Where to find mixed breed puppies

[Leomonberet]

Apart from dogs4homes?

we have been on the search for a mixed breed puppy, we don’t know anyone with puppies available and would prefer an mixed breed rather than pedigree. I don’t trust gumtree and I’m not sure about dogs4homes.

We got ours from a family (pet owners not breeders) advertising their dogs' puppies on pets4homes. The mother was Jack Russel/ patterdale and the dad was "cavachon" which is cavalier King Charles/bichon friese.

Visited the puppies at their house twice, saw the parents who were their own pets. All lovely apart from the puppies had come out so flipping cute they charged £350 per puppy which we paid because - totally gorgeous.

That dog is 7 years old now, she's total perfection and even our vet asked us if we would let her have puppies and let him have one! She's spayed but we regularly get people asking us what breed she is and to take their details and let them know if we ever would let her have puppies.

I think the crucial thing was meeting the family that bred her and meeting the parent dogs and getting such a good feeling about it all.

RSPCA. Mine was born there. The litter never went on the website , I don't think a lot of them do unless they've been there a while. Contact your local centre, register your interest and they will keep you in mind for when some come up.

How young are your kids? Not sure if you have had a puppy before but it is not dissimilar to having a new baby. Very hard work. Most reputable breeders won't sell to people with kids younger that at least 5 because puppies bite and kids need to be old enough to be able to leave the puppy alone when it needs to be left alone otherwise you end up with a stressed puppy and a bitten child.

You don’t know what you’re getting with a cross breed. Why take a risk when you have children? Most cross breeds are expensive anyway, as they are passed off as some sort of poodle cross.

If you want a quiet, easy to train, good with other dogs and children, could I recommend a miniature poodle? Ours is just amazing and easily the best dog you could wish for.

Yes this is exactly it, there are puppies out there bred (possibly accidentally) by families who aren’t fussed about keeping them as a pedigree. It seems pets4homes is where most of them are listed and I wasn’t sure if there was another avenue I hadn’t thought of. The search continues!

What type of "mutt"? Small? Medium? Large? Shedding? Low-Shedding? High energy? Low energy?

Have you had puppies before?

Even if you find a mutt litter, there's no guarantee they will be right for your family. There's also no guarantee they will be healthy, they may still inherit health issues from their parents, including heart problems, hip problems etc, which won't have been tested for. They will also get temperament traits from their parents as well, which good breeders will keep in mind, accidental breeders will not.

All rescues get puppies, they just don't often end up on the website. And they're not always mutts either, seen so many Dachshund puppies go through Dogs Trust recently :( but there's also good reason they don't rehome to under 5's very often - small kids and bitey-shark puppies are a very tricky mix if you're not used to that high level of multi-tasking. There's a reason so many puppies end up in rescue at 12-14 weeks!

We have a mixed breed rescue pup and kids. She has a really sweet nature. If you want details of the rescue then DM. They often have puppies come up and are really thorough at matching the right dog to right home x

We got our two year old dog from an animal rescue shelter. He was absolutely perfect for us. Does it have to be a puppy? Our little guy was already house trained which was amazing for us as first time dog owners. Lots of people got dogs/puppies during lockdown without giving too much thought to it and unfortunately lots of those dogs are now looking for new homes.

Many Tears isn't held in high esteem by a lot of people in the rescue world.

People are still trying to sell "oops litters" for a small fortune. If you know the parentage of a litter, research the breed traits and common health problems of all the breeds involved. There are so many crosses that shouldn't exist and relatively few litters that are actually accidental (in my opinion), such as the British Bulldog cross Chow Chows that someone is trying to sell for £1,000 a puppy.

If you rehome via a reputable rescue, they will take the dog back at any stage during its lifetime, if things don't work out. The same can't always be said about breeders, especially if the dog has behaviour issues that need work before it can be rehomed. Rescues are currently in crisis (and things are only going to get worse), so they shouldn't be relied upon to take in your breeder bought dog, if things don't work out.

@Happenchance really? That’s not what I’ve heard.

It’s actually such a shame someone like @Happenchance could put potential owners off rescuing a dog with an off the cuff, unsubstantiated comment on here. If you want an unbiased view read the rescue’s reviews.

Our dog was an accidental litter. But they health tested both parents afterwards and it was a very loving and organised home environment. Dog is great.

We found the litter on Pets4Homes - after I removed all of the breed filters to get ideas about breeds I might not have considered. It was only then I realised you could actually search for mixed breed dogs!

Dog is a border-golden-lab-poodle. She's kind of a placid collie.

There is no need for “accidental” litters. These are people who have deliberately not spayed or neutered. Have not kept dogs apart then sold the puppies.
Different breeds need different specialist tests done PRIOR to breeding. These sorts of BYB rarely bother. You risk the worst of both breed.

Why do you specifically want a crossbreed? If you are after something small, healthy and good with children a purebred terrier might fit the bill. We had a Cairn that lived to the age of 18.

Puppies tend to be landsharks until about the age of 6 months so may not be a good idea if your children can't put up with that.