Show me your crossbreed puppy/dog please

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We're thinking of getting another mixed breed dog. We already have a Chorkie and like the look of labradoodles or cockapoos. What's everyone got?

Ok ok, tooldtobearsed, get over yourself. Puppy farms, back yard breeders - WE KNOW!! And just because we dare to speak of dogs with an 'oodle' or a 'poo' in their name, does'nt make us unaware of the horrendous practices that go on in the breeding of pedigree, cross or mongrel dogs. My point is that these posts, on whatever subject, are hijacked by the disapproving "what breed is it?" brigade.

@Ylvamoon
Except it isn’t. Look at the number of dogs that end up in rescue as people take on a mix of two high energy breeds and can’t handle the result. Or the people who believed the rubbish that dogs can be hypoallergenic. They can’t. And have to give up their dog.
Rescue a cross? Fine. We had one growing up and he was amazing. But instead of choosing a mix that was popular or cute the advice was to research the worst of each breed and see if you could manage that!
Crossing a cocker and a poodle doesn’t make a dog more suitable for modern living.

Here's mine. He isnt an oodle or an anything really he just is what he is which is God knows what!

Lab staffy from Rescue Centre. Apparently they're becoming 'in vogue' and called a staffador. But to us he's a mut.

Our lab x staff Tommy

Hoping the photo works this time!

I don't see your photo NameChange but high five the lab staff cross. Out of interest rescued or breed?

Last try lol

And he's a rescue, lovely dog my dd loves him!

DDog 1 A Border Collie/Rough Collie/GSD, born in rescue, we adopted her at 9 weeks old.

DDog2 A more traditional Sprocker, adopted when he was 9 months old.

Now I think it is totally acceptable to take dogs and start selecting and creating a new breed that also serves a purpose.

But Labrador's, poodles, and cocker spaniels are all high energy, high needs working dogs. Crossing two of those breeds together won't suddenly create a calm companion dog which is anymore suitable for modern living than each breed is on its own.

I've met some lovely labradoodles and cockerpoos but they're all bonkers because you've crossed two high energy breeds together. Working dogs like cockers, labs and poodles need loads of exercise and stimulation, so it should be a given that their offspring are the same.

Which begs the question - why not just buy a poodle/lab/cocker in the first place? Why the need to mix them all together?

@Ylvamoon totally agree with you! The Otterhound is an endangered breed now as we don’t hunt Otters anymore. I get extremely frustrated at being tarred with a brush for having a two crossbreeds, they were not from a puppy farm, we reasearched the breeders, saw all the paperwork to show parents pedigrees and health testing to hopefully not pass on any genetic issues. I’m not a snob, don’t walk around saying “hey look at my designer dog”. I didn’t get them because someone down the road has one and they are cute.

I reasearched the “breed” and felt they were the right fit for me and my lifestyle, we have two happy healthy well looked after dogs who are loved very much!

Just as an aside I love the fact Wolf refers too Sprockers which is a Springer/Cocker Spaniel yet says all other crossbreeds are not breeds! You can’t have it both ways!

And.....wolfhounds reduced in numbers so drastically at one point in history, that they were re-created in looks by crossing other breeds. A cross bread with a life span half that of other dogs? That shouldn't run as a puppy because of its joints? Not ethical! The only thing separating a wolfhound is it's KC papers. I think the KC, and a lot of pedigrees are as despicable as puppy farming

@namechange8471 very weird question but is one of his back paws white by any chance?

I should explain - we call her a Cornish Hound because every day we get asked what she is, so we made up a name.

Love that @MotorcycleMayhem !

A healthy dog is a healthy dog regardless of pedigree or parentage. My belief is that a lot of the designer-cross issues come down to this:

• changing a breed to conform to a fashion is a slow process that takes several generations of careful breeding and back-crossing. It happens so slowly that it's often not noticed until it's reached an extreme. It is by far the most damaging effect that fashion has on the health of pets. If you currently own a non-rescue (pedigree or not) brachycephalic breed (bull dogs, etc.), hand-bag miniature toy breed, or a Cavalier, or any other breed with genetic traits that result in the majority of animals of the breed having issues that severely impact their health, then you should avoid criticising any other dog owners. You are part of this problem too.

• the so-called designer crosses result in a single generation change with instant results. The results aren't always exactly what you want, without care and selection on the part of the breeder. They are very obvious, and are very quick to produce in response to the demands of fashion. There are a lot of careless crosses and inappropriate crosses and you can see examples in every rescue shelter. If you want one of these crosses you need to educate yourself about how to go about it responsibly.

• puppy farms and unscrupulous backyard breeders exist for all dogs whether that's pedigree breeds, designer-crosses, or working dogs. It's the responsibility of all of us to watch for these when looking for a dog. My personal choice is always to adopt a rescue, but circumstances vary and not everyone's lives can fit around an adult dog with established behaviours.

• snobbery is rife and it exists amongst some that want a designer cross and some of those that choose look down on them for doing so. It also exists amongst those that advocate rescues. We all need to be a bit more self-critical of our own opinions.

A healthy dog in a healthy environment is all that matters

They can run as pups. I would like to try and see you stop them.
They shouldn’t have long off lead walks as pups but then no giant dog (or any little puppy) should. Wolfhound breeders (decent ones) are working to eliminate bone cancer and heart issues etc from the breed. Giant breeds don’t live as long as tiny terriers.
I don’t have anything at all against cross breeds. But they’re not a breed of dog and you don’t have a clear idea of what you will get. What I do object to is puppy farming and clueless BYB breeding for cash. That happens with pedigrees. Of course it does. That’s why I went through the breed club and waited for an ethical breeder. I object to people crossing two breeds for no other reason than to produce cute pups and make money. No regard for health or what sort of pups they will churn out. Just the cash. Makes my blood boil.

Call a spade a spade... it is a mongerel.

We've got a Sprocker. Mum is a springer spaniel/cocker spaniel mix, who went to stay with a family member when her humans went on holiday. She very unexpectedly came into season, and accidentally mated with family members dog, a working cocker. The family are local to us, the puppies were hand raised and handled from day 1 by 2 young girls and they've been exceptional. We had a pup purely because it came from a family home, and we already have a working cocker.

I'd be very wary of some of these crossbreeds...... a friend has got a cockapoo and she's a nightmare dog, needs professional grooming every 6 weeks at £40 a time, and she's untrainable. Friend deeply regrets getting anything with poodle in the mix. She also is a horrendous yappy dog.

Shock Horror - Poodles and poodle mixes need grooming?

No shit Sherlock!

The thing is - there are loads and loads of shitty breeders, ranging from people breeding pedigrees that’s lets face it aren’t fit for the purpose of just existing healthily any more or backyard breeders without enough knowledge to prevent serious issues in puppies right through to dogs kept in horrendous conditions in a puppy farm and stunt families used to dupe buyers.

The issue with crosses isn’t to do with snobbery or that lots of crosses are or aren’t perfectly nice dogs.

It’s that it’s easier to weed out the bad breeders if you buy a pedigree puppy.

If you find a breeder that’s breeding to get a puppy to work, show or do an activity with... they’re invested in how those puppies turn out and they’re traceable.

That alone eliminates most of the dodgy breeders. (Obviously there are still other things you want to be checking)

My mums dog lhasa apso x schitzu most lovely natured dog I've known.

I agree with tabula. No one is saying a cross breed can’t be a lovely dog and perfectly healthy. Of course they can be.

I think there are some lovely cross breeds but I have yet to come across many owners on here who can:

a) call out specifically what they wanted from a cross. They will talk about researching the breed and finding it the best fit for their family but, when questioned, cannot correctly and appropriately call out the characteristic they wanted that was not there in either of the parental breeds. For example, they will say they wanted the coat of the poodle but cannot identify what the cocker brings to the mix. They will say they wanted a calm dog but neither poodles or cockers are especially calm. In many cases (but not all), they are unaware of the random nature of the genetics and inheritance of traits that results in a low % chance of the puppy actually having the trait they wanted from one of the parents.

b) name a good breeder of crosses. I might have seen something like a dozen breeders named on mn as shining examples of good cross breeders but on visiting their website it has been obvious within seconds that I would rather spend the rest of my days without a dog that buy from them. Some of the websites have given me great cause for concern and, on two occasions, those breeders have turned up in the press within months having been shut down for cruelty. If these ethical and brilliant cross breeders exists, they are never named. I have only ever heard of 2 or 3 good cross breeders - outside mn - that are doing it for the health of the dogs, and they are not breeding popular crosses. They are attempting to remove health defects from bulldogs, Dalmatians and Dobermans.

Multiple pedigree breeds are indeed in a great deal of trouble. Some breeds are beyond saving and every single individual now born to those breeds is unhealthy and unfit to be used to produce the next generation. This is shameful. It is also the result of breeders (KC and all) that have bred dogs without proper attention to the science of it - because they didn't know or didn't care.

It should be used as the main reason for NOT to breed unless who are knowledgeable about genetics inheritance. It should serve as the warning it is, that shit things happen when unknowledgeable or unscrupulous people play games with dog's lives.

And yet it is used as to support hobby breeders. Some pedigree breeders are shit so why shouldn't Mrs Mable breed her Lab with next door's Dalmation? After all, she loves her lab and would love the puppies.

She is still doing the same harm as all those shit pedigree breeders that bred without any consideration for making the next generation of dogs markedly healthier than the last. We should be seeking increased health, not fluffier coats, bogglier eyes, shorter snouts, more bowed legs or whatever else.

I would support any breeder that is breeding for mental and physical health from a foundation of proper, scientific knowledge - no matter what breed they produced.

I would condemn any breeder not doing that - no matter what breed they produce.

Like pp, I would expect it to be easier to find breeders that fit into the first camp when looking for a pedigree than a cross. But would be (genuinely) delighted to be wrong.

A good breeder undertakes breeding as an activity, which over many years, brings some kind of improvement to the breed

People can go wrong n a variety of ways and breeding pedigrees is not a guarantee that someone is a good breeder. For example, breeding towards a characteristic that is likely to make dogs suffer medical problems means that you are a shit breeder to begin with however KC amazing your dogs may be. Health screenings are necessary not just for individual dogs but for the line and the breed. Focused breeding efforts can minimize or eradicate some conditions.

Cross-breed breeders face a number of problems in being good breeders:

• firstly the start with reject dogs as no one wants to sell their top dogs for cross breeding
• often the motive of the buyers is how popular the breed is so the breeder needs to have a clear idea of what they are aiming for that will improve the cross breed in the animals they breed. Because it’s a new cross-breed, each breeder will have a different idea of what they are aiming for. The KC has the advantage of imposing a unified breed vision for each breed - which is also its disadvantage when it steers breeds in the wrong direction.
• the popularity of cross breeding is fickle, one moment it’s labradoodles, then jackpoos, then who knows what. There is no time to evaluate the cross breed, what is happening and what needs improving before moving onto the next fad.
• establishing a cross-breed is tough work, especially with the need to avoid close genetic connections.

Boo and that’s why I won’t breed from my dog. I have neither the knowledge or experience to do a good job. I don’t think people have any idea (for the most part) of how much dedication and knowledge it takes.