Weds 14th Feb: Designer dogs at what cost?

As we approach the Year of the Dog I'm getting more and more adoption enquiries for designer crossbreeds, the ridiculous concoctions dreamed up by breeders keen to sell a new product to the gullible market. Cockapoos, maltipoos, llasapoos, all totally unnecessary variations of mixed breeding.  Just stop it, stop falling victim to marketing which pays no heed to the welfare of the animals involved, and the promotion of pets as status symbols and fashion accessories.  In case you haven't thought about it, which nobody seems to have done, when you put two breeds together the end result is far from guaranteed.  This is called nature.  Some pups will look like the mother, some like the father, some an odd combination of both and just a few like the desired "breed".

Take the labradoodle for example, the first crossbreed to have hit the market some years ago now.  The original breeder of these dogs long ago said how much he regretted having produced what he thought would be a good solution as guide dogs for blind people who suffered from allergies so needed a poodle-type coat.  https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201404/designer-dog-maker-regrets-his-creation

What happens to those labrador-poodle pups born with the labrador coat?  We have actually had some of these throwaways in the past, because they are of no use to the breeders.  There is also the guaranteed genetic disaster that comes from inbreeding, mating an inbred dog with another one.  In human terms we would call it incest, and you don't need to be a genius to be aware what happens there.  It really saddens me that more and more people are asking a rescue organisation for these made-up breeds, and puppies at that.  Where are we supposed to get these puppies from?  A secret breeding ground perhaps?  An underground bunker which is full of designer dogs busy producing babies for the status-obsessed "adopters".

If I sound angry it's because I am.  Angry, sad and disappointed that after all these years and all of the publicity surrounding puppy mills and the suffering of breeding dogs, the message still isn't getting through.  In the UK there is a big problem with puppies being smuggled in from East European countries, and in Hong Kong it's China that's breeding huge numbers and smuggling them over the border for the local market.  America has its own puppy mill problem, just the same as Australia where breeders are more than happy to send very young pups over to unknown buyers in Hong Kong.  Taiwan is another source of these poor animals, quite a few of which are impounded at the airport for being underage, and where they are kept for months before ending up at AFCD.

The fact is, there are very few breeders who are genuine animal lovers and whose dogs are kept and treated as they should be, and even then I would question anyone's motives for breeding at all.