Oh, PLEASE NOOOOOO...............

[Flybye]

Well, we have a puppy or two left to sale, , and a potential buyer was considering breeding a Weimaraner with a Standard Poodle...............

Warning, it's ugly............

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/weimardoodle.htm

I was relieved that she walked away without one of our puppies.

What do you think of all this designer dog business? Anything you have seen that has been particularly cute? The weimardoodle sure doesn't do anything to promote cross breeding.

[Blueberry]

Ummm....

On soapbox---

I completely respect people who breed for the betterment of the breed. I get that, and I have a very well bred golden retriever. And 2 mutt cats. But WHY IN THE WORLD would you intentionally cross breed dogs, creating mutts with unknown temperaments and then sell them. And WHY would people BUY them?? I just don't get it?? How are they different from the shelter mutts??

*shakes head*

Hope I haven't offended - it just really boggles my mind. Flybye - did you sell with limited registrations for pets, to make sure folks didn't just "decide" to have a litter? Just curious....Your pups are beautiful, by the way

CA

CA

[KnottedYet]

When I hear about custom made mutts, I think about all the natural mutts at the animal shelter where I got my mystery-dog.

A lot of those critters get euthanized.

There just aren't enough homes for them all.

I'm not going to judge someone for having a custom mutt, but I will mourn for those puppies who didn't get adopted from the pound. (I know that at least one I spent time with was euthanized, and it hit me pretty hard)

ETA: my ex and his wife are puppy-raisers for a service dog organization. Those dogs are intentionally bred mutts. (bred for temperment, not registered breed) I have no problem at all with that kind of mutt breeding, those dogs are not pets and don't horn any shelter-dogs out of a home.

[Flybye]

Flybye - did you sell with limited registrations for pets, to make sure folks didn't just "decide" to have a litter? Just curious....
CA

For the most part, yes. There was only one family interested in breeding. We are one of the families that just decided to have a litter ourselves. We love the breed, too. I have been really happy with all of the homes that we have sold pups to so far. First impressions don't make the book, but the covers all seemed pretty great! I have had confirmation that several of them have signed up for puppy kindergarten with the trainer that I recommended. That makes me happy, too.

I agree with your soapbox and hope it is only a phase. I guess, though, that in all fairness, the Weimaraner breed is a cross between a couple of mystery dogs, so something potentially fantastic could come out of all of this.

[makbike]

I am just amazed that people will pay big bucks for the designer mutts. They are just that, mutts. Why not go to the local Humane Society, pound, etc and adapt an animal that might have just a few days to live? Then, take the extra money and donate it to the rescue organization that was kind enough to care for it. Just my personal thoughts.

[Flur]

I have to say I think they're really cute!

That said, I also can't stand the designer dog trend. I don't see the point. But I suppose to each his own...

[TsPoet]

First: I have 2 rescue mutts - both with baggage from the 2 years before I got them (not that I'm perfect), so I agree and practice what I preach.
But...
Lots of these designer mutts are intended to have a purpose. Almost all (all?) poodle mixes are designed to be more hypoallergenic, for example. Many are intended on being hardier/healthier due to diluting out breed-specific ailments. For example, a puggle is a beagle pug cross. It is intended to create a dog with a pug-like temperament, but with beagle-added health. Pugs can't handle ranges in temperature at all, and beagles can. On the other hand, beagles can be willful and hard to manage. The puggle seems to be a very successful designer dog.
I would love a puggle - I think pugs are cute and generally have wonderful temperaments, but I want a dog that can go hiking with me and can do agility.
I won't buy a puggle because there are several rescue dogs available at any given time that can go hiking with me and maybe do agility, depending on the complete rolling of the dice and the temperament I end up getting.
So far one of my two mutts is brilliant at agility, but we can't compete because he is fear aggressive and I can't guarantee he won't bite the judge and my other rescue has turned out to be extremely soft and scares too easily, so doesn't perform well under pressure. I love them both and will continue to do agility as long as we are all having fun and I wouldn't trade either of them.
So, my next dog will be.... a rescue mutt, and I'm going to name it Peeves - so I can tell everyone it's my pet, Peeves. But, hopefully that won't be for a very longtime as my two are happy and healthy.

Also, all current breeds were once designer mixed dogs.

[Running Mommy]

Our little Jack is a rescue mutt, got him last November and just love the little bugger. He's some kind of terrier mix. He actually looks like a Scotty/ Schnauzer mix. Tho he acts a lot like a jack russell.
All I know is that he's one fab little dude. He was a stray, and I can't imagine how anyone would either dump him (happens alot here in Phoenix) or not come looking for him once he went missing.
He has his faults, like systematically eating our family room sofa, and eating the chamois out of expensive bike shorts, but we love him nonetheless.
In fact he loves other dogs, so we are considering taking him down to the shelter to pick up a brother or sister.

[sundial]

Flye, have you considered for future litters to have pediatric spays/neutering? That way you can control your lines and discourage undesirables from buying one of your pups.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I am just amazed that people will pay big bucks for the designer mutts. They are just that, mutts. Why not go to the local Humane Society, pound, etc and adapt an animal that might have just a few days to live? Then, take the extra money and donate it to the rescue organization that was kind enough to care for it. Just my personal thoughts.

Exactly.

[rachael24]

LOL That picture is hideous on several levels. Why would someone do such a thing???

[fastdogs]

unfortunately, many people have a fairy tale idea of what cross breeding will do- all to often you get the worst of both breeds. Pugs have breathing problems and eye problems, and often patellar problems. Beagles are prone to epilepsy and eye problems. Both have a tendency towards obesity, and beagles have that famous hound temperament- different priorities than us for training. In an ideal world you'd get only the good stuff from each side, in the real world too often you get the bad.
With "doodle" crosses, the mills never mention that since the hair doesn't shed like regular dogs, you, the owner, have to groom it and keep it groomed.
I have a whippet I've been planning to breed for years. I just haven't gotten to the point where I could keep the entire litter if necessary (if reservations backed out) and the responsibility of taking the pups back, regardless of age, at any time. It's a ton of responsibility to take on-
vickie

[tulip]

A mutt is a mutt. I just don't understand why people create new dogs--mutt or purebred--when there are so many out there already, and so many die.

[Aggie_Ama]

I think the dogs are cute but they look like the local stray in my neighborhood!

I have two purebreds, one is a rescue. The first one was purchased out of necessity, the local pounds wouldn't adopt to college kids and I also needed to be assured the dog would not go over 20 lbs for my apartment. You know though my schnauzer is just as unpredictable as any mutt. I will probably never have another purebred, we always had pound puppies and had some great dogs.

The idea of paying for a "designer dog" is nonsense. I saw "Schnoodles" the other day for $600! Seems like when I was growing up and someone's purebred got knocked up by a non-purebred they gave the puppies away. Now they market them. And it isn't so simple as they will have the good parts of one breed, some do but some don't.

Playing devil's advocate, but weren't most purebreds as we know them today developed through cross breeding?

[Tuckervill]

The puppies are cute but the adult has a face only a mother could love.

I have a dog that might have been a designer-mix. She's definitely part Golden Retriever, and probably part Airedale. She turned out cute with a fuzzy nose, shorter hair, and with a great Golden personality. She was a stray so we have no way of knowing what kind of dog she really is, other than Golden which is very obvious. But some people who see her for the first time think wire-haired terrier of some kind.

My friend has a dog who she knows is a Poodle/Golden Retriever mix. We don't know if it was an accident or intentional. He's huge, black and curly, but acts just like a Golden. Lucky. Poodles are great dogs, too.

What annoys me the MOST about the Weimarwhatever is that it shouldn't be Doodle, but Poodle! Weimarpoodle!!! There's no D in weimariener and only one in poodle! Labradoodle, I get. Weimardoodle. NOPE.

Karen