It would appear that there is no longer such a thing as a cross breed or a mongrel; so what’s in a name? . . . a large price tag it would seem!
Copyright Rupert Fawcett. Posted with the permission of Rupert Fawcett
http://rupertfawcettsdoggyblog.tumblr.com/
I discovered, to my horror, there is a forum (there might be more than one for all I know, I stopped looking when I found one!) devoted solely to “Designer Mixes”.
Where has this terrible, relatively recent, fashion for designating cross-breeds as “Designer Dogs” come from? It would appear that it all stems from the Labradoodle whose creation, although done with the best of motives, has much to answer for.
Wally Conron, who at the time, was working for the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia, “invented” the Labradoodle as a consequence of being asked to provide a guide dog for a blind woman whose husband was allergic to dogs.
He now REGRETS his decision! (see interview here . . .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/nov/13/inventors-idea-regret
This is the concluding paragraph of the article/interview . . .
“Conron has a pet labrador, Rocky, and has never kept a labradoodle as a pet. "No way!" he says, sounding shocked. He only ever bred 31 … "I'm on a pension and live in a little shoebox flat. If I'd gone into breeding labradoodles for a living, I'd be on easy street. But there was no way I'd do it. My conscience wouldn't let me."
It is pleasing that HIS conscience wouldn’t allow him to breed labradoodles for a living . . . other people’s consciences are obviously not as strong as Wally Conron’s .
Not only do we have these cross-breeds, there is now the “miniature” cross-breed (or as breeders would like it described - the “miniature” labradoodle) .... I dare say there will be, or even are already, “toy”,” standard”, “giant” and, heaven forefend, “teacup” ones before long. However .... there is light on the horizon and at least the ridiculous prices being charged for these dogs are coming down in a lot of cases .... but, not necessarily for a good reason .... the rise of other SO-CALLED designer breeds, properly known as cross-breeds, is providing competition. In my opinion many of these dogs are being bred deliberately just for their “cute” names; you all know what I’m talking about, I will not give them any further credence by noting examples of the names here.
Although the labradoodle was bred for a specific reason, and Guide Dog breeders also breed the Labrador/Golden cross often, unless there is an overwhelming GOOD reason deliberately to breed crossbreeds I believe it is wrong.
So, to sum up . . . There are thousands of cross-breed dogs and mongrels in welfare and rescue centres all over the world (as indeed there are pedigree breeds too;) there are hundreds of pure-breeds out there, so why deliberately perpetuate and promote a cross-breed? I can see no good logical reason and conclude it must be for money and/or the “something-different-with-a-cute-name ” factor. Admittedly "pure breed" breeders breed for money as well, in spite of the noble motives they usually declare in public, but the cross-breed breeders (who like to refer to their dogs as designer breeds or merely by their so-called cute names) are, in my opinion, even less able to justify their commercial activities. I will now retreat to my foxhole and prepare for the enemy attack!!
Where has this terrible, relatively recent, fashion for designating cross-breeds as “Designer Dogs” come from? It would appear that it all stems from the Labradoodle whose creation, although done with the best of motives, has much to answer for.
Wally Conron, who at the time, was working for the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia, “invented” the Labradoodle as a consequence of being asked to provide a guide dog for a blind woman whose husband was allergic to dogs.
He now REGRETS his decision! (see interview here . . .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/nov/13/inventors-idea-regret
This is the concluding paragraph of the article/interview . . .
“Conron has a pet labrador, Rocky, and has never kept a labradoodle as a pet. "No way!" he says, sounding shocked. He only ever bred 31 … "I'm on a pension and live in a little shoebox flat. If I'd gone into breeding labradoodles for a living, I'd be on easy street. But there was no way I'd do it. My conscience wouldn't let me."
It is pleasing that HIS conscience wouldn’t allow him to breed labradoodles for a living . . . other people’s consciences are obviously not as strong as Wally Conron’s .
Not only do we have these cross-breeds, there is now the “miniature” cross-breed (or as breeders would like it described - the “miniature” labradoodle) .... I dare say there will be, or even are already, “toy”,” standard”, “giant” and, heaven forefend, “teacup” ones before long. However .... there is light on the horizon and at least the ridiculous prices being charged for these dogs are coming down in a lot of cases .... but, not necessarily for a good reason .... the rise of other SO-CALLED designer breeds, properly known as cross-breeds, is providing competition. In my opinion many of these dogs are being bred deliberately just for their “cute” names; you all know what I’m talking about, I will not give them any further credence by noting examples of the names here.
Although the labradoodle was bred for a specific reason, and Guide Dog breeders also breed the Labrador/Golden cross often, unless there is an overwhelming GOOD reason deliberately to breed crossbreeds I believe it is wrong.
So, to sum up . . . There are thousands of cross-breed dogs and mongrels in welfare and rescue centres all over the world (as indeed there are pedigree breeds too;) there are hundreds of pure-breeds out there, so why deliberately perpetuate and promote a cross-breed? I can see no good logical reason and conclude it must be for money and/or the “something-different-with-a-cute-name ” factor. Admittedly "pure breed" breeders breed for money as well, in spite of the noble motives they usually declare in public, but the cross-breed breeders (who like to refer to their dogs as designer breeds or merely by their so-called cute names) are, in my opinion, even less able to justify their commercial activities. I will now retreat to my foxhole and prepare for the enemy attack!!
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