Did I buy a puppy farm pup?

[Caross]

Hi all. I am a bit concerned that I might of bought a puppy farm pup!!
I responded to an add for a specific breed of pup that I have been looking for, they are also really hard to get, very popular breed.
I thought all seemed well as I got sent a photo of mum and the testing results from the dad. Then I got videos and photos of my pup whenever I asked, in one or two videos I seen the rest of the litter. Although, the breeder allowed him to be picked up at 7 weeks 3 days old, which was unexpected.
We had to use a pet transportation service due to the current restrictions on travel so we weren’t able to pick him up. The breeder would of been allowed to bring him to us but said she wouldn’t so we had no choice but to hire someone to do it. Turns out that all the other pups had gone home a day or two before ours and he was the last one there.
Someone else contacted me on Instagram asking who I got my pup from. I gave them the information, they came back and said they decided not to go any further with our breeder as there was another litter due in 5 weeks and they suspected it could be a puppy farm.
I feel really foolish. I was under the impression that our pup was born from her family pet. I had no idea she had another dog, (or potentially the same poor dog) who is expecting another litter.
Another reason I thought it seemed really safe was that she has a very public dog walking and boarding business.
Does this sound suspicious to anyone else or could there be a innocent explanation?

Also in terms of health, rather than just focusing on whether a dog is cross bred or purebred, focus too on exaggerated physical traits. For example a Pug / French bulldog pure or cross is more likely to have health issues (breathing problems) than a collie or collie cross.

Look at all these horrible ugly poodles. It's defiantly worth while paying ££££ to get a cockerpoo that you'll have no idea what it'll grow up to look like or whether it'll actually be hypoallergenic.😁

BTW I don't actually have a problem with cross breeds as long as bred and bought in good circumstances, I just thing you have to be a bit nuts to pay double for a crossbreed, especially when you have no idea how it will turn out.

Yes, all those dogs are cute and fluffy etc
But for practicality reasons I would want a short clip and then you can tell the difference and I don’t think poodles look nice with a short face clip.

It’s just a personal preference but one reason why I would choose a cavapoo/cockapoo over a pure poodle.
We have goldendoodles and standard poodles in our family and when they have the same cut, I much much prefer the goldendoodles.

Our breeder (we used the same for all the goldendoodles) was experienced enough to be able to look at the mum/sire and puppies and give a good indication of future coat types. And all our goldendoodles have been low or no shedding and don’t set off the family members with allergies. Hence why we were willing to pay £1200 to them to get a good guarantee of what we were buying.

I’ve got absolutely nothing against poodles, I love poodles but there is definitely a difference in the face.

OP I think you are asking all the right questions. Our cavapoo was £1200 last year and yes. He’s a crossbreed, yes I knew that and yes that’s what I wanted and he’s the love of my life.

There are ethical doodle breeders out there and I truly believe ours was one of them. You only have to meet her to see how much she adores her dogs. Her house is a shrine to them, there are photos and benches and urns of ones who have died and portraits of them all over the house. We met the mum, the dad and the siblings. I know this was genuine as we had had daily photos and videos of them on her FB page. The pups including ours were feeding from mum when we first went and dad is their poodle and was around the whole time.

The dogs all have lovely places to play including their own doggy playground.

We had scan pictures. We had a contract and had to sign to say we wouldn’t breed. She was extremely clear on which vaccinations they should have (she did the first, all captures in photo) and told us to get the vet to phone her and speak to her if he disagreed, which he didn’t. Pup was chipped and weaned onto raw. We had video of first trip outside, first taste of raw etc and each pup had a specific collar so we knew which one we were watching. She set up a FB page for each litter so all the owners from the same litter could be in touch. We have a family tree for the dogs going back 5 generations with all the KC names and registrations. We also have all the health certificates for both parents

On their birthday, and on each litters birthday, yes she has quite a few dogs, there are photos and happy birthdays. She puts on her FB page when she’s retiring the dogs - all stay with her and she neutered one of her male dogs as he wasn’t getting on with the other one and that was more important to her than him being a stud.

There are genuine xbreeders out there

Lots of crossbreeds in rescue and pups too, at a fraction of the cost. £1200 to a rescue instead of a greeder would be amazing.
I see that another doodly greeder has had kennels broken into and 17 dogs stolen, breeding bitches and pups; theres the life of your pups mum, stuck in a kennel with her pups 😕

@coronabeer23
What you’ve described is good marketing so you’ll feel good about paying £1200 out for a crossbreed, that doesn’t make her ethical it makes her savvy.
20 years ago if your poodle had got pregnant by a random dog you would be horrified but now it’s been marketed as hypo allergenic and fashionable.
I work in rescue and plenty of these designer dogs come in, I’ve got my DDs ‘jug’ beside me, handed in at 3 by a young girl who was fed up, she had bought him for £1600!!
One of mine is a collie x springer; nothing fancy; handed in as part of an unwanted litter obviously not cool enough to charge silly money.

@JKScot4 you’re entitled to your opinion. I see someone who yes, breeds but adores her dogs and treats them ethically and kindly and like her own children. If she wants to charge me £1200 I don’t actually care. I care that they have come from a loving home where they and their parents have been loved, cared for properly checked out, not vet red and well treated which they have. I have ample evidence to suggest that is the case and absolutely nothing to suggest it’s not.

You’ve included two things which always get the doggy purists frothing OP. You’ve mentioned the jackpot puppy crossbreed scenario which is sure to get loads of ranty nasty comments about being ripped off at paying £1k for a mongrel or being personally responsible for dog torture unless you adopt a rescue dog (preferably a breed that is unpopular).

Oh dear looks like you have accidentally encouraged puppy farming.

Why not get puppy from Dog's Trust or RSPCA next time?

@coronabeer23 You can’t win. Everything you’ve put is exactly what a breeder and prospective owner should do, and if it had been a Labrador puppy you would be congratulated. But because it’s a crossbreed you cannot win. Classic MN.

@LochJessMonster my thoughts exactly

@coronabeer23
I am not particularly into designer cross breeds as I think their over popularity encourages unscrupulous breeders and there is less regulation than with pure breeds. However what you describe is the type of breeder people should buy from. With all this in place someone’s pup is then extremely unlikely to be puppy farmed.

I was coping with this thread because the OP was so good natured and took all the hateful comments in her stride.

BUT THEN POODLE BASHING BEGUN! Too far. You've got too far now, horrible thread.

(I don't even have my poodle yet but I'm cross on behalf of his cute little face already)

@minichoc
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!!
I have bull breeds and have to read countless comments that they’re ugly dogs on many a dog thread.
We like what we like.

@MiniChoc

Ddog is outraged at the poodle bashing. He has asked me to step away from the thread.

I hope we get a picture of your little guy once they arrive. Poodles are the best. How can anyone in their right mind not love this face?!

@MissShapesMissStakes you ddog is gorgeous.

Agree, poodles are the originals and the best.

My ddog is the cutest and I'm yet to meet a cross thats better looking than him.

Our Ddog is from a puppy farm
as far as I was concerned I did loads of research and was very careful, rejected quite a few people I spoke to after thinking there wasn't something right with them BUT we were totally fooled.
We saw DDog at a house in South Yorkshire, kids there, Mum seemed happy and healthy etc etc etc. Paid the deposit and came home to wait for a couple of weeks until the pup was ready. A couple of things after that made me a bit uncomfortable but nothing major. When we went to collect him Mum wasn't there and he smelt really bad and we were handed him in a rush and ushered out, the people who had been there first time weren't there and it just felt all wrong. We probably should have left him there but we had bought all the kit, picked a name, kids were with us etc etc.
When we got home and checked his papers properly he was from Wales and the Vet said his Vac certificate didn't make any sense. It was actually the Vet who told us that he was probably from a puppy farm and it kind of all made sense.
we did have some issues around food aggression but luckily we could spend time and money on it and now hes a fantastic dog but it could have been so different.
We are relatively intelligent people with our own business and I have a lot of experience with this breed so I didn't think we would be fooled but we certainly were - hindsight is wonderful!

Look at that ugly poodle face. Even with short hair he's the cutest! 😁🥰

@CaliforniaMountainSnake - those eyes!

He's a master of the sad begging face.

CaliforniaMountainSnake please send my dearest apologies, he has very cute and I don’t mean to offend him
However it is undeniable that when close cut, the nose shape of a poodle is very different to most cockapoos.

He forgives you.

I get that they look different. But what I was trying to say is poodles are a breed standard. You know what's its gonna look like.

You pay more for a poodle mix, usually because people covert the specific look of that mix. But in reality you have no idea how it will turn out. So you could pay all that money for a "cockerpoo" and it could end up looking like a spaniel with weird hair. It just doesn't make sense to me. And the cockerpoo look people want is basically just a poodle with its hair grown out with a few minor adjustments.

I know looks arnt everything and a happy healthy well tempered dog is what's important. But these dogs hold a high price tag because of their look. A look that you are not guaranteed to get.

We met a group out walking one day and they all had very different looking poodle mixes, cava poos I think. After chatting it transpired they were all litter mates or from the same mum and dad. These dogs couldn't have looked more different from each other. We were so shocked they were even the same breed.

Yes, you can end up with very different looking dogs. It does also depend I think on the generation of the dog. If you think about the punnet squares they use to teach basic genetics a spaniel crossed with a poodle will be a mix. But a Cockapoo crossed with a Cockapoo there’s a 50% chance of a mix but a 25% chance favouring poodle and 25% chance favouring spaniel. Obviously in reality it’s more complex. Then you get puppies that have been bred back, usually to a poodle to get a more chance of the curly coat so you get a Cockapoo crossed with a poodle or a spaniel.

@CaliforniaMountainSnake I think your poodle is super cute! I like him best when his hair is shortest, I like to be able to see a dogs eyes. To me there is nothing cuter than a spaniel!