Advise on this mixed breed please..

[Hmmmmminteresting]

We have an online meeting tonight with a breeder who has some 2 week old pups that we are interested in.
Mum is a Shih Tzu x Bichon
Dad is a Shih Tzu x Poodle

They want £2000 per puppy. They look adorable but I am very nervous about the fact that both parents are cross breeds already and not the same cross breed.

Would you buy one of these?

I havent had a dog for 10 years and she was a pedigree Cavalier King Charles. I really want to get this right.

Thanks!

Have you had a look at the Kennel Club site, they don’t have cross breeds but you can search for breeders of particular breeds on there. The cost puts me off more because people who are charging so much for a puppy are more likely just to be breeding for the money, so may be putting the bitch through too many litters, or not carefully looking at the parents to ensure no health issues. If you don’t get a good breeder the impact is mainly to the dog, not you, and I don’t know if I could bear it if I supported that inadvertently.

I understand how easy it is to get caught up in the excitement of being in a position to get I dog ( I felt obsessed when it happened to me) but put it in perspective, now that a vaccine is close and many people may be returning to work we may be less than 6 months away from an avalanche of dogs hitting rescue centres across the country.

Even reputable breeders are expensive at the moment, £3500 for Golden Retriever puppies when I enquired in August/September. She said it's purely down to Covid and the demand skyrocketing. Another breeder i spoke to said she'd had 600 enquiries about her last litter and she has a 2 year waiting list!!

Just buy a pedigree poodle and get the teddy cut when groomed ... you'll know what you are getting breed wise temperament etc then

Cross breed isn't an issue for me, but that price is. I personally wouldn't be comfortable handing over so much money for a puppy as it is extortionate and fuelling the puppy boom right now. It is just people using their pets to make money.

I was told today about a fellow dog owner I've met once who bred her dog for money. Only one pup survived after an emergency Caesarian and dog is suffering now.

I wouldn’t get a puppy with a 2 and 4 year old either

I also have a schichon (I didn’t get him for his breed) which if reading correctly is what the mum is. The friend that I got him from sold the remaining puppies for £300 each, he’s 2 in January so not many moons ago. Our boy has such a lovely temperament but can be a bit stubborn if the mood takes him. He gets on very well with our two cats and loves our DD’s.

animalso.com/breeds/shichon/

@Hoppinggreen please may I ask why?

Thanks for all fk the responses, it's really useful although I do feel pretty deflated.
I will still go ahead with the call tonight and ask a lot of questions, however I am now feeling that maybe this isn't the right time if people are only doing this to make money.
Maybe later next year things may be better?

Personal preference. Having had puppies it’s bloody hard and throw young DC into the mix as well and it’s REALLY hard.
I waited until my youngest was 7 before getting our puppy 4 years ago, although he is a big breed so it might be a bit different. Puppies are Bitey destructive Pooing machines and I really couldn’t have coped with one as well as children under 5. My 7 year old could just about deal with our dog and I didn’t need the constant level of supervision I would have to have with a small child (although we were careful) and I could go out in the garden or for walks with the dog without dragging the dc, very important in the dark and cold/rain. Also while pup wasn’t sleeping through the night at least everyone else was. It would have just been too much for me, although I know some people do it and say it’s fine

@Hoppinggreen thank you, its good to have other perspectives. We got a dog when I was 9, my sister was 11. Unfortunately life took over as we got older and our willingness to take her out for walks during school dinner breaks and after school soon declined and my mum ended up doing everything. By the time our dog died 11 years later (heart issues) we had both left home and I felt very guilty that we hadn't really bothered with her as I was 20 and my sister 22.
My rationale was if we get one at this age they're likely to be around throughout the biys childhood and teens.
Not sure why that is important to me, my mind works strangely. Big overthinker 🙂

To just add on to what Hoppinggreen says, I got my Shih Tzu when my youngest was 3 (and he has autism). The dog was never a chewer (tiny mouth aside) and he was housetrained in next to no time. I would have probably struggled with a larger dog though to be fair.

Thank you @LoseLooseLucy

I will also add our schichon has never been a chewer and was housetrained a lot quicker than I expected. He hates going for walks and prefers mooching around the garden. Although we do take him out. Our DD’s were around 6 & 8 when we got him.

I have both physical and MH issues and the breed are said to be good therapy dogs and he has done absolute wonders for my MH.

OP I'm an assured breeder and have not increased my prices, I have however stopped breeding because I'm not selling puppies in this market.

True reputable breeders will not increase price. The responsibility and consequences remain the same. I was concerned though that people were buying, inflating and selling on (not mine they werent) so I have stepped back for now. My contract of sale was becoming like the brexit negotiations. I do it for the love of the breed and this has become crazy. I had one litter in May, she was in before things really broke, and the homes had been on my list since last year.

Contact KC breeders, contact local breed groups, local ring craft clubs on FB, gamekeepers, agility groups, get word of mouth out there. Please don't pay that for any dog.

Breed type aside (wouldn't be my chouce, that's all)
I wouldn't touch a dog advertised on Pets At Home

I really do think you'd be better to wait until Lockdown Dog Mania abates or I'd be HIGHLY surprised if you're not enabling a backyard breeder.

I'm also with the others who have said they would not be getting a puppy with a 2yo & a 4yo. Puppies are gorgeous, but not so much when they're chewing all the kids toys, playfully nipping at them (natural fir a puppy but hurts & drives you mad as an adult, let alone a small child) Then there's the probable sleep issues and having to drag two small children out in the pudding rain to walk to the dog at least twice a day.

I live kids, I love dogs. But two small & a puppy...no thanks!! I like my sanity!

I know people who have got young kids and got a puppy but personally I wouldn’t do it then either. And if you get a puppy, it should be because you are happy and willing to look after it, don’t get it for the kids. Sure it’s great if they get some responsibility for it but most of the time you end up being the one who does the lion share and should be prepared to do it all if they don’t do any.

Puppies nip in play, can chew due to teething and how they discover the world (I was lucky mine only chewed his toys and was easily redirected if looking likely to do something), they need consistent training, 2 yr old kids can be quite unpredictable physically and whilst a puppy can adjust and learn it’s just more for you to look out for. I think it’s best if you have the time to give them to watch them and read them. There are some common behavioural signs of things such as needing the loo etc but just like a child they will have their own signals too like “this is going to make me react like x”, “I’m about to do zoomies”, “That worries me” etc, a lot of nuisance ear movements etc. I don’t think you can pay attention so well with young kids about, and they are unlikely to understand all that until they are older and more observant. Equally older they can follow through with training.

I think 8 is a good age but depending on the child the youngest I would say 6 as a minimum.

It's a huge gamble. My guess is if you ask about health testing you will draw a blank. There's literally no way of knowing what the health or temperament of the pups will be like.

It may be a front for a puppy farm. Chances are it's somebody who fancies cashing in 10k by breeding their pet. Your choice whether this is something you want to support with your own hard earned cash.

I don't think Pets4Homes as a sales platform is a bad site as long as you research the breeder beforehand. Both my SBTs were advertised there, and I would buy via that platform again but I do check KC Registration, ask to see health certs, etc.

Personally I'd wait until next year, only because prices are ridiculous and you want time to research.

I hate being negative on puppy threads but having got our first puppy when my youngest was 6 I think I would have found it much harder with even younger children. Depending on your circumstances does this mean you’d have to take the children out on every dog walk or would one parent be at home while the other walks the dog sometimes? When it’s hammering with icy cold rain it’s bad enough having to take a dog for a walk let alone the kids as well.

Also your children will have to learn very quickly not to leave any toys / books / clothes / anything within reach of the puppy in case it chews them / wees on them etc.

No idea about the breeds though sorry.

I would get a puppy over a rescue if I were getting a dog again.

I'd see if you can meet the mum (and ideally dad) for two reasons. Firstly, as others have said, you need to be checking to ensure that this isn't a front for a puppy farm. Secondly, temperament is very significantly genetic so, if both parents are nice dogs, the likelyhood is the puppies will be too.

If all is good for that, then it's really up to you whether it's the right time and it's worth the premium covid price. I agree it's ridiculously high compared with this time last year, but supply and demand has pushed prices through the roof. Only you can decide if you're happy to pay that or you'd rather wait.

One of my FB friends runs a rescue. They've had 21 hand-ins this week so far and it's only Tuesday!

Hold on for a rescue dog and save yourself hours of stress. My rescues came as ready-made companions - no house-training, no chewing, no crate-training. Pick a rescue who uses foster homes (my collie was assessed in a home with a Rottweiler and a 3yr old boy for 3 weeks).

The mix doesn’t excite me as I don’t really like small, curly coated, floppy eared breeds and no dog is worth £2,000 so on that basis for me personally it would be no.

But if the breed mix appeals to you and you like the temperament of the two parents and don’t see anything ‘off’ then I’d go for it.

Am seeing new puppies at work everyday and none of them cost less than 2k at the moment , most a lot more it's crazy money.
I would say that the coat will be a nightmare , will need clipping out every 6 weeks with that much bichon and poodle as it will be soft curly and Matt easily so just factor that in cost wise

Thanks everyone thats really helpful.
I've just come off the call with the lady. She lives 5 minutes away. She has all 5 puppies in her living room. The mum and the grandad were both there in the room and it looked like a lovely calm environment. She asked me a lot of questions too about our home.
She said this is the dogs second and final litter.
They will be health tested at 6 weeks by pets at home and she said that she won't have paperwork for this but we will be welcome to access it one the dogs ours as we can request it.
They will be microchipped and have their first vaccinations done, and their 2nd ones will be paid for also with pets at home as part of the puppy pack.
She said mum and dad are both bred from pure pedigrees so therefore these pups aren't mongrels apparently. Their correct name is Shipoochon.

I dont know what to do....

I was so sold on this idea till I saw all of these comments 😪