So the ongoing discussion with everyone we meet is what breed is Charlie? Well today the Vet did not see Pointer in Charlie but she did see definatetly Labrador, some sort of Hound and Great Dane because of his height and the size of his massive paws, which I have to confess has always been my thoughts but then again I do see GSP too , but then 2 other Vets said in the past Pointer x Lab. So this is the joy of cross breeds you just don't know what you are exactly getting but who cares because we love him whatever he is Helen x
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! thats lovely helen ......he is beautiful no matter what, i guess most of us humans are mixed breed
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! I got a pedigree Labrador because, well, I wanted a Labrador and I love the way they look and I suppose I thought a pedigree was somehow a good thing. Having read a bit more now about the problems of limited gene pools, I wonder whether really for most pet owners a cross breed is far more sensible - and in some ways must be better. Don't get me wrong, I adore my boy and his labby looks, but Charlie girl's ears (lab x cocker, different thread) are possible the most beautiful thing I've ever seen and I'd love a dog like that just as much. For me, next time, it might be a cross breed - which would have to include spaniels as am completely in love with them now. I have a heart breaking story about a spaniel called Fern, rescued in a terrible state but now very happy and giving Charlie swimming lessons (Charlie has a huge crush on her). Will tell and post photos when BT EVENTUALLy turn up to fix my blinking broadband.
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! Some of the most attractive dogs I've seen are cross-bred dogs. Besides, dogs don't care what they are - they are all dogs And all pure breeds were cross-breeds at some point. On the health issue - a dog is only as free of inherited disease as its parents are. A responsible pure-breed breeder who does the appropriate testing and who selects a mate carefully is likely to produce healthy, sound pups. Crossing two totally unrelated lines (like two different breeds) might reduce the chances that recessive, inherited diseases will pop up but only if the 'origin' breeds do not both tend to suffer from the same kinds of inherited diseases and only if the individual parents are sound. If anyone is worried about inherited disease then the best thing is to go to a breeder that invests in testing and to choose a pup from parents that have great test results (regardless of what those parents are)
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! I wanted a cross breed, was really keen on a spaniel/lab cross as my old Billy was such a super dog. It was the other half who persuaded me down the pedigree route... Now of course I get people (lab owners included) asking me all the time what breed she is, or whether she's 'got a bit of Labrador in her'... Sigh. The ironies of life...
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! I love cross breeds but dont like the current trend of selling them as something " rare and special " and charging over inflated prices for the pups , often far more expensive than a pedigree dog . I wanted a pure bred pedigree Lab when we got Sam but as for Millie , well what the heck she is made up of is anyones guess
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! Forgot to say - we are looking after a friend's dog this week - she is a BEAUTIFUL Dalmatian / Labrador cross! Will have to get a photo and post it. 12 years old, and fit as a fiddle. She looks after Poppy and is quite protective of her, though she was a bit cautious of her at first. Actually, she (Bella) is a relative! My old dogs were half brothers, from my sister's Labrador bitch who lived in France. Bones's litter brother fathered a litter with a Dalmatian from a neighboring farm... Since there were so many unwanted puppies in that rural area, we re-homed four of the pups here in Germany - two of them were white with black spots, and two were black, with white patches on chests and paws, with little black dots on them! Beautiful dogs... A happy end for them, as they might have been drowned as puppies otherwise
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! One of the nicest dogs I know is a Lab/Boxer cross. He's got the head of a boxer and the coat and body of a Lab. His temperament is kind of a mix between the daft as a brush Boxer and the Lab. Great fun - lovely dog.
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! Cross breeds every time for us from now on I reckon. With both Harry and Charlie we were lucky, we saw both parents, and we've had them from being young pups. I adore them, of course, but I have to say I'm so proud of how they look. But I've also paid a lot of money for pedigree Bernese too. We've also has rescues who were pedigree, they were a Basset Hound, a Briard and a GSD, and a sheltie cross. All at the same time!! If anybody would like a pedigree certificate for their cross breed?? I found a great one in pdf form on a dog food site, I could email you a file of it. Just pm me. Harry's is a little suspect mind, I don't think Peter Andre was his Grandad, but it's there in his family tree, signed my Mickey Mouse, so there you go.
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! Of course Peter Andre is not super star good looking Harry's granddad - that is SO silly. Now, if you'd have said Clint Eastwood (obviously when a LOT younger) or Brad Pitt, there is a chance I'd have believed you.
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! Sprocket from Fraggle Rock is in there somewhere too. It was great fun filling it in.
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! No mention of ZZ top,in your Harry the Handsome TM Karen ,we've sympathized over this before......your Poppy and Dexter are very similar in coloring and build from the pics I have seen.....Would love to see a pic of your lodger,Dex has a walk once a week with a Dalmatian,he is divine x
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! Hi Angela, yes I think Dexter and Poppy look very similar too. Here she is with her Auntie Bella, the Dalmatian/Labrador cross:
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! A spotty labrador! I want one! I love dalmatians. Poppy is lovely, her face is so pretty.Love her colouring.
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! Well, I am very fond of Bella, and think she has got the best of both breeds in her. She is kind and gentle and obedient like a Labrador, but has the fitness and agility of a Dalmatian! (However she also has the appetite of a Labrador and is a bit of a thief ... and she sheds white hair constantly). Thank you for the nice words about Poppy, Julie, I think she is beautiful (though not in a classic Labrador way). All girl though, isnt she? Funny little thing... Do you notice the dark spot on her tongue? It's her beauty spot!
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! Poppy is lovely, her ears are great. The spot on her tongue is permanent? That's fab! (Charlie's tongue is covered in spots too, only it's always bits of bark or mud that he has been chewing - not quite the same!)
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! Bella and three other puppies from the same litter were rescued from a farm in France. We took two back to Germany with us when they were quite little, about 10 weeks old, and they were re-homed successfully here. I kept one of the pups, Sam, with me for some time until we found a lovely home for him. Some of the pups found homes in France. But two were kept on by the farmer, together with the mother dog. He barely fed the pups, and expected them to feed themselves from the cow placentas etc on the farm. Eventually there was some horrible incident where they ate a new-born calf or something equally ghastly (they were six months old at the time). The farmer shut them into a shed for a week until he decided what to do with them. My sister rescued them (her dog was the father), and drove them over to me in Germany, where I found homes for them both. Bella lives down the road from me, and has been very happy with our friends all her adult life. She is a lovely, uncomplicated dog (although she still has a thing about men with sticks), but even now at the ripe age of 12 she will steal food whenever possible - I think it is because of her formative months, where she had to scavenge for food.
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! What a stunningly beautiful girl Bella is, as you say the best of both breeds. What makes people so cruel to such beautiful creatures, it's totally beyond me truly it is :'(. But you and your sister did a lovely thing Karen - bless you It must be so lovely to know that Bella is just down the road from you and you get to see her - perfect Helen xxxx
Re: Cross Breed Discussion!! Arrghhh - those poor puppies. Karen, that is just wonderful you saved them - so glad to hear they all now have good homes. So beautiful.
