Aibu that dogs are now a class identifier??

[MammabearX1]

Just that.... Since my dc have returned to school (London prep) the school gates are crowded with little fluffy pups.... All expensive cockapoo or cavachon types... Thorough breds seems to be gone out of fashion & there's not a mongrel in sight... I'm thinking these are a class identifier as those fluffy dogs are so expensive... My husband thinks it's down to the dogs size making them perfect for London living with smaller garden space etc... Is it just our school? When I was young the posh kids had cocker spaniels or some type of working dogs but then I grew up in the country...

I see a wide variety of breeds here, labs, whippets, jack russells, poodles, a couple of dalmations, spaniels etc. small terriers are probably the most common type of dog I see where we live.

I mainly see staffys at the school gate, which is understandable as they are brilliant family dogs.

We have a Shiba Inu, he has two Shiba Inu friends at doggi daycare. When he is a bit older we’re hoping to get a staffy friend for him.

I bought a Pomeranian..because i knew what he would look like..he has been great..with my grandchildren. ..Small..dosent eat much.little poo's lol.

I agree that they are ridiculously popular but they really they are just crosses with a made up name. Not an indicator of class though ( well not outside of London) working dogs are still the choice of the wealthy in the country certainly anything with “poo” in its name would be looked down on as common.

I live in an affluent rural area and have a staffy. I’m in the minority as I don’t see many staffs round here, but I love the breed. They are lovely when they’re not raised by dickheads.

@4cats2kids

I live in an affluent rural area and have a staffy. I’m in the minority as I don’t see many staffs round here, but I love the breed. They are lovely when they’re not raised by dickheads.

Yes, they are.

But they are mongrels!?

I thought cross breeds were two distinct breeds that you could trace

Whereas mongrel is more an unidentifiable mix

OP, I have a pure breed black lab /kennel club endorsed however, we get the snub from the fluffy poo types and the pugs/French bull dogs. We are in London. Hubby is so keen for another female black lab but his strategy is to wait until everyone goes back to work so we can rehome one! He will be working from home indefinitely so is keen for another dog. We actually signed up to a few sites in the hope one will become available.

We have a lab who is nearly 13. Our rescue dog died aged 14.5 in October. We have a cockapoo puppy. She is much easier for the children to handle (lab can pull them over if she forgets they are there!) no shedding is an absolute delight, she has all the affection and spark of the lab, loves walks, loves to play etc. So I can see why they are so popular. They combine lots of great characteristics. We tried to rescue but there was no way they were having us 2 young children and an existing dog! We also work (although shifts and from home) I couldn't find any rescues that would touch us! We did rehome our pup though via the breeder through no fault of her own we were very lucky!

So, I'm obviously an irresponsible idiot because I own a pug. We got peanut as a puppy. We thoroughly investigated lots of different breeds for about a year before choosing a dog and we choose a pug due to our lifestyle and because we had a toddler. We saw both parents ( family pets) and took her straight to the vet for a thorough check up before we took her home. She's 11 in July. She's grown up with older older child who is now 14 and she's my 6 year olds best friend. She's the best £1000 we've ever spent.

Is that a giant pug or a tiny person?! (It’s probably just the camera angle)

Had Samoyeds for years now got two border collies. What does that make me? Apart from mad and lucky? :)

I'd never buy mega prices for mixed breed, however "in" they might be so I guess that makes me intelligent too. :)

I've never really been a follower, if everyone else is eating, watching, wearing or buying it then you be pretty sure I won't be. Lol

All the cross breed owners are followers of fashion imo. They care more about how the pup looks than about how well it is bred.
My vet friend had a french bulldog pup in for first vaccinations a few weeks ago. The owner asked her if she did discounts for people on benefits. She really had to try hard not to laugh. She doesn’t see any correlation between wealth and type of pup atm . Those with nothing to prove are happy with any dog.
Our collie cost £40 from a local farmer friend 3 years ago. I have seen bulldog collie crosses selling for 1.5k . People are dicks for breeding these dogs and people are bigger dicks for buying them.

One breed mixed with another is a mongrel. It doesn't matter if it's two posh breeds of dog, it's still a mongrel. A thorough bred dog needs a long line of the same breeding.

@MammabearX1

Just that.... Since my dc have returned to school (London prep) the school gates are crowded with little fluffy pups.... All expensive cockapoo or cavachon types... Thorough breds seems to be gone out of fashion & there's not a mongrel in sight... I'm thinking these are a class identifier as those fluffy dogs are so expensive... My husband thinks it's down to the dogs size making them perfect for London living with smaller garden space etc... Is it just our school? When I was young the posh kids had cocker spaniels or some type of working dogs but then I grew up in the country...

Both the types of dogs you mentioned in your OP are mutts. They're mongrels.

@Sciencebabe

One breed mixed with another is a mongrel. It doesn't matter if it's two posh breeds of dog, it's still a mongrel. A thorough bred dog needs a long line of the same breeding.

It’s not stating thorough bred breed though

It’s cross breed

Does that not exist as a term?

@ConsuelaHammock

All the cross breed owners are followers of fashion imo. They care more about how the pup looks than about how well it is bred. My vet friend had a french bulldog pup in for first vaccinations a few weeks ago. The owner asked her if she did discounts for people on benefits. She really had to try hard not to laugh. She doesn’t see any correlation between wealth and type of pup atm . Those with nothing to prove are happy with any dog. Our collie cost £40 from a local farmer friend 3 years ago. I have seen bulldog collie crosses selling for 1.5k . People are dicks for breeding these dogs and people are bigger dicks for buying them.

But you can over breed dogs to the point of bad health

It seems like people with a breed look down on what they call a mutt or mongrel

I chose our breed of dog due to a photo in a River Cottage Cookbook! Had her 7 years now and was the perfect choice as we are an active family loving very rurally. She’s since been joined by a male chocolate and tan Jack Russell bought just prior to the pandemic as a birthday gift to myself. I feel we have the perfect pair of dogs despite their difference and don’t give a monkeys what that says about our class/taste.
One of ours is very much an “old money” type of dog breed and the other “new money/no taste/fashion follower” type. Both loved, both love their rural life.

haha, I just knew this thread would be full of status insecure desperado's and prep's n' grammars!

In reply to the OP, I would argue that a dogs behaviour signifies more than breed.

Myself, I like a very tiny dog, somewhat cross-hatched, embroidered with a plummy bark. A sweet little fashion accessory that won't poo on my White Company cashmere.

Awwww !!! I hope people don’t just have dogs a class status thing !! I have always had a mongrels ! But a few years ago I was lucky enough to have a pedigree Chihuahua (free to a good home ) I never in a million years thought I’d have this kinda breed but he is the most beautiful and loveliest funniest dog I’ve ever had ! It shouldn’t really matter what dog u have as long as you make each other happy 😃 x

Shocked that people can buy a dog for £1500. I live in Surrey and am currently looking for a border terrier puppy, all c£3000. We would happily rescue and have spent a few years trying, but as pp have said centres are so restrictive that if you live with a man/child or near a road/other dog etc there's no chance. Our local centre gets 100+ applications for some dogs as lots of people looking to adopt. I completely understand they have to be careful but I expect this means some poor dogs do not leave the centre. Re OP dogs are absolutely a status symbol, I am also seeing a lot of people with 2 puppies, at c£6000 that's not possible for your average person

They always have been, though.

It's all part of the package. Along with Stepney Tractors, Rolex watches, Mont Blanc pens, Wood burning stoves, range cookers, (or maybe not range cookers, they are so yesterday dear), and the latest vulgar fad, the window blinds/shutters that look as though they belong in Noddys house..

@Ahardyfool

I chose our breed of dog due to a photo in a River Cottage Cookbook! Had her 7 years now and was the perfect choice as we are an active family loving very rurally. She’s since been joined by a male chocolate and tan Jack Russell bought just prior to the pandemic as a birthday gift to myself. I feel we have the perfect pair of dogs despite their difference and don’t give a monkeys what that says about our class/taste. One of ours is very much an “old money” type of dog breed and the other “new money/no taste/fashion follower” type. Both loved, both love their rural life.

Wanky post, with it’s “old money” and “no taste” nonsense. They’re dogs.

I’ve had a couple of friends and family members purchase these cavachon cross bred dogs recently and one friend got a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel also. They cost thousands of pounds! Our dogs have never been posh as we rescued a lurcher, retired greyhound and whippet in the past. We currently have 6 Pomeranians. We started with one rescue Pom but you can’t have just one as they get lonely! They are gorgeous dogs and very loyal but also quite yappy and no we don’t place them in handbags!