DESIGNER PUPPYS: Everything you wanted to know about raising designer or mixed breed dogs,
featuring The BOYZ: Prince Alvin His Cuteness (on left) and Sir Simon The Sad, Cockapoo pups.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Mention "designer dog" and people get nasty!

Yup - I'm a Designer Dog and Proud of It

Sometimes you just have to laugh about how people react to the simplest of things.

I was on a dog community recently where I had posted a plea from Alvin for yapstar votes. Simple - right? Please vote for the cute dog.

I called him a "mixed breed" knowing that if I used "designer dog" or even "hybrid dog" I would be personally attacked. People bash the concept of mixing breeds, designer dog breeders, people who have bought designer dogs, yada, yada, yada.

Some people refused to vote for Alvin because they won't vote for a "designer dog." I wonder if these people refused to vote for Obama because he's Afro-American.

And even though I thought I sidestepped the personal attacks, someone referred to the "ignorant buyer" without even knowing if I had purchased the pup.

The designer dog naysayers might consider the fact that the current group of dogs we call purebreeds are sometimes crossbreeds. Review the following quote from www.squidoo.com/designerdogbreeds -

"Did you know?

  • A Yorkshire Terrier was crossed with an Australian Terrier to produce the Silky Terrier.

  • The Bulldog was crossed with a Mastiff to get a Bullmastiff.

  • The German Shepherd was crossed with the German Pinscher to get a Doberman. Later crosses with the Greyhound, Weimeraner and Black and Tan Manchester Terrier were made to refine the Doberman."

  • And a Bichon Frise is also a crossbreed (see http://www.puppyfind.com).

Something to think about, and I'm certainly not going to change the minds of people who are so adament about their beliefs. But in the future, let's keep our heads about this issue and open our minds to other people's point of view.
valmillsy

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The term designer dog does leave a bad taste in my mouth. For many reasons. I won't get into them now.

I find it interesting that you mention how various breeds created different breeds as a way to validate your argument. That was done over many, many generations of dogs. It was also done with a purpose. The current status of breeding mixed dogs is only to make money. Backyard breeders, people who get a male and female dog with papers and plan to have puppies to make money breed only for the purpose of making money. They do not breed to make a new breed. They breed to make a dog with a cute name. A Doxie sure sounds cute, doesn't it?

And what happens when people breed 2 doxies together? Now your genetics are all jacked up. So is it still a doxie if its mother was a doxie, and so was it's father? Or is it something else now? Should we give it a new name? How about Doxie-do (doxie x 2)????

A designer dog is a mixed breed dog. There are over 400 established dog breeds. Sure, we could keep making more until the sun stops shining, but really what is the point? Soon every dog will be a mutt again if this whole designer dog thing keeps up.

valmillsy said...

Although some people may not believe it, designer dogs can be created for a specific purpose, for example, to address people's allergy's to dogs with hypoallergenic hair; for example, a cockapoo.

Eventually the out-of-control breeders will no longer have a market for their puppy mill dogs. Consumers always get smart about people out for profit only.

Anonymous said...

Why don't people with allergies just get a poodle, instead of bringing more crossbreeds into the world??

valmillsy said...

Personal choice! I don't want a poodle because . . . and I want a little more substantial dog, like a cockapoo.

Not to get you upset, but today we bought a cockapoo pup from a very resonsible breeder in PA. Simon will be about 18 - 20 pounds, hypoallergenic, buff and white, and we bought him as a companion for Alvin. Both his parents are AKC registered purebreds. He's perfect.

Did you know Cockapoos have been around since the 1940s?

Anonymous said...

You mean cocker spaniel/poodle crosses? There's have been hundreds of crossbreeds around since way before 1940.

And there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog.