Re: Mixed breed popularity [quote author=Incastinker link=topic=9790.msg141849#msg141849 date=1423142850] Unfortunately our Jack Russell x Labrador (bred by accident rather than design) didn't manage to start any trends. 'Terrador' obviously wasn't a very attractive breed name! [/quote] "Terrador" sounds AMAZING! I still wince for the poor mother (she was the JRT, wasn't she?) :/
Re: Mixed breed popularity Beautiful picture of Gypsy a true testiment to cross breeding and those dogs are stunning Heidrun, again testiment! xx
Re: Mixed breed popularity Fiona. It was lovely reading the word 'Mongrel', but so last decade it all seems to be "Crossbreed" nowadays. My last dog was a real hotch potch. When people used to ask me what she was I would look at them and say "That very rare beast, the mongrel". She was supposed to be a Labrador/Collie cross, but as she never made it to knee height I think the RSPCA were telling me porkies. But I loved her.
Re: Mixed breed popularity Haha! Sorry if it's un-PC, I wasn't aware such a thing applied to dogs I would always assume that a "crossbreed" is a dog that you know the heritage of (ie a collie x lab x doberman) but a "mongrel" is too far removed from a pedigree line to tell what it's made up of. But that's probably just my interpretation I always referred to my dogs as "bitsa" dogs. Bitsa this, bitsa that.
Re: Mixed breed popularity [quote author=heidrun link=topic=9790.msg141839#msg141839 date=1423138479] One pure bred lab, one pedigree working cocker, one sprocker and one springador in this photo. Hard to say who is what, isn't it. All fabulous gundogs. [/quote] I'm going to go Beautiful, gorgeous, handsome and stunning......in that order ;D There's a second generation Labradoodle round our way and apart from the fact she's a bit overweight (I am drumming up the courage to say something) she's a lovely dog and looks very like a black Golden Retriever (if you see what I mean)
Re: Mixed breed popularity [quote author=snowbunny link=topic=9790.msg141890#msg141890 date=1423149847] I always referred to my dogs as "bitsa" dogs. Bitsa this, bitsa that. [/quote] ;D Heinz 57
Re: Mixed breed popularity My lovely Seren is a lab x border collie, he's super smart but very biddable and will pretty much do anything for food! The litter was a "happy accident" between a working sheep dog and a pet lab on a hill farm local to my dad's. I was thinking of getting a lab, but when I heard of this litter, knowing the owners and both the parents, I just had to have one! I'm active and go for long walks and am up for agility/fly ball so this mix will work really well for me, but I'm amazed at how many people get a collie dog and don't understand their needs - both physical and mental. I was really surprised when I researched the cross that it is a designer breed called a 'Borador' but I always refer to Seren as a Lab Collie cross
Re: Mixed breed popularity [quote author=Boogie link=topic=9790.msg141834#msg141834 date=1423137813] [quote author=snowbunny link=topic=9790.msg141830#msg141830 date=1423137354] Mixing up the gene pools a bit certainly doesn't hurt, either, and maybe one day these dogs will be recognised as "purebred" in their own right ... [/quote] What does happen if two Labradoodles are bred together? [/quote] You get a mixture of coat types (some shedding, some not). Poodles can be put back into the mix to try to maintain the non-shedding coat. Often Labradoodles are in fact mostly Poodle. But different breeders use different approaches. Some use only first crosses. Some are trying to standardise the puppies produced and are not crossing back to pure breds. There is an effort in Australia amongst some Labradoodle breeders to keep records and comply with a 'breed standard' produced by a club. I've no idea how successful this is turning out to be. But all breeds start somewhere....
Re: Mixed breed popularity Hattie is 75% Standard Poodle and is described as an F1b non moulting and has a curly coat x
Re: Mixed breed popularity I would have loved another golden x lab cross (my first dog was a golden crossed with a black lab and she was the loveliest) but unfortunately I couldn't find anyone breeding this from parents who had hip scores or other common health tests done on the parents. I could have found one off an online site, but I was just worried about the health aspects, so I went with a purebred whose parents had been tested, etc.
Re: Mixed breed popularity I agree that the irksome names and the pretentious-sounding "designer dogs" is what really bugs me about this whole phenomenon. Both those things seem to mean that people pay exorbitant amounts of money, which I think is really the point. It plays into that "snobbish" gene that some people have, both in the "designer" aspect and in the amount of money spent. Not saying that everyone who buys one of these is all about that, certainly there are people who go for these dogs because they have done some research and like the combination of traits that both breeds bring to the mix, but generally it seems to be a big money grab. There are lots of these around here, too...one lady at the dog park brings her "puggles" - pug/beagle cross. : Basically they are snorty, yappy little dogs. I have had three dogs, one "purebred" Border Collie given to us by a friend, one Border Collie/Australian Shepherd X (a Bossie?? Heh heh he kinda was bossy, at that! ) ans of course, Simba, our inherited Lab/Newfie cross. Hmmm....Labbie? Labland? Newador? Oh, whatever. I'll just call him a goof and be done with it....
Re: Mixed breed popularity My sister suggested I tell people that Molly is a Chesador (Her mother was Chesapeake Bay Retriever and I was told her father was a Lab).She cost a lot less than a pedigree which did influence my decision.
Re: Mixed breed popularity [quote author=snowbunny link=topic=9790.msg141858#msg141858 date=1423145281] "Terrador" sounds AMAZING! I still wince for the poor mother (she was the JRT, wasn't she?) :/ [/quote] She was indeed the Jack Russell. She was conveniently perched on a kitchen chair when the Lab spotted his moment of opportunity! For those with Lab x Collie's, my in laws have one currently and she is known as 'the Lollie.' She's turned out to be a surprisingly good gundog this season!
Re: Mixed breed popularity My sister's best friend has a bichon frisé x poodle x something else (can't remember). She cost just under a thousand pounds. One. Thousand. Pounds. *shakes head in wonder* Maybe I'll send Shadow to stud here. There's plenty of bitsas here. I wonder how much people are willing to pay for a muttador?
Re: Mixed breed popularity Well, I think all dogs should cost around a thousand pounds; whether pedigrees or complete mutts. Maybe people would value them a little more. It astonishes me that people grumble about spending a few hundred pounds on a dog that is going to accompany them (one hopes) for ten years or more, but will spend that money on a phone, or much more on a holiday. I've just remembered that my friend's dog Bella is a labrador/dalmation cross - a dalmador!!! ;D
Re: Mixed breed popularity [quote author=Karen link=topic=9790.msg142030#msg142030 date=1423212927] Well, I think all dogs should cost around a thousand pounds; whether pedigrees or complete mutts. Maybe people would value them a little more. It astonishes me that people grumble about spending a few hundred pounds on a dog that is going to accompany them (one hopes) for ten years or more, but will spend that money on a phone, or much more on a holiday. [/quote] Valid point. People would be less likely to discard something that had cost them that much. But since that isn't the case at the moment, it does seem an insane amount of money.
Re: Mixed breed popularity My only issue is how naive buyers are. I've lost count of the amount of times either I see a terrier poodle cross and ask what kind of terrier out of curiosity and the owner has no idea!! How can you take on a dog, from a breeder, having spent hundreds of pounds and not have thought to ask?? You can't bring up a dog or be aware of potential health issues if you don't know the breed you're dealing with. Also, many times I have complimented an owner on the attractiveness of their cavalier x bichon to be told 'cross? He's a pedigree 'cavachon'' I feel people are being conned or being too irresponsible to do correct research. I also think this random cross trend encourages careless breeding because if you give something a cute name you can sell it. I have big issues with things like 'pugaliers' as it scares me to think you'd cross a brachycephalic breed with a potential heart problem and neurological condition - because whilst hybrids tend to be healthier you could also be combining the short comings or problems of two breeds.
Re: Mixed breed popularity [quote author=snowbunny link=topic=9790.msg142032#msg142032 date=1423213366] [quote author=Karen link=topic=9790.msg142030#msg142030 date=1423212927] Well, I think all dogs should cost around a thousand pounds; whether pedigrees or complete mutts. Maybe people would value them a little more. It astonishes me that people grumble about spending a few hundred pounds on a dog that is going to accompany them (one hopes) for ten years or more, but will spend that money on a phone, or much more on a holiday. [/quote] Valid point. People would be less likely to discard something that had cost them that much. But since that isn't the case at the moment, it does seem an insane amount of money. [/quote] I think puppies are far too cheap. The reason I think this is that I think the breeders, not the buyers, should be responsible for the cost of obvious genectics faults (admittedly, "obvious" is difficult apart from at the extreme but could still be defined). This would require breeders to insure against the cost of treatment for these faults, and give good breeders a cost advantage over bad. Whereas now, bad breeders have a cost advantage over good breeders...
