I rather like the idea of a Cavapoo, half Cavalier half Poodle - adorably cute but, hopefully, without the all the health problems associated with Cavaliers.

I meet a couple of them and they are really sweet, and if you want a smaller dog they are a good choice.

When I decided what dog would be the right one for me I was nervous about unscrupulous breeders, that was my big concern. Mine was from a lady who was only going to let her dog breed once, most of the puppies were going to family members, she had both parents tested and had the paperwork to prove it and I was able to check with her vet that she was genuine, I saw the antinatal notes and proof that the pups had been flea and worm treated and first vaccination. Let them know you want to be able to check their papers and you should be fine. Responsible owners won't mind.

That's so true...

My youngest dog came to us as a 'rescue', though we side-stepped the resue centre and took her directly from the previous owner.
(We knew her as a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend sort of thing..)
'Mia' cost the original owner £550 - though she's a pure-bred Staffordshire as opposed to a designer-mix - came with a full pedigree from a reputable breeder.
She was neglected by the original owner so badly that she needed a full hysterectomy to save her life (her womb prolapsed during her first season, and was hanging outside, strangulated and necrotic for what the vet reckoned must have been weeks).

The owner escaped prosecution because she eventually paid for the treatment - but that's another story........

We also think she must have been beaten, because for the first few months she used to 'slink' around the furniture, or close to the walls - and she would run off and hide if anyone stood up unexpectedly.
Our older dog helped bring her out of her shell though, and she positively struts around the place now.
Mia

That's a beautiful dog.

Thanx - any excuse to post a pet pic...

Seriously though, she's really come along in leaps and bounds this last year and a half.
Got her full confidence now, and has gone from 21 lbs to 36 lbs in weight.
Se's curled up behind my legs on the sofa right now, snoring her head off.

And back to the subject of designer breeds...
I suppose I can now call my older dog, 'Stig' (Staffordshire-x-Labrador mix), a 'Staffrador', and claim he's worth several hundred quid..?

Aww what a lovely smile your staffrador has
I love rescues, best 'breed' ever all we have ever and will ever have.

I guess nowadays you would call our first family pet a cockerpoo, but she and the rest of the litter were an accident 😄

Thanks - but that's the pure-bred Blue-grey Staffy I spoke about further back.

This is the Staff-x-Lab
'Stig'
He's almost 9 now, was about 4 in that pic - and has a bit of mature-dog white around the muzzle these days.
He was also a rescue.

Beautiful dog

Mine is also a rescue and a cross-breed. There's nothing at all wrong with cross-breeds and these days plenty of advantages with the way "pure" breeding is going! What annoys me, I think, is people giving them silly names (like cockapoo) and pretending they're some kind of breed.

Crossbreed good. Stupid name bad. What is wrong with calling a dog a mutt? It is what it is after all. Cockerpoo, cavapoo my arse.

I don't know how many end up in care no - please hit me with some facts! Or is this just your opinion? I don't know anyone that would pay for a dog just for show, then neglect it and have it end up in care!

If people are happy to pay for certain breeds then I don't understand why people are so bothered by it. I myself went for my Labradoodle because the breeder is a good friend of mine, and the mother is a beautiful, chilled out dog.

I would never judge anyone on what breed of dog they have, as long as that dog is loved and well cared for! I certainly would not call them an idiot, as people on this thread are doing re cross breeds!

Totally agree, it's so uncalled for and I can't imagine a genuine dog lover being so cutting about a breed of dog!

Probably because if they have a name it gives people an idea of what the dog is made up of. A mutt could be anything.

My understanding of the popularity of these poodle-crosses was an an allergy-related "phenomena"?

Poodles don't shed hair and I gather neither does the resulting x-breed, so people with pet-hair allergies can now enjoy dog-ownership.

Lots of breeds don't shed hair, so that's nothing new.

I love mongrels and cross breeds, some of the nicest dogs I have known have been Heinz 57's. What I don't like is the 'designer dog' craze, the silly made up names, the deliberate breeding of dogs of unknown background and the huge prices these dogs are fetching.

If you have a pedigree dog there are health tests around for the different breeds, to try and ensure genetic and hereditary problems are not passed on and that only healthy dogs are bred from. You can see the history of your dog, and have an idea of what a puppy will grow into. If you get a 'designer dog' there is no way of telling any of this, very very few breeders of cross breeds are reputable and ethical, most are in it purely for the money. The craze for these dogs has enabled unscrupulous back yard breeders to see pound signs - throw two different dogs together + add a silly made up name = big money . There is no governing body for crossbreeds so no way of tracking history, family lines, genetics, no health tests, not even a certainty of what the puppy will be like. There is literally nothing with these dogs, their a blank canvas of the unknown and buying one is like lucky dip. An owner can't even get a rough idea of what their taking on as every puppy in the litter can turn out with a completely different size, coat type and breed traits.

That in itself is a problem, that people are picking a dog based on its name and how fashionable it is without giving a second thought to what really matters when choosing a dog. What size will it grow to, how much exercise will it need, what is the breed originally bred for and what type of grooming will it require, are far more important points to consider than has it got the funniest name, is it a "rare" colour, or is it a current 'in' thing. Most people are simply thinking that it sounds unusual, will be calmer and healthier than its purebred counterpart and won't shed. What they don't realise, and these "breeders" won't say is that it doesn't work like that, you don't automatically get the best of both breeds or the non shedding of one breed, you can end up with the worst of both breeds, the health issues associated with both breeds and a "non shedding" dog which sheds worse than a normal coated one!

Personally I don't think the cocker poodle cross is a good mix at all and I've yet to find anyone to think differently. The high intelligence of the poodle combined with the high energy of a spaniel gives a dog that is quite intense and full on. Mind it's not as bad as the worst ones I've heard of, the 'pomsky' husky x pomeranian (huge 25kg husky and tiny 2kg pom), 'dollie' Dalmatian x collie and 'sprollie' collie x springer spaniel. The craziness of crossing the last two is as mind boggling as the result of the cross. I don't believe any of the various crosses are really a good idea, certainly not enough to defend breeding them on purpose, there are over 200 pedigree dogs of all shapes, sizes, coat type, looks, nature, skill and purpose, enough to suit everyone, there is no need to deliberately breed unknowns, especially when there isn't exactly a shortage of dogs.

Thanks hun, in the entire DS forum, the pet thread should be a place of peace, anyone would think owners were the ones who made up the name of the breed. Who cares what it is called.

God I know! I came on here thinking it would be dog lovers paradise, only to find that if you don't have a pedigree or a rescue dog you are fair game to be ridiculed, called an idiot and a fashion victim! I love my dog so much, and it;s actually quite upset me. I wonder how other people on this thread/forum would feel to have their breed of dog criticised in this way? I rescued a cat a year and a half ago, didn't want to go down the same route with a dog as I have small children and wanted to get a puppy that could grow up with them. Shoot me.

So many dogs languishing in Animal Shelters, people forget they can be the most loving & forgiving. You can get a fully vaccinated, neutered, microchipped dog from a rescue, maybe even a pedigree (like the Greyhound ), for relatively small cost. Each to their own I guess.
I'm into re-homing ex-racing Greyhounds myself, wonderful dogs

I thought I couldn't see much lab but my friend has a lab x staffi and a staffi x lab if you get what I mean, they look completely different from each other but you can see both breeds in them. Both rescues.
Stig is lovely too, love his colour

No I don't have figures but I know of several rescues who frequently get pedigrees of all breeds in these days where once it was rare and I assume that's representative across the country. Then there are breed rescues for most breeds who obviously take them in too. There are also the crosses whose genes didn't produce the required look so they aren't wanted either. Colliewobbles makes very good points about the unpredictability of crosses.

With you 100% as my 2 rescues greys who are in bed will testify along with my rescue whippet cross.
You do get puppies in rescue too, people tend to forget that. You even get a few greyhound ones although puppies aren't my thing. We take them when someone has thrown them out and we try to heal them.

It's more common for people to be allergic to the dander that dogs shed (scurf) and you can't stop that so while a dog that doesn't shed might help it may not.
Even poodles lose hair like we do, they just don't shed so much or moult.

That's what I thought.

Everything I've read on this thread is made up of opinion and prejudice, and frankly it's coming across as pretty mean. No loving and caring dog owner should be made to feel like they have done wrong by choosing the kind of breed they did, and I have yet to meet one who chose their breed to be fashionable or have it as a possession. It says more about the people saying that than it does about the do owners themselves.

Anyway, I'm off to play with my puppy!

I am most grateful for the clarification. Possible an urban myth then! (I'll look into this dander / scurf stuff).