Animation Source Forums

This might belong in the rant section, if so then mods, you know what to do.

Anyway, I recently had a look at this section and only one word can describe how I feel about people mentioning how much they love their Jackadoodles, Labradoodles, Chidachshunds, and every other possible name they could come up with when they throw two breeds together and put a designer label on it.

And that feeling is disgusted!

Now, before you read back and get the wrong idea, I'm not disgusted at the thought of loving your dog, purebred or not. It's just horrible seeing that more and more people - particularly YOUNG children - are falling for the "designer dog" scam and encouraging BYB's (Backyard breeders.) to continue contributing to the problem plaguing animal shelters and resulting in more than 6-8 MILLION dogs being euthanised in the USA alone each year. And when I say euthanised, that means that figure DOESN'T include the number of dogs who die because their buy-on-impulse owners abandoned them once they realised what a handful they can be that die on the streets or locked in homes due to starvation, abuse, heck, some are even allowed to roam the streets and get run over!

Have any of you ever heard of a puppy mill?

In summary, it's a place that breeds WAY too many dogs which are kept in cramped conditions, left unattended during labor, uncared for, and unloved.

In short, the dogs there are treated like puppy-vending-machines.

The people who own these dogs are only motivated by one thing: Greed. They want to make money off these animals. And they KNOW that people will pay lots of money for a mutt with a fancy name given to it. Which is where these designer dogs came from.

Let me give you an example of someone being scammed. This actually happened to two of my friends.

Friend 1 spent a very, very long time trying to convince her parents to get her a puppy.
Parents went off and returned with a "Labradoodle" puppy that is probably the ugliest thing I have ever seen both in appearance and personality.
They paid 700 POUNDS for him!
Friend 2 thought the Labrador Poodle mix was cute. (Goodness knows why.) And went down to a shelter and got one for free. Well, not free actually, she paid a ten pounds donation. Compare that to what the other paid, and think about who got ripped off here. The girl who paid 700 pounds for a mutt and encouraged a BYB to continue to breed dogs - or the one who went to a shelter, saved a life and contributed money towards saving more animals.

Methinks Friend #2.

Want to know the worst part? What was left of the Lab Poodle mix litter had to be humanely euthanised (Put to sleep.) due to lack of room in the shelter. (Or so I'm told.) I don't know how many were in the litter but based on the average for both Labrador Retrievers and Standard Poodles it had to have been at least 4. It could have been one less if someone had been smart enough to adopt a mutt rather than pay money for one.


Now, I know a lot of "designer dog" owners out there are going to flame me.

Let me give you the ONE piece of evidence I need to prove there is no such thing as a real designer mixed breed.

The OFFICIAL KENNEL CLUBS, who DECIDE what is and is not a real breed, and register said breeds, and host important dog shows, REFUSE to register "Designer Dogs". Why? Because they only register real breeds!

Rip offs are a no-no.

If you're stubborn and stand by that your beloved Corgispaniellabrarottdanechi is purebred. Then tell me, and I will give you more undeniable proof. ;D Or alternatively you could go dig out it's papers which every purebred dog should have. oh? Your designer doesn't have any oficial ones? Hmm, I wonder why.


The intelligent amongst you may be wondering, how can we stop this?

Well, there are a few answers.

If you don't want a particular dog breed and will settle for a mix: Adopt!
If you want a specific dog breed but are not looking to enter dog shows and such: Adopt!
If you are hoping to have a successful showing career: By all means. Go to a breeder and get a quality specimin. But make sure the breeder is reputable, responsible and preferably accredited by the Kennel Club! Demand papers!
If you want to be a breeder: Research first! It takes a LOT of knowledge to be a good one. And there is never a real financial benifit if you don't plan on making people pay a ridiculous amount of money for pups. (In other words: If you aren't a BYB.) Breeders do what they do because they want to contribute to the breed they love. Not for money!
And NEVER go to a Pet Shop! You need to resist the look in that puppies eyes, hard as it may be. Pet Shops get most of their puppies from Puppy Mills or BYBs who couldn't trick someone into buying or are too lazy to find good hoems themselves!

Well, theres my rant...thing. I hope you have learned something from this. I may add more later, I didn't have much time to type this.

As long as I have been able to get across to at least one person I'm happy.

Some useful links for more information.

Stop Puppy Mills
The Accredited breeders scheme. (May be UK only.)
(Will add more later. My internet is lagging.)

-Keilidh.

I totally stand by you there altho i had to pay 200 pounds for my mixed breed (it was at the shelter too so i dont know how she got one free )

Thanks!

Sometimes it varies shelter to shelter. In the UK most of the time it's free, but in other countries it can cost a lot.

*loves Kazzy because of her amazing post*

I've been wanting to post something like this for so long...but I wasn't sure how to put it in words...And you have done it perfectly.

Labradoodles and the like are simply...to attract your attention. A scam. Yes that cute puff of curly fur that looks strangely like a labrador is a scam. He-she is not a real breed, and should NEVER be.

Now, I have nothing against them or any mutt, I have a mutt myself...and I love her. But I do have something against puppy mills and people who breed for money and money alone. It's wrong because if the person only cares about the money, the dog will be neglected in some way, be it physically or mentally.

Physical abuse = starving, lack of medical attention, dirty, ect..

Mental = minimal attention given to the dog, bad training, no training ect..

If you want a labradoodle get one at a shelter at least. Support you local shelters, not noob breeders people. >.>

I agree w/ you.

There's nothing wrong w/ loving your mutt... but *breeding* 'designer dogs' is downright stupid :/ It shows how greedy & uninformed some people are, just looking to make a 'quick buck' off cute little UNNECESSARY mixed breed puppies. As if there aren't already enough of them roaming the streets & in shelters & everything already...

Also: puggles. One of my neighbors, whom I babysit & housesit for occasionally, has a puggle named Mya. She was a shelter dog that my neighbor's sister actually owned before, thinking she was just 'the cutest little thing'... she kept her for about a week before deciding she was too much of a handful and ditching her at the shelter she adopted her from... my neighbor was outraged at this and on the day Mya was supposed to be put to sleep, demanded the shelter put her on hold so she could drive at least an hour out of the way and adopt her herself, not wanting her to be put down & knowing her sister was an idiot Anyway she *is* the cutest little thing (the dog i mean ) and she's a real sweetheart, though she's very high energy and can never be outside off leash because she'll just take off running, following her nose or somesuch. She has a loving family now, w/ kids to play w/ and a big yard to roam (tied up albeit), but it's sad to know she was another one of those BYB puppies who had no real place in the world, and such ignorance almost cost her her life :/

I don't know which celebrity it was that caused the craze - maybe Jake Gyllenhaal (<3 him by the by) w/ his dog Boo? - but for some reason, puggles (pug + beagle) have become all the rage, w/ people breeding & selling them for outrageous prices. As in $1000 kind of outrageous 9.9 And I can find examples of this in my local newspaper in the pet classifieds. $1000 for a 'designer dog' that isn't registered or showable and will only ever be useful as a family pet or somesuch. You could find the same exact dog in a shelter for much less... and considering the number of animals put down every year, it's baffling as to why some people actually think it's a good idea to keep breeding more useless mutts x.x

Breeders of purebred dogs, ones who are actually good, respectable breeders, breed to BETTER the breed (how many times can I say breed in one sentence? XD ) - not to make money off their puppies which, in all honesty, does *not* make you much profit if any at all, considering all the expenses in owning not only the parent(s) but then keeping them healthy & happy, plus caring for the litter - it means paying for a good vet, buying food, toys, etc., grooming (which may require a professional depending on the breed), plus contributing your own time and care for the animals. Dogs are definitely not an animal you can just throw in a crate and forget about all day... if you don't have the time to look after your pet as often as it needs... you shouldn't have said pet to begin w/, much less be breeding more of them! Go for a fish tank or something, if you really want some kind of animal companion.

Not to mention, a good breeder doesn't just blindly pump out a couple litters a year, hoping they can just put a sign up and a dozen people will be interested in buying a puppy from them. They have to plan when to breed, when the puppies will actually go to a home - they need to make sure they're going to have customers before they break out the product... which means waiting for when their chosen breed or even specific dog or bitch (if they are some kind of champion show dog) has a demand for puppies, meaning people actually inquiring about litters and agreeing to wait and buy a puppy from you or somesuch.

Both of my dogs were adopted; Lila, a sato, came from a local animal shelter, and we got her maybe 6 years ago, when I was in 4th grade. She's a little mutt dog, we're not sure of her exact heritage but we suspect some sheltie, eskie, and some kind of terrier. Henry was adopted from the vet clinic where I work last spring; he's a dachshund, I can only assume purebred as there's nothing to suggest otherwise, but he doesn't have papers or anything. He's got Cushing's disease though, and is generally.. a very poor specimen of a dachshund So he's a little strange in appearance. He's really fat... and his back legs are bent kinda funny, plus he has a big fat muffin butt. But he's a sweet lil boy :3 He's already quite old; we adopted him intending to give him a good last home, since his life beforehand hadn't been so good. He was abandoned by his old owner, tied to a fence outside and left there for days before animal control took him. He always walks around w/ his tail between his legs; he's a timid-looking lil dog, like he's always expecting the worst (getting hit or kicked or something). I'm glad he's mine now, and I like knowing he's finally found a loving forever home... his favorite thing to do is cuddle w/ people

...ah but I've rambled enough now In sort.. yes, I agree w/ you entirely on the designer dog issue. I stand by the notion that the best place to get a loving family mutt is an animal shelter - definitely NOT a breeder, and if you really want a specific breed, try a rescue, or buy from a breeder if you're looking for a show quality animal. If it's all the same to you, why not go for the 'needier' animal and save a life, instead of wasting your money on a 'purebred' or 'designer dog' from a careless breeder? Putting money in their pockets will only encourage them to continue what they're doing.

My sentiment exactly!

Steet did so this afternoon.

And I agree with everything you said Kazzy. People like that just.. really get on my nerves. D< I would say more, but like I told you, I tend to lose my temper on subjects like this..

What Tibby said.

Steet stickied it even though it should be in the rant section. In the shout box just before he came online, I pointed out to a friend that I think it would be good if it was sticked because the more people see of this topic, the higher chance there is of them changing their minds about designer dog breeds. Even if it was just one person who decided to adopt a mutt, it's still one more life saved form a shelter and one less sell for the BYBs.

See what I mean? Steet said himself though that there's no guarantee that the stick will be permanent.

I'm fully aware of that JC. However, it's a team effort. For all we know the production of Puppy Mills in the world could NEVER stop, but the numbers could certainly be decreased. Really, it's just a case of trying to convince as many people as you can to say "no". That's the only way we can try to stop it.

Plus, 60 people have already viewed this. (That doesn't necessarily mean they've took the time to read it, but you know what I mean.) That's about 60 more people who might not fall for the Designer Dog scam than there was before I made this topic. So I'm still getting through to people, hopefully.

Kazy, I agree with you 1 billion %. Puppy mills are SICK (I won't bother explaining why, you already did a darn good job of that).

It's like, dude. If you won't a dog to show or compete or something, go to a responsible breeder.
Anything else? The RSPCA/ASPCA or whatever the animal shelter is in your region is crammed with adorable, lovable dogs that are about to be put to sleep because their previous owner thought it was going to be a little playful furry robot that would sit in the corner and play when it was told, without having to pee or poop or eat or go to the vet or be taken for walks or groomed.

I know that that's not the only reason why dogs (and cats) end up at the pound, but I know for certain that it is one of them (probably the main one too).

There's a really good site which I often visit http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/ which has a list of all purebred and a list of many 'hybrid' (designer) dogs. It also has photos and information about the breed, such as exercise and grooming requirements. Also, it has information about caring for dogs and the webmaster's views on issues such as breed bans and designer dogs. And it has information about responsible breeding. I urge you to check it out--- it's a great site.

lol JC, I can't tell if you are joking or not. xD If you are then, good joke! If not, it's simply so that when members are reading through the replies they don't need to put up with long 'quotes'. Your single reply was not long, but in addition to the quotes you included in it it would simply spam the board.

In future I will just reply to your post rather than quote it if you take offense.

thank you Kazzy !!!!! lol.. at least i'm not the only one who thinks it's rediculous to pay for a mutt the price of a pure bred dog.. well i got my dog from a reputable breeder.. i agree they're ugly and i find nothing attracting about them at all.. and around here people sell them for a good 1000$ and up!! just to have a mutt that doesn't shed??.. or gives allergies.. and i started seeing books at where i work about the breed i'm like omg this is getting ridiculous.. there's a books about mutts saying labradoodles are smarter than both lab and poodle and can't work with stress .. now that's just dumb.. and it just means that this person was thinking as these dogs as an actual breed -.- .. like Puggles which are uglier than the labradoodles and goldendoodles themselves lol.. and these dogs aren't soft.. the fur feels a little corse (this girl around the neighbourhood has one that's blonde) .. anyways am glad you;re able to tell this and explain people.. but usually you can tell if it's a backard breeder, a puppy mill or a reputable... 1rst a backyard breeder the dogs (the dam and sire) will have bad manners or nly one of the parents will be there... puppy mills... won't let you come near the home or let you see the parents nor facility... a reputable breeder generally has both parents.. will show you around will introduce you to the puppy's parents and sibblings (if there) and so on.. and i know this from experience and also from friends, friends of friends and family... so even before getting a pure puppy.. do research on breeders first call them ask them how it works and such and also do research on the breed itself. ^^ .. sorry had to post a bit of my side Kazzy... but i agree with you on your statistics and your knowledge on that.. and here in Canada.. sadly our shelters always cost money for the dogs -.- because of the medical care whather it got any or not ... anyways... everyone should think twice before paying 1000$ or 700 pnds for an unatracted dog that might be smarter than both breeds .. and think on saving a life instead.. i actually want these breeders gone i don't really like them ..