What is a Pure-Bred Dog?
A purebred dog is the result of mating two registered purebred dogs of the same breed. The resulting litter should have both the physical and the mental characteristics of the parents, grand parents and great, grand parents. Physical characteristics could include coat colour and type, shedding vs non-shedding, size, weight and structure of the dog. Mental characteristics include: trainability, intelligence, loyalty, and sense of humour. The adopting family knows what it is getting when it adopts a puppy. They will have a very good idea of what the puppy will look like and act like as it matures into an adult dog. A purebred puppy from a reputable breeder comes from purebred parents who have received their championships, or performance titles, have completed all recommended health and genetic testing, and are loving members of the breeder’s family.
What is a Designer Dog?
To put it simply: it is a mixed breed puppy or dog. The dam (mother) is from one breed and the sire (father) is from a second, different breed. The resulting litter is not purebred – it is a cross breed, or, a mixed breed, or, to use terms from yesteryear - it is a cross, it is a mutt, it is a mongrel. But now they have fancier names: Labradoodle, Goldendoodle, Cook-a-Poo, Multi-poo, etc.. They usually come with a very fancy price-tag too, but usually with no health guarantee. The mixed breed puppy often costs more than a registered pure-bred puppy.
What is a Good Breeder?
Good breeders breed purebred dogs who are registered with the Canadian Kennel Club and meet the health testing requirements of their breed club. They are breeding for the love and betterment of the breed in structure, function, health and temperament. A good breeder raises and places their companion puppies with as much care as the pups they intend to use for show and future breeding to be able to carry on their line. The reputable breeder is available to give you answers and support in training, grooming, or any of the other questions new owners thoughtfully ask. A careful, knowledgable breeder will not knowingly sell to someone who plans to create mixed breed puppies.
Who is Breeding Designer Dogs?
Of great concern is where did the parent’s come from who are producing the mixed breed puppies. A reputable Poodle breeder would never sell a puppy or intact dog to a mixed breed kennel – so where did the poodles come from that are the breeding stock in the cross-breeder’s kennel? There are only two options, either a puppy mill or a back yard breeder – the term back yard breeder means someone who is creating puppies for profit. Neither puppy mills nor back yard breeders usually spend the necessary money on all available health testing, as that may cut into their profits. Typically, neither source cares about the long term well being of the puppy or dog. The puppies are sold with little-to-no after-care or support and usually, there are no health guarantees given. The mills are producing puppies as cheaply as possible to make as much money as possible. They produce the current fad or trendy dog because they are in demand so they can charge even more money.
Of paramount concern is the quality of health on the breeding stock used in the mixed breed kennels. The quality is questionable because there is little documentation on their genetic, congenital or non-inheritable health issues. Often, there is no documentation or certification of the pedigrees, therefore the pedigrees were not studied carefully prior to the mating that produced the questionable breeding stock and future off-spring. Because there is no documented history there is a enormous lack of knowledge so it becomes absolutely imperative that all available health testing be performed and registered on the mother and father that are producing the cross-bred litter. But sadly, very few cross- breeding kennels perform all of the recommended health testing for each breeding parent - so in many cases, there are very few answers available regarding the true health in a designer dog.
The Real Motivation for Breeding Designer Dogs
In 1989, Guide Dogs of Australia wanted to create a guide dog that did not cause allergic reactions. That was the motivation for Wally Conran who started the experiment – but what many do not know is that the experiment ended – it was abandoned in 1996. It had a dismal failure rate – less that 35% of the puppies qualified to become guide dogs. The mixed breed litters failed because they could not predict temperament, and they could not predict coat type. Genetic problems were the same in both breeds – resulting in a higher average of health concerns in the offspring. Mr. Conran created the term “labradoodle” as a marketing ploy so he could sell the reject puppies. It is a very interesting point that the labradoodle breeders are quick to reference the mixed breed being created for a service dog – yet they never mention that the experiment ended and that the Guide Dogs of Victoria have no plans to incorporate this type of breeding in the future.
Currently, breeding and the marketing of designer dogs is done solely for the purpose of making money for the breeders. They are the new trend – they are not a recognized breed.
Since it did not matter where the breeding stock originated, and the kennels producing the mixed-breed litters are not performing all of the recommended health testing, and, they are not producing litters for the betterment of the breed. There is only one reason they are creating mixed breeds with fancy names and an even fancier price tag - simply put, they are doing it to make money. All the things that the reputable, purebred breeder does involves a huge investment or time and money – but the manufacturers of cross-bred litters rarely do all of these things because it would eat into their profits.
What is Hybrid Vigour?
Many unsuspecting people are buying into the theory of hybrid vigour. This is a myth when talking about cross-bred dogs. True hybrid vigour is the result of mating two different species together – ie a donkey and a horse. When breeding two different breeds of dogs together – you are still breeding within one species – the Species Canine – increased hybird vigour does not exist when breeding a lab to a poodle because it is involving only one species.
In fact, in regards to health, the resulting puppies could be getting the worst issues in both breeds, because the uneducated breeder has just doubled up on the DNA with many of the same genetic health concerns.
Cross a Lab and a Standard Poodle - & the puppy may develop both Hip Displaysia and Cancer
Cross a Cocker Spaniel with a Mini Poodle - & the puppy may develop both Hypothryoidism and Skin Problems
Cross a Maltese with a Toy Poodle - & the puppy may develop both Progressive Retinal Atrophy, and Luxating Patellas
Why So Popular?
Adopting families are often attracted by claims that the cross-breeds are hypoallergenic or have fewer health problems or will carry the best traits of each breed.
The unsuspecting buyer is told that the puppy will not shed – but 75% of the designer dogs do shed. But these shedding dogs have also inherited some of the qualities of the poodle’s coat so they also need to be brushed to prevent matting. Sadly, the end result for the owners is that the the puppies have both a shedding coat inherited from one parent, and the non-shedding coat of a poodle which requires frequent brushing and grooming, so in fact, the maintenance has just doubled in both effort and cost.
People want to believe that the crossing of two pure-bred dogs will result in the perfect puppy – that the puppies magically inherit only the healthy genes, the non-shedding genes, the highly trainable genes, the perfect temperament genes, or the highly intelligent genes from each parent. It just does not happen like that because genetic characteristics sort out randomly. Each individual puppy from a cross bred litter can inherit any possible combination of the parent’s genes – not just the “best” genes, in fact, they can inherit the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately, in many instances they have doubled up on the problem genes that are seen in both breeds, and, the puppy can also inherit the unique problems which are breed specific to each parent.
Adopting a Mixed Breed Dog
If you want to adopt a mixed breed dog – please go to your local animal shelter or SPCA. There are many mixed breed dogs there – some with fancy names that are in need of a good home and they don’t come with a fancy price tag! Better to support a local shelter than a puppy mill or a back yard breeder who is selling puppies to make money. If you want to adopt a pure-bred poodle or a cross-bred dog - please do your homework carefully - ‘buyer beware’ because you are investing in a companion that will hopefully be with for 15 - 20 years......
To Know What a Designer Dog Is, One Must Understand What a Pure-bred Dog Is
Written by Catherine King ~ Splendent Standard Poodles
Website Designed by
Catherine and Kyle King
Questions or comments, please email
catherine.king@shaw.ca