Why did you breed/buy your "designer" dog?

My "Designer Dog" is a 4 year old Shepherd X Rottie.

She's a pound dog that I adopted because her owners realized that she was just too much work.

After speaking to them, I learnt that they owned a female Shepherd and a friend had a male Rottie, neither was desexed.

Because both dogs were well mannered and trained to their standard (meaning the dog would come when food was offered) they assumed the puppies would be just as good.

Each pup was sold for $200 and they kept the dog that would become my Kolya.

They didn't think she needed to be socialized so they didn't bother...then gave her up when she showed dog aggression.

Shows that they cared more about the money they made than they did about the lives of the pups.

I haven't bought a "designer" dog. But my cousin did and her story is very sad. See she wanted a small "adorable dog". She don't know a thing about dog breeds. She went to the store and came home with this little black fluff ball. She paid $350 for him. It was a poodle and schnauzer mix, I believe, definitely poodle I think she said they were called "schoodle" or something like that.

It wouldn't eat or drink. So she took him to the vet and was diagnosed with Parvo. He didn't make it. So for that very weekend she spent about 1200 dollars. And didn't come out with a puppy. It taught her a lesson though- I told her next time she's even thinking about getting a puppy, take me with her!!-. It was a very cruel lesson- a life of a puppy-. She has since then hasn't fell for another " designer breed" or any "tea cup" bull crap. She tries to help place shelter dogs in permanent homes.

I think the majority of them that breed these dogs do it for the profit. There might be a handful out there...that do think they are creating a better dog..a new breed. I would always reply, you don't get a purebred by crossing a purebred to another purebred of a different breed...it don't work that way! It takes many generations of careful breeding to get a consistent look. And even sometimes it don't go right... there shouldn't be a new breed, all the established breeds do various things...what else is there to do that needs to be done?

There are "breeds" of dogs that aren't AKC/UKC acceptable. These dogs are "feists" and have been around a lot longer then all those designer mutts. They were bred for hunting, nothing else. There's only 1 breed recognized by UKC and that is the mountain feist-treeing feist-. They hunt in UKC hunting events. The rat terrier, many say are not a feist type, even though some will claim they are. The rat terrier came over from Britain and then were crossed with beagles and whippets by American breeders. The reason AKC and UKC hasn't registered them is because there is basically no breed standard for these types. They were bred for hunting- not showing or anything like that- so they are crossed with whatever the hunter thinks will improve that dog's hunting ability. Some are downright ugly others are cute.

The designer mutts were bred only for profit, though the original Labradoodle was a failure because the person that began breeding them wanted to produce a assistant dog that was hypoallergenic. Some achieved that while others didn't. It wasn't consistent. They have been recognized as "purebred" by some country- forget what it is. But they still don''t breed true, from what I've heard.

The closet thing I've come close to owning a 'designer" dog was a puppy that was half cocker spaniel and rat terrier. She was dumped as a puppy. So maybe it wasn't a deliberate breeder...just irresponsible...she was starved and thin and bony when we found her, almost dead. At first we thought she was dead- flies were flying around her and she was just lying on her side. So I guess the designer breed name for that mix would be something like Cock-a rat-. Or Cocker terrier...idk..I'm not good with those stupid naming ideals.

Of the 4 dogs I have, 2 are mutts. One is from a shelter, one is from a breeder.

We were actually looking for an Australian Shepherd when we went hunting for our next dog 6 years ago (she's Aussie/Catahoula). We on a farm, have cows, and needed a good farm dog. We don't have a large herd of cows, and cows aren't our 'main business' so we didn't need anything too intense in the way of herding work. We mainly wanted an Aussie because my father loved the breed, and it would fit nicely with what we wanted.

Anyway, we came across a woman selling Aussie/Catahoula pups...she'd bred the litter with the intention of making good ranch dogs, and was selling the pups to ranch/farm homes. The pups were a bit older, and as always, some had (and would have) a bit more potential than others. Several meetings later, and we came home with our pup.

She's not the most amazing ranch dog that ever lived--but again, we didn't need that. Her littermates have gone on to be quite good at what they do, so says the breeder, who has since retired from breeding. But our girl has exactly what we need in a dog--she keeps the livestock safe, she's very nice, and can do a bit of herding in a pinch (she was never properly taught, but can do well when she wants to).

Is she a designer dog? Well, I don't think so, but she *is* a mutt that was bought from a breeder, not a shelter. People can draw their own conclusions there.

"And those of you who don't support this breeding, why do you think they do it. "

Purely for profit. That is the only reason. A reputable breeder breeds to better a breed (that would be single breed BTW). The breed is the person's passion. A breeding exists only because the sire and dam have traits that together can create a better dog. Pure and simple. This is done to better the dog and not solely for cash and typically for very little profit (if any).

Given these parameters, the people who breed one pure bred dog to a different pure bred dog are not trying to better a line. Puppies are produced for cash and profit. Slapping a cutsie name on the dog is pure marketing. A mutt is a mutt is a mongrel.

Oh, and I'm not a breeder and have no clue about dog breeding. Just an observer who loves dogs and is irritated by the clueless.

I bought a "poogle" and now I simply have a poodle-beagle mix, poodle mix or mutt.

I ALWAYS said I was going to adopt a little scraggly mutt from the shelter, but that's really not how it works. My mom said I could get a dog under certain conditions. I had to get a small dog that didn't shed and I decided I wanted a puppy.

So...try finding that in a shelter. A small fluffy puppy. Not to common.

So after searching shelters with nothing (I fell in love with so many dogs but they didn't pass with mom :/)

So, I looked on classified ads and found my little mutt. He wasn't really expensive (At least I wasn't one of those fools that pay hundreds for mutts, right?) and he passed with my mom. He was exactly what I wanted. Black, non-shedding, not too small-not too big, oh my WOW was he the cutest puppy, part beagle and I LOVED beagles (but they SHED) and he all around seemed perfect. And-I'm not going to lie-the idea of a 'poogle' was intriguing. I mean, I thought it was cool that I'd have a dog that wasn't well known. Like-"Oh..yeah, he's a POOGLE" (thinking back I just do one of these-*face-palm*) So my mom bought him for my christmas/birthday present.

He's a great dog. I regret that I couldn't save a dog, but I love my mutt to death.

This was before I ever knew about BYB's and reputable breeders. I just thought a dog was a dog, I didn't think about the consequences and the effect it all had on the dogs living in shelters. Pretty selfish, but I've done the research.

I ALWAYS plan on adopting in the future. All dogs deserve a loving home, not just the cute and fluffy ones.

ADDED: Just wanted to add that I got Kingston from a young family that just wanted to breed their dogs (Could've been an accident, not entirely sure). It was their Beagle's second litter and I'm pretty sure the last.

Kingston has been VERY healthy, they got his shots and de-worming and all that.

So they weren't entirely irresponsible, LOL.

I feel like I'm going to get some TD's :/

Well, I do have an interesting story to tell. I don't have a *designer* dog, but I do have a mutt. After breeding and showing quality Dobes for 25 years, (lost my last Dobe about 2 years ago), my Husband and I decided that we were ready for another dog. The only other dog we had at this time was a Bulldog with compromised health issues. I was all for going to a shelter or the Humane Society, BUT, many times you end up with a dog with Kennel Cough. Not that this is all that bad, but it would be if my Bulldog were to get it. I did end up getting a mixed breed puppy from Craigslist. I'm in full agreement that BYB's put puppy ads on this site and breeding is not allowed. Well, this person had and adoption application AND we had to go to her home with out dog to make sure that our dog would get along and not be aggressive towards her adult dogs or the pups. Her pups WERE fully Vetted and she did have a contract. Also, the money that we paid (and the other buyers money) was used to have her dogs altered. This was 2 years ago. This little guy has been a great addition to our family. Not only do I have proof that her dogs were altered, she is still in contact with us and all of the other puppy buyers. We all even email each other from time to time with updates and cute stories. Yes, this litter was an accident, not by my standards an accident. (They should have been altered to begin with) But, she didn't breed them on purpose for financial reasons. I guess I was one of the lucky ones with a Craigslist story, but she did take responsibilty for her mistake and it will never happen again. Also, I will never do this again. I would like to have one more well bred, pet quality Dobe in my life, and I know how to do it. My Husband and I are not getting any younger, so our next dog will be a Dobe that will not be bred or shown. I did NOT pay a huge price for this dog like the *designer* breeders do. I paid what was a fair amount for her time, proper care of the Dam, and litter/Vet expenses.

I believe they do it for profit as well, some are just dog hobbyist who are uneducated and think it's ok to breed and sell mutts without doing any research on how it affects the breed. Some breeders who you say believe what they do is good (like one well known "Pom breeder" on Y!A) are just ignorant and would not stop because it's what brings them money and they easily convince uneducate buyers that their doodle dogs are a rare breed.

I have two friends who I consider BYBs, one breeds labs; not the "designer" mutts but she and her family do a poor job breeding them and they do it for he money. My other friend decided to breed her Pomeranian with her neighbours Chi simply because she thought they would make cute babies and they would sell nicely.

I bought my first dog who is a mutt (Golden Retriever/Poodle mix) but that was before I knew any better, my lastest mutt I adopted from a shelter; I have nothing against mutts, I love them just like any other dog. The only dogs I have a real problem is are "teacup" dogs, I just can't believe people will pay up to $10,000 for a sickly runt!

And yes you are right some do do research and still get mutts but I think it's more because when someone sees a dog they really like and ignore the facts for the moment. When I was adopting my mutt I originally wanted to get a pedigree cavilier which was in good health and put in the shelter because the owners could no longer afford it but then I saw a nice well behaved mutt with a few health problems, dumped by a BYB after no one wanted to buy her anymore and her time of being put down was drawing nearer. I promised myself I wouldn't own any more dogs from a BYB but I couldn't resist adopting that mutt.

i personally hate the people not the breed.. it's clear it's a good way to get about 6000$ in 8 weeks.. or 7.. and then breed the dog every heat cycle.. you can get rich off of the dog but sorry that's not something i would do.. to make it worse, the people who call them selves breeders and think they're making a better out of dog breeds and thinking they're saving lives, when really they're just destroying more.. what a designer dog breeders meant for really?.. you can't breed for the love of the breed, it's a mutt.. and you can't really be called a breeder because you love your dog and you want more little "Snowflakes" or "Bella's" or "Sweethearts"..

real dog breeders breed to improve the dogs, not to get them sick, or have them for money.. you also get a very healthy puppy that you know will last a good life time in dog years.. and you want some scammed 1000$ puppy that actually sheds.

fyi labradoodles were originally bred for seeing eye dogs for allergic blind people, that didn't shed.. the plan didn't work because some puppies did shed, some didn't.. that's where all the designer poo's and doodles came from.. they sell for 1000$ because they're in high demand.

I can't answer why I bought one, because I never would.

I believe that when people breed these kinds of dogs, they are taking the easy way out and trying to turn a profit. With pure bred dogs, there is a set "type" you are trying to achieve, an overall "goal." It enables you to judge if you bred quality representations of the breed and forces you to be selective with your breeding stock, selecting only the best of the best for your program. With mutts, you lack, that. Anything produced is acceptable because there is no set 'goal outcome' for the pups being produced.

"Designer dogs" are a current fad. People breeding them are doing nothing more than trying to produce the supply to meet the demand. Those types of breeders don't have a lick of knowledge regarding breeding and genetics--if they did, they would uderstand that they are playing with fire. (Of course, the same could be said for many people breeding pure bred dogs too.)

Proofing is basically training your dog to obey regardless of what is going on around it. Concrete technique: Once the dog knows what you want from it and recognizes your cue, you start training this is varying environments, ensuring that the dog is performing reliably in one environment before increasing the level of difficulty by training in another environment. The order of environment training could for example be: - in your living room - in your garden - on the street - in the city - in the park - at dog training classes - among playing dogs - on a field filled with small game wildlife etc. The exact order is all about knowing your dog. For some dogs, other dogs will be the highest distraction, for others it's a running hare, cats, people, loud noises, cars and so on and so on. Proofing is also teaching your dog to respond to a cue regardless of your position whether you're standing up, lying down, having your back to it or doing a hand stand. How to train the proofing is another matter. I prefer to increase distraction levels so gradually that I have little problem getting my dog's attention, so that I'm setting her up for a 90% guaranteed success. I will correct, but usually only with a "no". If I cannot get her attention or if I find myself correcting her several times, then I know I've gone forward too fast. Other trainers use more aversion based methods to proof their dog, which I believe in general works faster than the method I'm using, but it's just not a method for me.