What is your opinion of “designer dogs”?

Question

I’m not talking about whether or not they make good pets (because I’m sure they do), but about your opinion of the phenomenon itself. About the practice of breeding two specific breeds together to “create” a new “breed,” and people actually accepting it as such. Traditionally, this is not how breeds were created. Different breeds were often bred together to develop new ones, yes, but it was usually many different breeds, and it was done over a number of years, carefully, to reach a new breed, usually for a specific purpose. Breed A and breed B were not just “stuck” together to get breed C. It seems to be getting more and more popular, and you even have people insisting that one day, Goldendoodles for example, will be “real” recognized breeds by the AKC, and similar organizations.

So what do you think? Are these “designer” breeds just mutts, or something more? Do you think this is a harmless practice, a beneficial practice, or just needlessly creating more mutts?

And, why is a Golden Retriever/Poodle mix a real breed to some people, but to the very same people, a Cocker Spaniel/Fox Terrier mix is just a mutt? Why is a Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix not a mutt, while a Lab/Afghan mix is? That seems like a blatant double standard to me.

Goldengal, I'm not sure who you might be thinking of, but I'm quite sure I have never asked this question before.

Wild and Free, a Goldendoodle is a Golden Retriever/Poodle mix, and a Labradoodle is a Lab/Poodle mix, as far as I’m aware.

Answer 1

Most of the designer breed market is a profit making scheme for dollars with no real planning or thought.

My answer will be it depends on how acheived and why

Most who start never go with the view of creating a breed standard, even the goldendoodle has not got to the point where the breeders are breeding it to produce its own young instead they are still being churned out as hybrids mean both parents are purebreds

Here is an example of a breeding program to create a breed, called the silken windhound, the purpose was to create a long coated medium sized sighthound, that looks much like the borzoi but in a smaller package, the reason is there is only the whippet that comes in midsize and they are more energetic than their larger cousins also most of the sighthound are short coated, because they have fragile skin they get skin tears very easily a long coats help to protect the fragile skin, so the breeding was to produce a smaller more durable sighthound with the personality and energy level of the bigger sighthounds, it was few years in the planning stage before the first pup was produced, every pup born was recorded with a full history of health and genetic studies, some breeding programs were set up in other countries as well inorder to enhance and create the diverse gene pool. Within 15 years they had enough breedable pairs so they closed the studbook. so they would only mate among themselves and DNA testing is required of all breeding stock and a breed standard is set in place. It has been 35 years since they started out at this time they still know where every pup produced is, there is a pedigree database, a rescue organization was formed even though not needed yet, they have a racing program set up for performance testing, it is now recognize as a breed in 2 european countries.
http://www.silkenwindhounds.org/index.html

The difference is they did not mass produce for a pet market, there was a paper trail for every pup produced and it is ongoing including genetic testing so as to ensure the health of their breed, set a breed standard very early on and they have a very tight registry, which is a necessity if one wants to create a breed that will be recognized by breed clubs. Because of the differences in how bred and their detailed paper trail on every pup produced they would likely be recognized years earlier than any of the poodle mixes

Answer 2

I agree with you. I think a big problem is the way these dogs are marketed. For example, goldendoodles are often described by breeders to people as less likely to cause allergies, which is simply not true. Poodles don't shed but the skin dander causes allergies not shedding. And when you cross it with a golden, there is so much variation in the pups that there is no guarantee that you will get a dog thet does not shed or a dog that does not cause allergies. So people are paying a lot for money for false promises.

It also appears that most of these breeders are not doing appropriate health checks on their breeding animals and are not breeding the animals that are the best representatives of their breed. If you are truly out there trying to develop a new breed, you'd wanting to be taking the best specimens of both breeds to carry forward the best characteristics of both. From what I've seen, the majority of designer dog breeders aren't really working toward this goal.

These dogs are basically the same as any other mixed breed dog you could adopt at shelter, where you'd save a lot of money and save a life.

Answer 3

The problem with designer breeds is that there is no control over the pairings. I'll use Labradoodle as an example here ... There are three varieties of Poodle. If you cross a Standard Poodle with a Labrador, you'd call the offspring Labradoodles. If you Crossed a Toy Poodle with a Lab, you'd also call the offspring Labradoodles. In both examples, you might get entirely different dogs.
Another factor to consider is inherited traits. Designer dog breeders claim their pups are non-shedding and hypoallergenic because Poodles don't shed much, and they emit minimal dander. Suppose the pups take after the Lab, and they shed quite a bit and emit more dander?
Another problem to consider are the future breedings. If you pair two Labradoodles, the offspring would yield Labraoodle pups. How would they compare to the Labradoodle pups from a Labrador and a Poodle?
Lastly, any responsible person who has a top quality Labrador Retriever, or a top quality Poodle wouldn't intentionally cross breed their dog. They'd want to use their dog to contribute to the breed instead. In the end you find that Labradoodle breeders are using less than top quality dogs in their breeding programs.
Although I picked on the Labradoodle in my answer here, the same logic applies to all designer breeds. They all started with financial intentions, and unfortunately, bad dog breeders will continue to breed whatever the market demands.

Answer 4

They are mutts.... Mutts that you can find in any shelter. I have nothing against mutts but do have a major problem with people purposefully breeding them.
I also feel that anyone who would pay an outlandish price for a mutt is a fricking idiot.

Edited: Mur... Sure, hundreds of years ago different breeds were bred together for a specific purpose, a specific JOB. The need to cross breeds no longer exists in todays world. The people breeding these mutts are not breeding for anything other than money. Anyone thinking breeding these dogs to produce mutts for money is a good thing is an idiot... Yeah, I am calling you an idiot for thinking adding more mutts to the already overpopulation of them is a good thing. Go check out your local shelter and see how many of these overpriced "designer breeds" are there already. Idiot...
And, it is NOT what breeders are supposed to do. Breeders are supposed to breed dogs for the betterment of the breed, not mix breeds and charge an arm and a leg for their mutts.

Answer 5

This is a horrible practice. Most of the "breeders" (and I use the term loosely) who breed these dogs do not do genetic testing to make sure it is safe. I hope and am almost positive that goldendoodles and puggles and the like will never be recognized by the AKC. They do make good pets. Just like any mutt or any dog. I took a training course and the animal teacher ( that works with the trainer ) was a goldendoodle. He was rescued because he was abused by the owner. They had gotten him from a breeder and had trouble training him. This goes to show you that these "backyard breeders" also do not take the time to interview the people adopting them and just care about the money.

Answer 6

My opinion is that it is just a mutt. And not because the parents are not AKC registrable, but because they are different breeds. Money and human stupidity is the motivation factor here. I have nothing against breeding a dog with a X to get better working qualities out of the breeding, but, when you do it simply to get some idiot to actually pay money for a dog that will just sit around the house, then it becomes a different story. One of my dogs is of questionable parentage, I know for sure what the mother and father are, but, I am not sure about it going back several generations, and I can excuse that because he is a working dog. But to just get a mutt because it's the newest fad and pay hundreds of dollars for it to just sit there, that is just stupid.
Einstein said it best: the only infinite things are the Universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the Universe.

Answer 7

I believe the reason why most people sit around and think of these New breeds is because Money! Money! Money!...
Now their are some Beneficial "New Breeds" like Labradoodles who are Labrador Retriever, & a Poodle Mix making a Hypoallergenic Doggy!
I can go online right now to Petfinder.com and find a dog being sold as a Mixed breed for Free-$25, while a Dog that is a ****-zu/Poodle and now has a new cool name is worth so much more, sometimes i see dogs like this for around $500-$700 or MORE!...
I think it revolves around money.
I do thing a Dog will make as good as a pet as you make them, So if you want a Designer Dog then go for it! :)

Answer 8

A true "new" breed is not just a combination of two established breeds, but repeated breeding of nonrelated combinations of the same breeds to develop a dog with certain characteristics. Like a Himalayan is a third generation cross from Siamese and Persian, producing a long-haired, flat-faced (Persian) cat with Siamese markings.
A Labradooodle is simply a mixed breed. I've never heard of them being called Goldendoodles. Same goes for Lhasa-Poos, Cocka-poos, etc.

Answer 9

People are always looking for a way to make a buck and these new designer breeds are the newest way to do it myself I think they r just mutts but what is wrong with a mutt i have 2 and they are great

Answer 10

people breeding dogs just for pure money is wrong. though i mutts, they are some of the sweetest dogs. in the end how much does breed matter? the person makes the dog. a pit can be a trained fighter but if loved and handled their great with kids. breed doesn't matter so much as the owner does.