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Designer Dogs

5978 Views 20 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  susan tuck
There are a lot of different "designer dogs", mixed breed dogs that are now being recognized as breeds.
Here are a few that REALLY get under my skin:
Shepadoodle (GSD x poodle)
Malipoo (Malinois x poodle)
Rott-a-poo (Rottie x poodle)
All of these mixes (and others un-mentioned) are bred in 3 different sizes, based on the poodle. Toy, Miniature, and Standard.
I just think this is plain WRONG, but worse is that these dogs are soon going to be able to be registered with various small breed registries in the US. These dogs are MUTTS from uncertain backgrounds and should NOT be bred! (IMHO)
What do you think?
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Sarah Hall said:
There are a lot of different "designer dogs", mixed breed dogs that are now being recognized as breeds.
Here are a few that REALLY get under my skin:
Shepadoodle (GSD x poodle)
Malipoo (Malinois x poodle)
Rott-a-poo (Rottie x poodle)
All of these mixes (and others un-mentioned) are bred in 3 different sizes, based on the poodle. Toy, Miniature, and Standard.
I just think this is plain WRONG, but worse is that these dogs are soon going to be able to be registered with various small breed registries in the US. These dogs are MUTTS from uncertain backgrounds and should NOT be bred! (IMHO)
What do you think?
I am sooooooooooooooooooo with you on this one Sarah. Here was my long relpy to the designer dog breeding site you postd in the thread in the Canine Lounge. I think it pretty well covers my issues with this practice:

Sarah Hall said:
Speaking of Shepadoodles, here is a gallery following one from a few weeks to 6 months.
http://www.northernskykennels.com/PICTURESSHEPADOODLES.html
I just have to comment (vent) some more about "Northern Sky Kennels." After perusing her site I have the following issues:

1. Her "shepherds" look awful. She says one is from "champion German bloodlines," yet fails to provide any of their pedigrees.

2. Her "labradoodles." Both parents are STILL PUPPIES. She bred a yellow lab to a BROWN poodle (is that even a poodle color? I thought htey were black, apricot, cream, and white, and grey when they get older). Both are just over a year old!

3. They charge more for their "shepadoodles" and "labradoodles" than they do for their AKC registered cocker spaniels! They also say they "charge accordingly" for unusual colors or markings (read MORE MONEY FOR FAULTS).

4. Cocoa the badly bred 1 year old Standard Poodle is ALSO the father of the shepadoodle puppies. He's a busy poodle. Gaia, their mother, is ALSO only a year old. These people are breeding PUPPIES.

5. They have a picture of a puppy just born in January of 2006 with the caption "Future Mother" over her. YUCK.

6. Not one dog has any evidence of health certification, no show titles on any one of them, no working titles on teh working dogs. They apparently just pop out litters.

7. What the heck is an "APR" registration?

8. The list of “future litters” is daunting. Again: Cocoa the standard poodle is one busy boy. And how on earth are they CKC registering the Labradoodles? CKC accepts this as a breed?

9. All of the pictures of the dogs are shot while they’re in motion. Leads me to believe they are also not bothering to obedience train the dogs since it would be fairly easy to get good shots of each dog if they were (in a sit stay, down stay, stand stay, whatever).

10. And the biggest issue: you can pay them through PayPal by submitting the “caption” under the picture of the dog you want in the subject line…hmmmmmmmmmm.

11. Go check out their “customer feedback” page. On one of the shepadoodles it says, “Hannah is doing great at puppy class. She learns quickly and we are hoping she will grow out of submissive urination and jumping. They say she will…” And the first one “if the labradoodle breed is right for our family.” It isn’t a breed people!!! It’s a really expensive MUTT. You can go find one in a shelter and pay the $20-85 adoption fee...

I'm sure there's more I could point out but I'm preaching to the choir here and my stomach is severely turned. YUCK YUCK YUCK.
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G
Not that I'm a poodle fancier, but there are brown poodles, and I think the APR is the American Poodle Registry. Guessing.
Jenni Williams said:
Not that I'm a poodle fancier, but there are brown poodles, and I think the APR is the American Poodle Registry. Guessing.
I found it: APR stands for American Purebred Registry.

And apparently brown is a recognized color for poodles. OH, and Cocoa is their only poodle, apparently purchased for the purpose of creating their "doodle" dogs.
Connie, your post is doodlicious!!! I can hear your frustration, & believe me, I am echoing it right back to ya. I was watching one of those news shows (60 min, or 20/20 or Primetime, I can't remember) & they did a segment on designer dogs. According to the show, Puggles (Pug/beagle) is the latest greatest design, but the a$$hole breeder believes the next big thing is a St Bernard, but the size of a toy breed. He was SO smug! All those designer or doodle breeders (or whatever) are breeding doo doo dogs as far as I'm concerned. :evil: :evil: :evil:
susan tuck said:
Connie, your post is doodlicious!!! I can hear your frustration, & believe me, I am echoing it right back to ya. I was watching one of those news shows (60 min, or 20/20 or Primetime, I can't remember) & they did a segment on designer dogs. According to the show, Puggles (Pug/beagle) is the latest greatest design, but the a$$hole breeder believes the next big thing is a St Bernard, but the size of a toy breed. He was SO smug! All those designer or doodle breeders (or whatever) are breeding doo doo dogs as far as I'm concerned. :evil: :evil: :evil:
I didn't post on this thread (that I recall, anyway :oops: :lol: ), but I agree with you.
susan tuck said:
ooooops, I meant Stacia! :oops:

Hey, I consider it a complement! I have risen to the writing prowress of the great Connie -- enough to be mistaken for her! It's an honor :wink: .
Hahaha! You should check out the APR(I). They call themselves the APRI so it sounds a little more official: America's Pet Registry, Inc.
They have no restrictions on breeding, and no limited registration. Even if a dog is unsuitable for breeding, and is given an AKC limited reg, and they still know the ancestors of the dog, they can fully register and breed the dog in APR.
"We feel that if a breeder wants to restrict the activities of the pet owner regarding breeding, the breeder should either neuter the dog or have a contract with the pet owner to do so."
Therefore they take NO responsibility.
Here is a quote on what they call a "Professional" breeder.
"We classify a professional breeder as one who has three or more breeding females and who regularly sells puppies in the pet market."
Vom Vielenbache is the only good breeder of GSDs, Malinois, and Dutch Shepherds I've found listed as APRI breeders. Even though down in the corner I see "We feed & recommend Iams® Large Breed Adult & Iams® Puppy". :roll:
Can't win them all, I guess!
I know it's a touchy subject, and personally, since the breeding is done with only the intent of selling more dogs, I'm not in favor of it. We do have to remember however, almost every dog we are familiar with today was somebody's cross of something.

DFrost
David Frost said:
I know it's a touchy subject, and personally, since the breeding is done with only the intent of selling more dogs, I'm not in favor of it. We do have to remember however, almost every dog we are familiar with today was somebody's cross of something.

DFrost
Good point, David.
David, you are right, but most breeds seem to have started out with SOME purpose, SOME improvement. Those people that breed those doodle things claim it's to get the non-shedding/no allergies aspect, but most of the pups will be shedding by adulthood because of the mix. Such a scam. Such CROOKS!!!

I guess people are people & will forever be buying certain dog breeds just because they are the "in" thing, just as so many buy dogs on an "impulse". It's just so wrong.

I guess other people will continue to "feed" the crazies by mass producing these mistakes. It's just so heartless.

I think it's the same as the chicken/egg debate. All I know for sure, is it's these breeders & owners who don't give a damn & have no problem with throwing dogs away like yesterdays' trash!
susan tuck said:
David, you are right, but most breeds seem to have started out with SOME purpose, SOME improvement. Those people that breed those doodle things claim it's to get the non-shedding/no allergies aspect, but most of the pups will be shedding by adulthood because of the mix. Such a scam. Such CROOKS!!!

I guess people are people & will forever be buying certain dog breeds just because they are the "in" thing, just as so many buy dogs on an "impulse". It's just so wrong.

I guess other people will continue to "feed" the crazies by mass producing these mistakes. It's just so heartless.

I think it's the same as the chicken/egg debate. All I know for sure, is it's these breeders & owners who don't give a damn & have no problem with throwing dogs away like yesterdays' trash!
I have to agree with Susan. When a breeder is mixing in order to achieve a real goal (like working toward improving drives for work, or structure of the dog, or temperment) that's one thing. But these poodle mixes? I swear to goodness it's the NAME people are buying. Just so they can say they have a maltipoo, a labradoodle, beagipoo or whatever. These breeders have no real goal in mind, no breeding ethics, and no respect for the animals. If they did, would they be breeding PUPPIES? Not likely.

I have let the experienced breeders who have tried the labrador/standard poodle cross in order to reduce allergic reactions in people needing service dogs slide...but these greedy breeders banking on teh "in"ness of poodle breeds? No way! If they were repsonible, ethical individuals active in the world of dog fancy who proved and health tested their stock and could explain their breeding goals, I wouldn't be even 80% as bothered as I am.

Nonetheless, good point David. All breeds have started out by people mixing others...
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One thing that many of these fad breed breeders falsely claim is that their dogs are hypo allergenic. Um, I'm sorry, but there is no dog on the planet that is hypo allergenic. All dogs have dander, and that is what *most* people with allergies to dogs are allergic to. Puppies do not have dander, which explains why people do not develop the allergies until after their cute little puppy is an adult. If a person has an allergy to the hair, as opposed to the dander, then poodles and other breeds that are low/no shedding are perfect for them, but there is no dog on Earth that is hypo allergenic because even hairless breeds produce dander.
I was waiting to see if someone would bring this up. I've had MANY experiences with owner's saying their "Hypo-allergenic" dog is aggrivating their allergies! Hmm... maybe because THEY'RE NOT HYPO-ALLERGENIC!
I like the point made by David, look at the dutch shepherd! But I also agree with Susan, because crossing for a GOOD cause is something I support.
I've worked with Canine Companions a few times, and they cross Labs with Goldens and that proves to be a good mix for their purpose. I've also seen some great working Mal/GSD crosses for PSD work.
I still don't like breeding dogs for looks or lying about them being hypo-allergenic.
I just had someone contact me for training that own two types of designer dogs: a Boxerdoodle and a St. Weiler.
Boxerdoodle = boxer x poodle
St. Weiler = St. Bernard x Rottweiler
I don't understand these mixes, especially the St. Weiler!
5

Boxerdoodle pup (5mon)

St Weiler pup

St. Weiler adult

Shepadoodle pup

blonde Shepadoodle adult
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I was outside with my neighbor who owns a lab mix yesterday. A guy walked by being pulled down teh street by a 40-ish pound black, long haired dog. My neighbor asked him what kind of dog it was. He wrinkled his face up and said, "Well, she's a LABRADOODLE of course!"

And before I could stop myself I said, "Who are you looking at like that? "Labradoodle" isn't a breed dumba$$!" Whoooops. But he was being such a butt and he needs some serious education on how to handle a dog. Needless to say every time he's walked by my house he's shot it a look of disgust lol.

It amazes me that people think these are breeds! THEY'RE MUTTS!

I suppose I should just get with the program nad start calling my Abbie a Bassowgle (Basset/Chow/Beagle)? If everyone else gets to make thier overpriced mutts sound chic I wanna make my shelter dogs sound cool, too! 8)
Stacia Porter said:
....I suppose I should just get with the program nad start calling my Abbie a Bassowgle (Basset/Chow/Beagle)? If everyone else gets to make thier overpriced mutts sound chic I wanna make my shelter dogs sound cool, too! 8)
Me too me too!

Some of the rescues I've had would have 6-11-syllable breed names, however (if my guesses were anywhere near accurate). :lol: :lol:

One of my sisters has a Save-a-Sato (Puerto Rican dump dog), and he's clearly a Chihuahua-Beagle.

So........... Behuahua? Cheagle?
Darn it, I am late on all these fun threads...I love to hate the designer dogs. Not the dogs themselves, of course, just the idiotic breeders and the even more idiotic owners who just about defend them to the death. If you guys really want to get a headache from pounding your head against your computer screen or desk, check out: http://www.achclub.com/ and then look at their forums. Is there a gun nearby, seriously? :twisted: Not to mention I'd say 75% or more of the dogs are smallish terrier/toy breed crosses. Well, I have a Siberian Huskweiler, an Siberian Ausky cattle shepherd dog, and even Zoso might have a bit of German shepherd as a grandfather or something to go along with his Malinois-ness, so my very favorite: the MaliGSDed! :roll:
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