are there really so many people making money from dog breeding that the government thinks it would impact the economy if they put a stop to it? I don't think so.

Maybe the various charities concerned need to work even harder on educating people.