"Designer" dogs

[SueS]

Yesterday dh and I made a trip to the big flea market in Rogers, Ohio for some veggies and hopefully, a metal vise for our son-in-law's Christmas present (we found an extremely heavy one that only needs a bit of a cleaning for a good price).

One of the features of this flea market are the many puppies being offered for sale. Some of them are papered breeds, although I would NEVER buy a puppy from an unknown, probably puppy farm source. Others are mixed breeds. They used to be offered free to a good home but with the advent of the "designer dog" craze, they are priced at upwards of several hundred dollars! I saw one pup, an American bulldog/beagle cross, with a price tag of $450!!! It's amazing! These are puppies that in earlier days were the result of mom getting loose during her fertile season - reputable breeders either shipped them off to humane societies or culled them at birth. Now they are being sold for ridiculous prices. We're talking about animals that are not recognized by the AKC, do not have any sort of pedigree papers, and will not breed "true" if mated with another dog with the same sort of parentage. I know of breeders of "golden doodles" (golden retriever/poodle crosses) that charge over $1,000 per pup!!!

Truly, "a fool and his money are soon parted"!!!

 

[WAWICRUZ]

Hi, Sue.

I'm a dog-lover myself. I've been through GSDs, Rotts, mutts, but my favorite of all is the American Pitbull Terrier. I used to have a yard of 8 game-bred Mayday dogs, not to mention those that were farmed out. I've since dwindled my yard and am down to one male show-bred Gotti and a Bullmastiff. I love them Molossers.

 

[ubermadchen]

Yeah, I am not a fan of "designer dogs." My mom owned one and it was crazy. Literally, I mean, it chewed a hole in the wall and would turn on you in a second. I prefer true mutts; they tend to be smarter and better natured. My dog is a corgie/beagle/whoknowswhat that I rescued. She is as smart a whip and as sweet natured as they come, and she was free!

 

[Notthemama1984]

My wife got a mexican hot dog puppy about six months ago. It was free. After we got her, I was so surprised to see the amount that these pups were going for on the internet.

As much as I have fallen in love with this dog, I can't see myself shelling out benjamins for her.

 

[JBaldwin]

All of our dogs are "designer" dogs. In other words, they are all mutts. Our favorite, however, is our Golden Mountain Dog which is a cross between a Swiss Mountain and a Golden Retreiver. He is a beautiful dog with an amazingly loving and gentle temperament.

Our second is a black lab mix.

We have no idea what our third, newest and youngest dog is. When we got her, we were told she was a chihuahua mix. Well, she is now a great deal larger than any chihuahua I've ever seen. While I think she is probably a Jack Russell mix, we've named her breed "Chihuahua Giganticus". If we sell her, do you think we could get big bucks for her?

The most we've paid for any of our "designer dogs" is $5 which we dropped for the "giganticus". The others were free.

 

[Montanablue]

I can actually see the logic in paying more money for a "designer dog" as mixed breeds tend to be more healthy than a purebred. And if they were bred carefully, then you should be able to meet the mom and dad and get a better idea of temperament etc.

Personally though, I could never shell out that much. All of my family's dogs were rescued and the most we paid was $100 (which went to the rescue and compensated them for vet bills)

 

[SueS]

Hi, Sue.

I'm a dog-lover myself. I've been through GSDs, Rotts, mutts, but my favorite of all is the American Pitbull Terrier. I used to have a yard of 8 game-bred Mayday dogs, not to mention those that were farmed out. I've since dwindled my yard and am down to one male show-bred Gotti and a Bullmastiff. I love them Molossers.

I'm really a fan of GSD's. I've had a couple of "scrub dogs", one who was almost show quality, and a rescue who recently died. I'm not sure whether we will get another dog at this point but if we do I'll be pushing for another GSD.

That said, several weeks ago on another visit to the aforementioned flea market I almost succumbed to a 10 week old shepherd/collie cross that a girl was trying to find a good home for - I still kind of regret not bringing that pup home.

Oh, BTW, welcome to the PB. Excuse the abominable spelling but, "mabuhai"!!!

 

[DMcFadden]

I have a six year old Shihtzu (pure bred but out of a "litter" of one) gotten from one of my employees. He has converted me to a dog person. When my wife is out of town at a conference, he is one comfortable little companion. As I write this before getting ready for church, he is curled up under my legs on the couch.