To think there’s nothing wrong with cross breeds?

[sophialagiraffe]

There is nothing wrong whatsoever with cross breeds, whether that’s lurchers or cockerpoos. People are allowed to like what they like.

What DOES matter is where the dog comes from. But all this sneering about “mongrels” is fucking nasty and says more about the poster than the dog.

Most people don’t want a Crufts champion, they want a pet.

Serious question: if the only true issue you claim to have with mixes is the "you don't know what you're getting", are all of you 100% opposed to people owning rescue dog mixes from the pound where you have no clue about lineage?

Allergies are really common nowadays, so we're attempting to create hypoallergenic breeds. They're serving a purpose.

Hypoallergenic breeds are no longer hypoallergenic, because everyone jumped on the "let's breed from this and make some money" band wagon, didn't know what they were doing regarding artificial selection, and now it's unpredictable if your hypoallergenic dog will actually be just that.

I read an article a couple of years ago from the chap the bred the first true hypoallergenic labradoodle litter. It took him quite a long time to get it right. He said that he "created a monster", set off this chain reaction, and he wishes he had never done it.

IMO - if you are allergic to furry pets, don't get a furry pet

Serious question: if the only true issue you claim to have with mixes is the "you don't know what you're getting", are all of you 100% opposed to people owning rescue dog mixes from the pound where you have no clue about lineage?

No, providing that you acknowledge that you don't know what you are getting in terms of health or temperament, and are willing to put the work/money in.

For example, we didn't know what my dog was. He was abandoned as a pup. We knew what he looked like as a puppy, but couldn't be sure exactly what breed he was. We know now obviously.
He has very bad allergies and other typical health issues attributed to his breed. We were very much aware that as we didn't know what breed he was exactly, we should set aside time and money to do whatever he needed to do.

What irks me is when people get a cross between say, a sight hound cross herding breed, and are shocked/don't want to do any training when it comes to prey drive and redirected herding behaviours e.g. chasing cars. Because they falsely assumed they'd get a laid back greyhound crossed with an intelligent collie.
Another example of this is somebody that may get a cross between a terrier (heightened senses of sound) and a guarding breed. A dog that can hear external sounds very well and is more likely to alert bark. Because the puppies looked cute and no consideration was given to what the genetic cross could well produce.

But if people acknowledged that they may face these training issues or health issues with their dog, then no big deal.

I agree that the ethics of the KC are questionable at best however they are the only organisation to date who keep verifiable health information on breeding sires and dams.

The health tests are necessary, mostly, because of the damage the KC caused, yes, but that doesn't make them any less necessary for crossbreeds or designer dogs. Like it or not, if you want to have the best chance of a healthy litter they are essential.

Again hybrid vigour is a myth. I get the idea of extending a limited gene pool and I completely agree if done under controlled circumstances (eg health screening, selecting the right breeding mates for temprement and genetics etc) then it would go a long way to do undoing some of the damage caused to today's pedigrees by inbreeding but BYB, hobby breeders and puppy farmers do none of the above. What they do is pick the nearest, most financially desirable dogs together in a room and hope for the best. They have as much chance of producing healthy pups as someone doing the same with two matching breeds.

news.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=210&Id=6005608&useobjecttypeid=10&fromVINNEWSASPX=1

I'm not allowed to post the actual scientific papers due to copyright issues but, honestly, if you have access to a science library take a look for some of them.

Nothing wrong with crossbreeds/mongels/heinze 57 dogs at all.
Just stop calling then labroddoodles/cockerpoo etc. Their crossbreed, not a breed

Serious question: if the only true issue you claim to have with mixes is the "you don't know what you're getting", are all of you 100% opposed to people owning rescue dog mixes from the pound where you have no clue about lineage?

If you go to a reputable rescue, one who works closely with qualified and registered behaviourists, and select an adult you get a generally known quantity in that the dog will have been assesed for undesirable behaviour traits and training needs and will be matched to your expertise and lifestyle. It's a far safer bet than getting a mixed breed pup and hoping you end up with the traits you want.

@sophialagiraffe

There is nothing wrong whatsoever with cross breeds, whether that’s lurchers or cockerpoos. People are allowed to like what they like.

What DOES matter is where the dog comes from. But all this sneering about “mongrels” is fucking nasty and says more about the poster than the dog.

Most people don’t want a Crufts champion, they want a pet.

Mongrels are the healthiest usually.

I don't agree with the trend of breeding dogs with sever health problems.

I would love to see a retractive tax applied to all breeders of unhealthy breeds to fund the medical care of any of those breeds in rescues etc

It's interesting to note that the man who first started this craze of cross breeds, the labradoodle being the first, now wishes that he hadn't started.
Google the man who wished he hadn't invented the labradoodle. Wish I could post a link but I can't.

My labradoodle was bred from (pedigree) family pets, but with all the appropriate health checks done relative to their breeds. I’m not particularly offended by the people on here pointing out that he’s a crossbreed (he is), but why are some people so offended by me referring to him as a labradoodle? It’s perfectly recognisable what I mean, and pedigree breeds have their origins in other breeds too - do you insist that Dalmatian owners refer to their dogs as Great Dane/Pointer crosses? I’ve owned all kinds of dogs over the years, from pedigrees to cross breeds to full-on Heinz 57s. The important thing is that I look after my dog’s welfare, love him very much and get an awful lot of love back. Hopefully everyone else on this thread does too, regardless of their dogs’ breeding.

Wally Conron - "designer" of the labradoodle

So you didn't see my post at 12.22 StroppyShite

Here, have a pic of my Pug

@1Morewineplease

It's interesting to note that the man who first started this craze of cross breeds, the labradoodle being the first, now wishes that he hadn't started. Google the man who wished he hadn't invented the labradoodle. Wish I could post a link but I can't.

If you read the reasons he says he wishes he hadn't bred them, they are all completely applicable to purebred dogs.

High prices for an invented dog - this applies to almost all purebred dogs too. The prices are just as high and most breeds were developed in the same way the labradoodle was

People get dogs because they are trendy - this happens just as much with purebred dogs as cross-breeds - remember when 101 Dalmatians came out? Fraser?

People don't research the dog they are getting so they choose a dog that isn't appropriate for their situation - this happens all the time with purebred dogs

People have unreasonable expectations of the dog including thinking it will behave a certain way because that s what people say about that breed - happens all the time with purebred dogs

Puppy mills and idiots breed them inappropriately - happens all the time with purebred dogs.

[quote Frequency]@EmmaGrundyForPM may I ask why a cockapoo suited your needs but a poodle or cocker did not?

Also, a license from the council is generally not a good thing as it's required if you breed 5 or more litters a year or breed as a business i.e if you're a puppy farmer.[/quote]
We would have been very happy with either but couldn't find a breeder near us who had puppies.

We weren't planning on buying a puppy originally, I would have preferred to adopt a dog from a shelter but we were ineligible for a lot of rescues because we have cats. We went onto waiting lists of some rescue centres and never heard anything.

@Austriana

If people cared about animal welfare they would rescue animals in need rather than pay for new ones to be bred, thereby supporting an unethical industry.

I wish people would stop peddling this.

The rescue centres local to me have been inundated with applications. They've actually asked people not to join the waiting list for future dogs anymore. There have been posts on here from experienced dog owners who have been turned down for having kids/cats etc.

There just aren't the numbers of suitable family friendly dogs in rescue to go around.

I agree that there needs to be FAR better regulations around breeding animals but 'just rescue' isn't the answer.

I've got two cross breeds and I switch between calling them cross breeds and mongrels. To me there's no difference. I actually feel silly calling them F1 or labradoodle etc when they are just a mix.

It's not an insult, I see it as a good thing because pedigrees come with health issues.

I find the snobbery around pretending their dog isn't just a mix because the mix was chosen so therefore better than a mongrel quite strange.

A dogs a dog and a pet regardless of a pedigree or not.

Personally I find the very words ‘designer breed’ repellent.

Ditto people who choose a particular dog because it’s ‘fashionable’.
Sounds like something a vacuous, self-obsessed ‘celeb’ would do, because they can’t possibly be seen with a non-fashionable dog.

Your ‘crossbreed’ is a mongrel, but as long as they’re healthy who cares

There is nothing wrong with cross breeds/mongrels. All dogs are lovely. There is something wrong with a very large proportion of the breeders of the ones given silly names.

Certainly before COVID you could buy a well bred from health tested parents cocker and standard poodle, with the same background for the combined price of a ‘cockerpoo’. You probably still can if you do your homework and research on your breeder and are prepared to wait and go on waitlists. You can probably still do this if you do your homework as I know there are breeders who haven’t changed their prices.

I do always want to ask the owners if they did consider a full lab, cocker, poodle etc? So if anyone here can answer that I would love to know the answer?

Truth is, you are not getting the best bred crosses. A good breeder breeds to better their line and chosen breed. That’s why a lot sell their pups with breeding clauses.

There’s no denying these crosses are cute and can be great dogs, but I don’t think they need to be crossed. Poodles, labs etc are perfect as they are. A lot of the cockerpoos look like mini poodles, but would have cost double the price, why?

The amount of owners with poodle crosses that I have met don’t even seem to know or recognise what a poodle is. That’s a bit odd.

To me it looks like a lot of people want their puppies and want them now. They don’t seem prepared to go on a waitlist and potentially wait a year until the next litter comes along and travel the length of the country. When they can get a poodle mix from Steve in the next town.

I do always want to ask the owners if they did consider a full lab, cocker, poodle etc? So if anyone here can answer that I would love to know the answer?

Hair, it's ALWAYS the hair.

Poodles are seen as too high maintenance and need clipping all the time
Labs and spaniels are seen as too moult-y and they don't like the idea of their house being dirty

Both show they have done zero research, because a cockerpoo coat needs just as much maintenance as a poodle, and a cockerpoo coat collects far far more mud and dirt than a short coat like a lab, so drags mud into the house

But for many idiotic owners, the answer here is to not let them off the lead to get dirty, so the dog gets bored out of its mind
Or they insist on putting an equifleece on it every time it leaves the house so the poor thing is overheating every time it runs and therefore doesn't

*Hair, it's ALWAYS the hair.

Poodles are seen as too high maintenance and need clipping all the time*

Yep, always the want hypoallergenic and non shedding but don’t like poodles.

When they can’t actually tell the difference between a giant poodle and their own labradoodle in the park.

It’s poodle snobbery.

Of course there's nothing wrong with crossbreeds.The fact that the demand for particular crossbreeds is met by puppy farming and abject misery for the breeding bitches is the problem. My response to someone proudly displaying their 2.5 k something poo which they've collected at a garage somewhere is the complete opposite to the snobbery references.I'm afraid that I make no apologies for judging those who enable this trade.

Exactly, so why not get a poodle. It’s a bit baffling. We have the most wonderful standard boy and I’m asked every day what he is crossed with. Even the other day someone said ‘oh he has a poodle haircut!?!’ Yes, he’s a poodle. I’ve even had a labradoodle owner ask what a standard poodle is.

It’s a shame they are so overlooked.

@GappyValley agree and I too have noticed how many hairy dogs seem to be wearing coats these days. I’m thinking it’s to keep them clean rather than warm. Years ago the only dogs in coats were the ones with no hair, like greyhounds or whippets but now it’s every other hairy mutt. They must be so hot! Some eejit will be putting a husky in a coat one of these days.

You’ve got to be so careful too as even the equafleeces can cause matting.

Blimey I’ve just googled equifleece, those are definitely to keep the dirt off rather than for warmth aren’t they.

Nearly all the images and links are cockapoo related too.

My yorkie only wears a coat in winter, because I keep him clipped fairly short. Even then it’s just a waterproof one on his back to keep the rain off, as yorkies aren’t very waterproof and get cold quickly when wet. He still gets home filthy :)