Jump to content
BC Boards

Designer Breeding Make Me Sick


maggiesmommy
 Share

Recommended Posts

Well see, there are precious few "normal people" in Saratoga/Los Gatos/Menlo Park/Cupertino area where I spend time in parks most frequently. Conspicuous consumption is a way of life here. There is something called "signal theory" in economics, which posits that pretty much everyone is engaging in, if not conspicuous consumption, a sort of broadcast to the world what your subculture and preferences are. So, for example, buying a prius is important to people here not just because of the higher gas mileage, but because of what it signals to others what you find important - and they've shown exactly how much extra people are willing to pay for that signal. Expensive purses signal something else, maybe a love of high fashion (I honestly don't know because even though I've reached a point where I can afford nice purses I can't for the life of me see wanting to spend that money on them when I could buy more stuff for my fish tanks ;)) Does this mean buying a prius or nice bag is a bad thing? I don't think so at all. But seeing a super rich lady wearing all Lululemon clothes and pushing a very expensive Phil and Ted's stroller and walking her goldendoodle - I do think she is signaling a variety of things with her dog, no matter how much she loves the dog or doesn't consider it disposable or whatever. That's really beside my point. What I don't like, personally, is this idea that people can come to understand that mutts are better in most cases and yet STILL, normal mutts just aren't good enough, it's almost like these expensive mutts are so much more controlled, and better than mutts there are already too many of and that you could get for close to free. The bought dog is rareified. It's not pedestrian, and its trendy at the moment to boot. Now, I see that same lady walking what is clearly a rescue pitty or what seems to be just a normal old Heinz 57 and I do think different things about her, although it's true I don't know off hand who is actually the better or more "moral" dog owner.

 

Again, the trend just bugs me. Although I'll grant you, not as much as seeing Cavs and English bulldogs and show bred GSDs dragging their tiny back ends bug me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 58
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

A few years go, I was in my eye vet office with my Tess's litter of pups getting tested...the vet came out and said how good my pups were, healthy etc and all were fine......and I also had an adult dog she took to the back to check....and I was sitting there with my litter of pups, playing with them and this lady with a labdoodle was next to me....she asked how much I sold my pups for ($500) and her jaw dropped in amazement...she had paid well over $2500 for her pup who was riddled with health issues, and not hypo-allergic (?) as the breeder promised and going blind...she said the breeder claimed all the health issues were her fault....the vet came out and we all had a enlightened chat.....in the end, she realized she had bought a byb pup, despite the flashing website and all she wanted was a dog that would be a housedog and go camping, walks etc....active home. She had spent several thousand more on her dog and in the end, said she was going to have to put the dog down.....not due to blindness but seizures or something like that.......she looked t my pups and said, "wow, I could have spent $500 on a healthy pup or $2500 on a designer poorly bred dog.....guess I was caught up on her website"

 

We talked some more and in the end, she sounded like she would get her next rescue dog from rescue breed such as a standard poodle or something else....all vetted, health and personality etc tested......

 

You could tell she loved her poor dog and it broke her heart. I looked at her dog and the face was too dished, weak hind and just didn't look well put together......the pup did have the best chance with her. She did the best for her dog and was caught up on the labdoodle craze......she realized it was just a mixed breed in the end.

 

We let her dog and the pups play for a few minutes and it cute to see how happy everyone was. All were racing about (no other clients were in) and after a few minutes, all got wore out and plopped in a dog pile on the rug. Her pup, dead center in the middle.

 

She asked if she could help me carry my pups to the truck...she did and she loved them and you could tell she was a good person who wanted a healthy dog in her life. I gave her my card and told her if she ever wanted a active (fixed) Border Collie to contact me and I would work with her thru rescue.

 

Nice lady who got caught up in the designer dog craze.

 

p.s. I talked to my eye vet about her and she said she was one of the best clients she has had, compassionate, caring and did everything for her dog.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have met a lot of doodles over the last few years, non well but I chat to anyone so I have had lots of conversations with their owners. Most seem to be like the lady Diane met, loving owners who love their dog but I know most paid a premium price, the average doodle is over $1200.00 and you can get a lab or golden for under that. Most think they are buying a real breed, it just has not been reconized by the kennel club yet, that it is hypo allergenic, some have realized that is not the case once their dog grows. Many have no idea that their dog is a simple cross between 2 types of dog. Although I live in area that has a lot of wealth, this is not an area of conspicuous consumption and don't think the doodles have been bought as any type of designer statement, just that the owners think that they will be a good pet without the fur.

It seems to me that doodles are the same side of the coin as people who think they have researched a well bred border collie but it is not what they end up with. From my perspective most dog owners are not into dog "culture" they just want a companion and go and buy what seems to fit their lifestyle.

So much of what I have learned about dogs has come since I started competing in agility and my dog became more than a companion, before that I really did not pay attention to the wider world of dogs, like most people we just wanted a companion to go on walks with, the only difference was that my husband and I both thought the best place to get a dog was the local shelter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a really good point alligande - I hadn't even considered how often people actually think the dogs AREN'T mutts at all and instead are some other sort of up and coming breed. So, clearly they aren't paying those huge purchase prices on a mixed breed for some reason like wanting to have met the parents of the dog they are going to own, which you usually can't do when adopting from a shelter. Also makes me continue to think a lot of these designer breeders are really not great examples of who you want the clueless public to be buying dogs from, if they're not even making it clear to their puppy buyers what the dogs actually are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ooky, I don't think people even give meeting the parents a moments thought. Living in the southern New England a high percentage of the rescues I meet have come from the south who's new owners never met the dog before taking it home from a truck, so if people are willing to adopt a dog of unknown parentage, unknown origin and unknown character and pay upwards of $500 -$600 for it, then why would people even think that you need to meet the parents of a cute puppy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cross-breeding may be done for many different purposes, and you can find examples of this even in the short list provided by the OP. The Painted Star dogs are being bred with utilitarian needs in mind - I believe it is to do Flyball or maybe Agility. There may be all kinds of arguments against what they are doing, but they are health-testing, screening their buyers and proving their stock for the activities they are being bred for. I know a number of people who swear by them.

 

The others seem to be bred for the commercial pet market. I hate this sort of breeding for the same reasons that everyone here has. I don't see a difference between crossbreeds and purebreeds being bred in this fashion, though. In this case, I think the motivation for the crossbreeding is a last gasp at novelty. In my area, the likelihood that you will wind up with a dog like this varies according to your age (old), and socioeconomic status (low). The other end of the spectrum is far more likely to wind up with a rescue dog.

 

If we ever get to the point where it becomes necessary to deliberately breed pets, I hope we scrap any existing concepts and put some fresh thought into how to produce good pets. The AKC parade of breeds hasn't worked too well for the average pet owner, let alone the dogs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw not too long ago that the two top breeds for pets are Goldens (suburbanites) and labs (rural).

 

I do see a lot of both goldens and labs around here. I drive by two very exclusive areas just about every day and there are lots of people out walking their labs and goldens. And once in a while I see a large type doodle of some sort.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think a lot depends on your area. In mine, (urban, Fortune 500), some of the rescue organizations do a wonderful job of rehabbing and making good placements. You will see plenty of purebreeds, but if you ask, they often are rescues. I tend to see the doodle types with older people and/or those from the suburbs (especially the less affluent ones).

 

I love to see all those rescues in nice homes. The owners typically see an older, already trained dog as a boon. The last thing these people have time to do is fool around with some rambunctious, big puppy that was meant for the country. Plus, the dogs have been socialized to the city, so it just makes sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My comments were not meant as a reflection on the really good rescues that exist, but on the surprising number of dogs I meet that are southern rescues who's owners had no concerns about not meeting their new companions first and therefore it is not surprising to me that the owners of doodles did not realize they were buying a mixed breed.

When I occasionally go to the local dog social hour (a rather informal and very unofficial daily dog park) Goldens rule at the moment, followed by rescue mixed breeds, then random purebreds, although most of my friends have labs, there might be an occasional doodle. As this is a big dog gathering, you do not get many small dogs. It is a badge of honor in this area to have a rescue, especially one from the local shelter. I have notice a difference in the way people respond to me and the dogs from when I had two local rescues to when I had what looked like a matched pair of tri-color border collies, now I have to explain they are rescues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...