Chug anyone?

[wolfsoul]

I don't believe you are honestly "saving" a life if you buy from a reputable breeder (puppy mill/BYB.. maybe).

I agree. A puppy from a reputable breeder wouldn't need to be "saved." And when buying from a puppy mill or BYB, you may be saving that one puppy, but you are damning the lives of it's parents and the future litters they will produced. What is one life compared to hundreds?

[emc]

Wow, I didn't think my asking what a chug looked like would spark such an interesting thread. You've made a very informative post, Giselle and Wolfsoul you made an excellent point, people do tend to take better care of things that cost more. But I still feel that someone who breeds a cross or not to "standard" is not neccessarily an irresponsible breeder.

If they breed healthy dogs with good temperments and care where their puppies end up I don't see how that is contributing to the problem of homeless dogs nor do I see it as being a threat to the purebred dog. Breeders devoted to their particular breed have been breeding and honing the characteristics of the purebred for centuries all the while by the side of those who have been cross breeding and making "mutts", yet there's no clue that the purebred is on the brink of extinction. I'm not at all saying that breeding purebreds shouldn't matter, I myself have owned Chihuahuas for years, but that what should determine a good breeder is that their dogs should have the potential to make a good pet and bring their owner joy years to come.
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http://dogshop.50webs.com

[Giselle]

Good point, Emc. The problem lies in where these people acquired these purebreds to cross breed with. At some point somewhere, an unreputable breeder allowed another unreputable breeder to use their purebreds to create designer mixes. Now, if the dogs were to be completely genetically healthy and the breeder had had a distinct breeding program, I wouldn't have such a problem. However, the problem is that most designer breeders get their dogs from unreputable breeders who couldn't care less about the overall health of their progeny. Thus, we don't know the history of the dog. We don't know if this dog's granddam carries von Willebrand's, hip dysplasia, hypothyroidism, cancer, etc. We don't know if there is a history of osteosarcoma or luxating patellas or progressive retinal atrophy in the dog. Most likely, the breeder who purchased this dog won't even be testing for any of these diseases. They say love is blind. I say love for money is blind as well. Why can't these crossbreeders obtain good specimens? A purebred dog worthy of being bred and passing on its bloodline is a precious specimen. A reputable breeder would never give their dogs to a designer breeder.

A good breeder not only breeds for the right temperament, but they breed to sustain the breed itself. They test their dogs to ensure that the breed will stay strong genetically. They screen homes to ensure that the buyer in question is right for the dog. While they produce companions that will bring joy to families for years to come, they also produce dogs that can and will fulfill their original duties with exuberance and efficiency.

Like it was mentioned before, dogs today ARE mainly used for companionship, but it does not make it ethically right to create any dog just for the sole purpose of companionship. We have enough dogs for that. They're called shelter dogs Until we can end the pet overpopulation problem, I don't believe we should add to the problem by creating more pets whose only purpose is companionship.

[MajesticCollies]

Giselle



Good point, Emc. The problem lies in where these people acquired these purebreds to cross breed with.

That says it all. When I was at the National Dachshund races a couple weeks ago I was in the "Meet the Breeds" area with all my collies explaining to people the collie breed. Well set up next to me was the famous area breeder of Goldendoodles and Labradoodles. Well we politely expressed our point to eachother and by the end of the day he was telling me how much he wanted a collie again.
He took a look at Steele and asked a little more about my stud boy and asked if I had his pedigree with me. I showed him it and said go ahead and keep that copy. He got all excited and handed me his buisness card and said " if you have another litter I would be real interested in a collie". I smiled and kindly returned his card and said, "jeff I'm afraid you are the last person I would ever consider selling one of my collies too." He snatched back his card and didn't talk to me the rest of the day!!!
God knows (well we all know) what he really wanted one of my collies for!!!

[cali]

I have no issue with mix breeds bred for a PURPOSE, key word being "purpose" breeding for a pet is NOT a purpose because any dog can be a pet, there is no reason whatsoever to breed dogs just to be pets. hypoallergtic dogs again, no good purpose, breeding whatever breed to a poodle does NOT make a hypallergenic do, if you want a non shedding dog get one that already exists, then the dog will be garantee'd no shedding.

flyball mixes I have no issue with. nobody is claiming these dogs as purbred, nobody is trying to make them purebred, they are listed with NAFA as "mixed breed" we dont say "I have a purebred BorderStaffyJack" "borderstaffyjack" is simply a LOT easier to say then "border collie X staffordshire bull terrier X jack russel terrier mix" lol I also have no issue because they are bred for a purpose, fast flyball height dogs is a neich that is not filled by ANY purbred dog, and people responsably breeding these dogs will ONLY sell to other flyball homes, there are a few PMs and BYBs out there breeding them, but no sane flyball person would buy one, all the mixed breeders in the flyball world health test and PROVE the dogs.

similarly for working dogs I have no issue with mixed breeding, there are people that will mix breed to create dogs that are better suited to their specific situation, they dont go around telling people "hey I created a new breed!" the people I refere too, they keeps the dogs they need, and may seel the others to other farmers that may need help from the mix as well. a good example of working bred mixes are hangen tree cowdogs, these are mixed breeds bred for work, I have talked to people hihly involved in the wroking world who have seen the hangen tree cowdogs work and were in disbeilef, these dogs are mix breeds, there is only ONE breeder of them, the dogs are highly skilled and extremly well bred, they were bred for a purpose.

[cloverfdx]

I completly agree with Giselle and Shayna, i am not big into breeding but if a dog is being bred to work or have a purpose then i dont have problems with that.. by work i mean everything from working sheep dogs/ cattle dogs/ Quarentine dogs/ Assistance dogs etc.

I still dont know what to think about performance bred x breeds, part of me thinks well they are still x breeds and are still adding to the over population of animals in pounds .... then i think it may not be too bad if people are health testing/ proving a dogs ability. I know plenty of mutts that have come from pounds that have become the top Flyball dogs in this country... i race with a couple of them.

I will add more to this after tomorrow, because i know someone looking for a proven (Flyball) JRT at the moment to possibly mate with a BC.. i will have a chat to this person to see about health testing for both dogs etc .