Breed of the Week: Designer Dogs

Ok, I am not going to mince words here - when you mix breed "X" with breed "Y", it's a mutt. It doesn't matter what cutsie name you call it or that you can charge $1500 for it. As PT Barnum once said...well, you know. Apparently there is too.

Puggle (Pug x Beagle) puppy

This is from an article out of Canada:

Avoid flavour of month cross-breeds, says vet

Gates said designer dogs — such as the tiny dogs found in the handbags of Hollywood starlets — or any dog bred to extremes will often come with built-in medical problems.

Buggs, a cross between Boston Terriers and Pugs, often inherit the breathing issues of both breeds. Labradoodles, a cross between a Labrador Retriever and Poodle, are more vulnerable to hip problems or eye disorders.

"It's frustrating. People think they're neat but they don't realize some of the medical problems associated with those breeds and so then they get in over their head with bills," said Gates.

She said last week she pulled 10 teeth out of a pocket-sized dog. The $2,000 bill came as a shock to the owner, she said.

"These are tiny little dogs — three, four, five pounds," said Gates. "That tiny little mouth and they've got 42 teeth rammed into their mouth. And there's not room for that."

"Then [owners] complain the dog has bad breath and the teeth are falling out and the dog has a sore mouth," she said. "But this was all sort of a given from the beginning because we've bred them to be the way that they are."

It's true too..they often seem to get the worst of both parents in terms of health and behavior issues. I am NOT saying that ALL Labradoodles have problems or that all Puggles are fat and will bite when you try to restrain them. There are a lot of nice dogs out there PERIOD. 

That's just it though. There are ALREADY a lot of nice dogs out there. In shelters and foster homes and at reputable breeders.  

Why are we breeding all these? Well, because there is, apparently, a demand for them. They often cost just as much as a true purebred dog. 

In any case, as this article points out, if you are spending the rest of your checking account to get a designer dog, remember that ANY pet costs money to care for - including the necessary preventative medicine and vaccinations.  If it's too costly, seek an animal in need please. For $40-$100 (maybe a "little" more) you can get a wonderful pet and have money left over to CARE for that animal.