Why have "designer dogs" become so popular?

Question

I understand that there is the "cuteness" factor, but people are paying $1000+ for a MUTT!

Are people just so ignorant that they are willing to shell out that much for a dog that will have who knows what kind of personality, health problems, etc.

The one I do understand are the hypoallergenic dogs that allow people with allergies to have dogs.

Someone please give me a theory as to why people will shell out so much money for a mutt!

I work in a dog daycare and the most popular type of dog there is the puggle (pug/beagle) and some are cute, but some are just so unappealing to me.

I don't have a problem with mutts, I love them, it's the practice of selling them for as much, or more than a purebred dog and trying to make them something they're not. Some "breeders" will tell you that a cockapoo or puggle is a breed of dog, which it obviously isn't. These are the things that I take issue with.

I know that no dog is 100% hypoallergenic, but I mean those that are better for people with allergies.

Answer 1

It's a fad. It will pass. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

The doodle craze seems to be dying down. Now the designer dog craze has moved from Labradoodles and Golden Doodles selling for up to $2500 to these little dog mixes. The doodley dogs are still ending up in shelters because they shed but the cost is coming down for them.

What I'm seeing in shelters now are the small designer dogs and the craziest names.

If most of us would stop calling them buy cutesy names - including those who purchase them from shelters, the fad will pass sooner.
-one can hope anyway.

Besides, there is a special place for the "frankenstein breeders" of these dogs. You can't tell me its about the breed because there are no standards. It's about money. Pure and simple. It's a business opportunity and they are capitalizing on it. Nice huh?

Answer 2

As long as there are enough ignorant people who will fall for the "designer breed" fad, there will be enough unscrupulous people breeding them to make as much money as possible. If people are foolish enough to pay more for a MUTT than for a purebred, as long as there is demend for the "designer breeds", this will continue. All we can do it to keep trying to drum it into people's heads that these dogs are MUTTS. Nobody in their right mind would pay such outlandish prices for MUTTS. Education is the key but some people do not want to learn. They think because they hear about puggles, labradoodles, chiweenies, etc, then they must be real breeds. It is madness.

Oh and no dog is hypoallergenic. Another lie made up by crooks to scam people out of their money.

I know one "breeder" who posts regularly on here that got into the Labradoodle craze a few years back when they were first gaining popularity, bragginng that she could sell the pups for $1500. I don't know if she is still breeding them or not. I know of a few other unscrupulous things this so called Breeder has done that would make you cringe.

Answer 3

I still don't even agree with mixing two breeds together in order to create a dog who is good for allergy sufferers. There are Already Great dogs who are good for allergy sufferers. And when you mix a lab and a poodle, some puppies are going to take after the lab, and some are going to take after the poodle. So why not just get a poodle. They are great dogs.

I really don't know how they got so popular. I think a breeder accidentally bred a pug and a beagle, and didn't want to just give the puppies away, or admit that it was a mistake, so they gave them a cute name, "puggle," and slapped a big price tag on them, and through out all of these ridiculous claims, and the public fell for it.

I am so against breeding mixed breed dogs when there are SO many in animal shelters waiting for a good home.

Answer 4

For some people, as you mentioned, with allergies it allows them to be able to get a dog. Before DD's the breeds that they could own were fairly limited. Now they can have fluffy puppies when they couldn't before. Another reason is uniqueness. You will never see 2 of kind in mixes, even from the same parents.
More and more apts. dwellers are able to get small dogs, usually within a weight limitation (like not over 20 lbs.) and again, they were fairly limited to the breeds that they could have and so everyone had the same kinds of dogs. Then there was the new non-purebred fad, everyone wants a mutt but that doesn't necessarily mean that they want to have to go to the shelters or hunt "free puppies" classifieds.
I'm am not advocating the practice, and I don't believe in it but I think these are the contributing factors to the DD boom. Alot of BYB's that used to breed purebreds have integrated to the mixes because they can't sell their purebred pups as easily as they can the mixes. And they get alot more money. It's CRAZY!!

Answer 5

They are like most people who run out to buy a purebred dog. They do not do any research. People do not read books anymore. They see it, they like it, they buy it. A lot of people will buy huskies because they are beautiful dogs. But most of these dogs wind up lost or in shelters because the owners didn't research. They blame the dog for being too hyper, to hairy, too hard to housebreak or whatever when it is really their fault for being dumb.

Same with designer dogs. People don't read any dog books and if they do, it's probably a generic puppy book that's 70 pages long or something. They do not know what a "breed" really is. In fact they don't even know what a dog really is if you ask me! If they did any kind of research, they would easily find out that designer dogs are not a real breed. It's just that people are incredibly lazy and hate doing their homework. They wind up paying big time in the end though. And so does the poor dog.

Answer 6

Cindy is right on the money... people should refrain from using the "cutesy" names, even if the dog did come from a shelter. You put that name on them and the next thing you know, people you repeat it to are now looking for "breeders" of that mix.

It's a fad that I hope will pass quickly. I can't believe that people pay that kind of money for a mixed breed that can be found in shelters for much less. I mean, it's not any different to get the dog from the shelter or that backyard breeder, except for being able to say you paid way too much for a mutt. BYBs are not genetic testing and could care less about that kind of thing. It's all about the profit that mixed breed might bring them.

Answer 7

As you say, these ignorant pet buyers believe every single word what the backyard breeders tell them. These are new breeds. They can be registered at AKC (lol) etc. A lot of them get offended when other people tell them these are mutts because they're "poisoned" by bysb. It's like there are three posts this morning from the same person asked about why people keeping say "boston spaniel" is a mutt.

Answer 8

My best guess is people do it because they think they are special when they are buying something they think no one else will have.. Buying something they perceive to be different / rare. It's funny cause it backfires on them.. They spend far more money than they should, and they get the same badly bred little dog that the people get from the shelters.. Same dogs, bred in the same places by the same greedy people.. One is from the shelter and cheap, but bred by a puppymill.. One is from a petstore or backyard breeder and very expensive.. Both are sickly versions of both breeds, and they are the same dogs.. Weird eh!?

Answer 9

Ignorant is it!!!!! They are SO uneducated that they will believe whatever they are told by the "breeders' or sellers of these dogs.
A lot of them, once the find out the truth, are pretty embarrassed that they bought into the lies.

Of course, then there are the ones that will try and DEFEND the choice they have made by spewing the lies all the more. Pretty funny. It can be hard to tell if they actually believe the lies, or are just to ashamed to admit that they were HAD by the lies!!!

Answer 10

As far as I am concerend there is no such thing has a designer dog they are mutts or mix breeds and should not be sold for any amount of money. But as long as there are people out there who will buy them people will continue to breed them.