I love chihuahuas. Picture this, a teeny tiny 18 mth old one wanting to play with my greyhound who was frightened of her so ran off round the park, 'chased' by the little one everyone was killing themselves laughing at the sight! it was my girl that we lost suddenly at xmas and I still cry every day thinking about her. She was a cruelty case so very nervous of strange dogs and didn't have the typical greyhound prey drive.

BTW she came back, she was one you could never lose, too bonded to her 'mummy'.

A neighbour recently paid big bucks to breed their spaniel bitch with a poodle to achieve a cockapoo. They did so because there is a market for cockapoos round here and they fetch a good sum - as much if not more than a single breed. Not saying they aren't lovely caring people and I am sure they will do their best to find really good homes but I'm still a bit 'iffy' about the idea and I'm afraid I can't really say why. It's not that I'm snobby about these things - I have had out and out mongrels in the past and loved them to bits. But it just seems wrong to deliberately cross one breed with another. Plus tbh if I was paying the sort of sum they expect, I would go for a pure breed. So maybe I am being snobby. Sigh...

In years gone by this was simply known as a mongrel.

Loads. For various reasons, they didn't look turn out the like the dog in the photo, they grew three times the size the owner hoped, they didn't end up the small cute cuddly toy the owner hoped for, they need to much exercise, they were more than the owner could or wanted to deal with, they were found to have some genetic condition that would cost a bomb to mend, they dropped hair everywhere after being advertised as non shedding, they went out of popularity and the owner didn't want them once they were no longer flavour of the month - the list is endless. You are kidding yourself if you think there are barely any poodle crosses in rescue centres because their so popular. It is precisely due to their popularity they will be there, the more popular a breed the more of them in rescue not less.


And this is the reality behind most designer dogs, no matter how much people don't want to believe it.

In years gone by they were wolfs, then they started breeding all the different types which we now know, so this is no different.

Why do you think that there are 'loads' of poodle breeds in rescue? I have a quick look at Battesea dogs home webpage and found none! Pages of pure breeds, and only 16 mongrels - none of which looked like poodle crosses!

Link: http://www.battersea.org.uk/apex/web...lery&type=dog#

A quick search on Dogs Trust brought up 1 Labradoodle and 64 pure breed labradors. Zero cockapoos.

As for the 'truth' that only money is behind designer dogs, do you think breeders of pedigree dog just do it for charity or something??

The friend that bred my dog did it because she wanted the experience for her and her family (and believe me they enjoyed the whole thing so much), and to give her dog a chance to reproduce. I'm sure the money was an added bonus but I doubt that she would have said it was easy money!

And here's another rescue centre where a quick look at the first 4 pages doesn't seem to have any poodle crosses in need of rescue:

http://www.woodgreen.org.uk/rehome/d...WdGhoCFZvw_wcB

I have a cockapoo and he is perfection. I can't believe how craggy a lot of people are on here. I don't see why anyone should have to justify why they have chosen the breed they have.

Except it is, because the breeds were bred carefully and for a real purpose. The cross breeds aren't bred carefully and for other purpose other than lining someone's pocket.


That's only two rescues, they don't show up any huskies or husky mixes either but rescues in general are overflowing with them.

Good, genuine, ethical breeders most certainly don't do it for charity or money. They breed to further their own lines, to improve their chosen breeder for their next show dog. To start a good line you need sound breeding stock and good dogs from well known lines aren't cheap, so the initial outlay is pricey. They then carefully vet potential stud dogs to find a suitable one that will compliment their bitch and produce exactly what their after, not just flinging any two dogs with working parts together, which often means a great deal of travelling to find the right match. They have breed specific health tests done (and ensure the stud dog has had too) to check for any genetic issues that could be passed to the pups and if there are any they forget their plans to breed from that particular dog. That's about £1000 + gone there just getting a bitch into breeding condition and finding a stud dog.

Then there's the cost of vet visits and top quality food throughout the pregnancy which will add around another couple of hundred. If all goes well with no problems the actual birth won't add any cost, if not, an emergency c-section, fallout or emergency surgery in the middle of the night can be anything upwards of £1000 -£2000 depending on the vet. Provided all has gone to plan, the puppies will need feeding four times a day and particularly if it's a large litter, they might need topping up with extra, so there's more money for milk formula and when they start on solids, they'll need high quality puppy food and supplements, along with floor litter, wormers, microchip, first vacc, vet check ups, registration with the KC and a puppy pack for new owners, which notches up another few hundred. Say these puppies are £500 each and there's six of them so you think they've made £3000, but they've spent over double that in actually breeding, having and rearing them. There is no money to be made in breeding dogs, it's a labour of love, if your making a profit from it your not doing it right. To do it properly takes a real deal of knowledge, skill, dedication and expense.

The reasons your dog's breeder chose to breed are two of the worst there is. Wanting the children /family to see the experience is a reason many give, and tbh it's frankly awful that somebody would bring live animals into the world just so their children could witness 'the miracle of birth'. Would they be so willing to have a baby for the same reason? What if something had gone wrong and the bitch or puppy died, I'm sure they wouldn't be so thrilled with their experience then. If people want their family members to see pups being born, they should look at videos on YouTube not breed themselves a litter.

The second reason is just as bad, dogs don't need a chance to reproduce. Dogs aren't people, they don't long for puppies, they have them because nature tells them to procreate for survival. The dog won't be bothered if it never has a single puppy its entire life. I'm sorry, but this person is exactly the sort of person who should not be breeding, their not even doing it for good reasons let alone right ones.

Wow. I must remember that next time I want my children to experience something I shall just YouTube it.

How awful life would be if we only focused on the worst possible outcome - nobody would do anything ever. Hattie my puppies mum, had a great pregnancy, labour and has got to keep one of her puppies - they are now constant companions. I'm sure you'll say that she is just one of the lucky ones, and fabricate a statistic that tells me this almost never happens! Or some reason why it's very bad for a puppy to stay with its breeder and mother forever.

Just a final point, to defend my friend and breeder, doing this is something she thought long and hard about. She knows her dogs lineage and paid a professional stud owner for the privilege of having him impregnate her beloved dog. She did not just 'chuck' two dogs together to see what would happen.

If it's how to set up a new computer or TV, then fine, go hands on and play about, but when it's creating real live beings, leave it to those who know what their doing and stick to watching YouTube instead, much better for all concerned.

I am and she was. You don't focus only on the worst outcome, you hope for the best but prepare for the worst, so if things really do go badly, you've got it covered. There is no point going into it with the thought everything will be just fine and dandy, or if if isn't you are going to get a real shock and not have a clue what to do, which can be the difference between a happy ending and a sad one. No it's not nice to think of everything that can go wrong, but breeding isn't all sunshine and flowers, you need to go in with your eyes wide open or you could get some very unpleasant shocks. I don't fabricate statistics, and there is nothing bad about a puppy staying with its mother and breeder forever. All breeders do exactly this, otherwise they wouldn't be able to keep a pup to run on in showing and future breeding.


So she bred her dogs for no other reason than wanting her children to witness birth and to give her dog a chance to be a mum, yet she responsibly knows her dog's lineage and found a suitable stud? That doesn't add up, someone who knows their dog's lineage is someone who is knowledgeable enough to know you don't breed to give your dog the opportunity to reproduce or for the kids to watch. Except of course she hasn't, because no true professional stud owner would allow their prize winning champion stud dog to be used to produce crossbreeds and any genuine breeders put endorsements on their bitch puppies so they can't be bred from, unless she's an exemplary example and a clause is made in the contract that you will allow the breeder to breed from her should they want to, in which case there is no way the breeder would allow her to be crossed with another breed. Sorry but this type of setup is exactly where you shouldn't get a puppy from, a run of the mill back yard breeder.

Actually, agree to disagree and all that. I will never convince you even though everything worked out perfectly,

It isn't fair for me to comment on behalf of the breeder. I do know that they thought long and hard about it (for well over a year) and did everything in a very responsible manner. I and 4 other families are extremely happy the result.

Let's leave it here now - clearly we are not gong to see eye to eye on this!

Give it a few more years and the dogs will all be recognised pedigree dogs.
I can't understand people being up in arms about this, as long as the people love their dogs and treat them right, that imo is the most important.

I am sorry all this talk of the idea of crossing breeds being wrong, stupid or dangerous is a load of ill informed ballauks. A pure breed can have just as may issues and serious problems. The problem with designer breeds is not the dos per say, or the owners (or even my own prejudice against stupid names). It is the fact that they are being bred at such a rate that many are suffering from in puppy farms. The guy who first bred Labrador x Poodles in Australia regrets doing so not because of the dogs being bad but because so many dogs are suffering in these places.

The comments on poodle crosses being non-shedding or hypoallergenic is interesting. I have known three quite well. The first was crossed with an Afghan hound (in the 70's and very much a mistake) and its hair shed. My mate had a cross Labrador and its hair shed (it was also unstable and had to be pts, but that could be any dog). My sisters cross Yorkshire terrier does, so far, seem to be non shedding. Also someone mentioned that they are OK with silky hair but wire hair causes them problems. Well my wife is the complete opposite and is ok with our wire coated terrier. I think people with allergies who want to a dog really need to do their homework.

Yes in the past breeds have been developed and come into existence. But they have generally been for a specific purpose, quite often a working purpose. The breed would be developed by a very small number of breeders who were homing in on a particular type of dog and weeding out the ones who did not conform. This isn't happening now and I can't see Labrador crosses becoming a new breed anytime soon if ever.

No you won't convince me that back yard breeders producing cross breeds can ever be a good idea, so yes I'll agree to disagree with you as you have been lucky and everything has worked out for you.


No it isn't. Of course a pedigree can have just as many problems/issues but the hug difference is, many can be avoided by health testing before breeding. You can't health test a crossbreed as there is nowhere to register them to and no way of knowing what breed(s) they have in their make up to do do breed specific tests on!

Then I shall stop trying - good day!

No surprise to me our late long coat used to chase my mils Labrador all round the garden she was petrified of the little scrap lol and our ladrador Elsie has a healthy respect for Betty the chi who is the real bossy boots here.

They are cute enough, but to me, why pay that much money for a mongrel with no official pedigree or a KC registration, when you can get a dog that looks the same, health tested and KC reg with a pedigree for less, or even just rescue a mongrel from a shelter that looks fluffy.

They are not hypo allergenic as people love to report, ironically, we have always had rough collies and my Mother never knew she has allergies to dog hair, but not rough's hair.

I have seen some awful health issue on mixes, so that's not even a difference to pedigree, you can go to a health testing breeding anyway. One person who had a poo mix has had to pay thousands for dodgy elbows and legs and the dog still cannot run. Not to mention how many come with parvo or the likes and die as puppies.

Oh and so many are getting these dogs with no idea, someone I used to talk to online wanted a dog who didn't need any exercise/much exercise, was turned down by a breeder so got some poo mix, the dog is a mix of poodle and terrier, so needs a good lot of exercise, but never goes on walks of any distance and is on lead in the garden. These BYB's will give the dogs out to anyone.

It was me that can't have wire haired dogs and I was just pointing out that we are all different and can be allergic to different thing relating to dogs so the idea that any dog can be 'hypoallergenic' is rubbish. If you are someone who has asthma, eczema or is allergy prone you really do need to spend time with various dogs if possible in the hope of seeing whether you react but ultimately you can't really be sure what will happen until you get them in your home and the potential allergens start to build up and you see what your immune system does.

I agree my husband is allergic to dander not hair or fur so we keep them as clean as possible to alleviate the problem, I seem to be allergic to just one breed pugs ! Annoying because I would love to have one but breathing is more important than having a dog I fancy.

You can get Petal Cleanse - I don't know if it works before I get shot down in flames!! You have to apply it once a week and has good reviews on Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/PetalCleanse.../dp/B019IO94BO

Interesting will give it a go, thank you.

I have a Yorkie though he might be a cross. He looks like a Yorkie but his legs are long. Yorkies don't shed and neither do Cairn terriers. Need grooming though.