No, you have a mongrel

[CommanderShepherd]

Thoughts?

*rehomed not removed

midnight What you have described there is two scenarios which are interchangeable, and therefore it is irrelevant what breeds we are breeding (within reason), but only relevant whether or not the parents have been health tested. PLENTY of crossbreed breeders carry out extensive health checks on parents dogs, just as PLENTY of pedigree breeders don't, and vice verse for both.

Thanks Goady. I feel like a lone weirdo voice sometimes but it seems like the simplest of logic to me.

FWIW I didn't at any point say I had an issue with pedigree dogs or crossbreeds or mongrels. I have a pedigree dog. He is a rescue. I cannot, and will not accept the culture of immediate gratification when it comes to animals. Nor the BS people tell themselves to justify buying rather than adopting. I know people would like to punch me square in the throat for my opinion. I'm ok with that.

MY THOUGHTS

People will always justify buying, I will keep banging on as there are lovely loyal, running, small, low shed, child friendly bla blah dogs in rescues, through no fault of their own.

I wouldn't put punch you anywhere tooOld

The adoption argument is the only one which makes sense. Adopters are the only ones who have a right to judge people for spending money on puppies.

Glitter, to be fair this is about crossing 2 "pedigree" s to make another named dog of possible questionable health but doubled . I doubt you are the lone voice in worrying about rescue dogs. It's a heart breaking issue.

Which is exactly what I was saying Hoplikeabunny. Regardless of whether you want a pedigree or a crossbred, make sure you are buying from an ethical breeder who is doing the health testing.

tooOld I agree with you

Kind of see what you mean OP but I think the way you are using the word "mongrel" so pointedly about a (presumably) loved pet is comes across a bit like saying to a parent "Your child is a bastard".

Any type of breeding that isn't to the benefit of the dog's health is bad. Whether that is poorly researched cross-breeding or breeding too far for certain traits with "pure" breeds. God I hate all this eugenicsesque terminology

I don't really get all this agitation about cross breeding, but then I don't really get the whole pedigree thing either - this assumption that "you know what you're getting" seems pretty unrealistic. Surely all pedigree breeds started off as cross breeds? And while crosses may not have a marked advantage in terms of breeding out genetic problems, surely a well considered and researched cross is much the same as a well considered and researched pedigree and the alternative is the same - poor breeding in either pedigree or crosses results in poor outcomes? I agree that maybe more inexperienced or ruthless breeders are jumping on the bandwagon in terms of crosses, but I really don't see how we can assume the principle is necessarily wrong - there does seem to be a bit of snobbery about the whole thing. I have a very nice rescue springerjackbeaglehound (or mutt) by the way, so no axe to grind.

It annoys me when people judge others for getting a puppy from a breeder, cross or not.

I have rescued 2 dogs in the past. Both collie X, both amazing creatures, each unique (never saw another like either of them) and both lived happily to ripe old age of 17.

However, because of their previous treatment and abandonment, both had serious trust issues and I would never have fully trusted either not to snap around a child, as delightful and loving as they were, they did not have high levels of tolerance in the same way as dogs who grow up with kids from puppies.

Since the last one passed away, I have bought a labradoodle puppy. I researched for a long time and decided on that breed as the key traits fit with out needs. Of course, it's a gamble as you don't know which characteristics you will get, but I took that into account and decided that both breeds were full of intelligence, fun but easy to train, etc.

I paid a lot more than I did for my rescue beauties of course, but i felt it was the right choice this time around.

I would not have wanted to take the risk of rescuing a dog who would then struggle with my family or we with it. I could never give a dog back, so needed to make the best choice possible with the info I could gather, and that cross breed ticked all my boxes.
So far, so good! She seems to be all that we hoped she would be!

And yes before anyone jumps on it - I know you can never fully trust any dog not to snap. But I know from my own experience that some dogs are more likely to do it, and those that grow up with kids from the outset I see are generally more tolerant, whereas my rescue dogs definitely were not.

I took in a pup from a local farm that was half German Shepherd and half sneaky neighbours dog Irish Wolfhound. He was a most beautiful intelligent thing. But he was PTS at 18 months due to dreadful health problems. Devastating. You just don't know what you are getting.

I am more annoyed by people who make no effort to train or socialise their dogs properly and then happily let them loose to terrorise everyone else in the park. I usually find the worst ones are the small rat or mop type breeds. I keep my dog leashed in public through politeness, not necessity (I have a large, well trained, gentle German Shepherd). I am sick and tired of her being charged at and nipped by dogs with owners who do not have a frikkin clue what they are doing, but tell me it's fine because their dog is friendly. Lovely, but you don't know that mine is, so better to check before yours has their nose up mine's butt. They will be the first to complain if theirs gets bitten because the bigger dog must be the agrressor.

In short, buy or rescue whatever dog floats your boat, but please bloody train it and keep it on a lead if it doesn't have recall skills.

This is Daisy. She is a Labradoodle. She is unamused by this thread.

I had the most horrendous vet bill because someone else's unleashed dog snipped around the withers of my known to me unstable but always leashed gsd. My dog eventually lashed out and chomped a portion out of the other dog's hindquarters, but not before i had repeatedly told the owner of their jumpy little spaniel to call their dog away. She had three children with her. I told her that my dog was on a lead for a good reason - on a golf course, couldnt ask for more room- and she couldn't call her dog to heel in time for it not to be bitten. It still grinds my teeth 15 years later. My girl has been dust for 5 years coming up.

Er, sorry! To make any of that relevant, my dog was a purebred white longhaired gsd. Dreadful temperament : despite being standard, i wouldn't have bred from her. Too inbred. Beautiful though.

To all the people saying just adopt. We've tried that but have been turned down by our 2 local rescues because we both work full time, completely ignoring the fact that we are shift workers and the longest out house is ever empty is for 2 hours when our shifts cross over and on those occasions dp retired parents can help out. One of the rescues also said that because we live on a main road and have a small back garden this went against us. HArdley seems fair.
So we're waiting for the.moment till our circumstances change although when that'll be i don't know.

Have what ever dog you like, but please stop with the 'labradoodle', 'shittypoo' 'pieceofcrapadoodle' shit. You sound ridiculous. You have a crossbred dog, just accept it and stop trying to pretend it is anything else.

Midnite honestly , focus on your own life not the lives of others.

"MUMSNETTERS, KEEP YOUR OPINIONS TO YOURSELVES! DISCUSS IN A DIFFIDENT, ASSERTION-FREE MANNER!" Good luck with that

Besides, Midnite is quite right. 'Cockadoodledo', 'Shnizzy-poo' and so on as breed names sound ludicrous from adult mouths.

Steff, daisy is beautiful :)

I don't even know what responsible breeding is anymore. My mother got some impeccably bred corgi with a billion generation pedigree, inbred all to hell, sold because her face was just slightly too pointy to make it crufts, though she would 'win at local' apparently (mum never tried). She was beautiful, and the most intelligent dog I've ever known, but neurotic as a pup and in and out of the vets her whole life with a series of bowel problems, arthritis and I don't know what else. I'm fairly sure that zillion generation pedigree had something to do with it.

This is Wilson - he is amused too.
Seriously - we tried to adopt but were put off by shelters as we have 2 cats and 2 children. I couldn't care less if he is a crossbreed or a shiny pedigree. He is health checked & very lovely. I rarely ask doggy questions on mumsnet because of this kind of rubbish.
& how do you think pedigree breeds arrived in the first place?

What's with this line that keeps being trotted out 'You just don't know what you're getting.' It makes no sense! They are dogs, not fucking sofas, of course you don't know what you're getting, it makes no difference if it's a pedigree or a cross.

I have three dogs (rescue greyhound, cairn terrier and labradoodle), and the cairn was from a crufts winning line, yet his temperament is nothing like the breed standard, and he cost over £7000 last year in vets bills, and is heading the same way this year. Cairns are arguably one of the healthier pedigrees too, so fuck knows what problems people with pugs etc encounter.

Yes, you can arguably have more of an idea what temperament you're getting if you know what breeds your dog is made up of, but nothing is certain by any stretch. Besides, if my dog is half lab and half poodle, and I love both of those breeds, then I'm not taking any more of a gamble than I would be if I had simply got a lab or a poodle.

If you breed two unhealthy dogs with questionable temperaments then the results wont be good, regardless of whether you breed them with their own kind or another.

The absolute key here is to breed healthy dogs with compatible healthy dogs- I.e don't breed a pug with an Irish wolfhound, or don't breed two bulldogs with massive health issues.

I met a lovely pup yesterday and chatted to her owner for a bit. He told me that she was a Golden Retriever Poodle cross, and I said she was very pretty, and big for 13 weeks. He said that the dad was a mid size poodle and she was about twice the size of some of her litter mates (showing the diversity of a first generation cross). I told him about how when we picked up our mutt from the shelter they had no idea about his dad (both terrier and retriever were suggested!), or how our pup might turn out (he was 8 weeks). Our dog is lovely to us too.

One of the issues about 'designer dogs' is what if they don't turn out to design. All the shedding 'oodles' for example. Do they all end up dumped in shelters when it turns out that they aren't hypo-allergenic or messy?