New puggle.......

Person_one

MumOf2 wrote: »

Totally agree with you. Our Polly is an F1 cross breed as well - she's a wonderful, friendly, loyal, obedient, healthy, non shedding, non allergenic cocker spaniel/poodle cross. And yes, we paid a considerable amount for her as she was ethically bred from sound, health-checked dam and sire. All our outings take much longer than planned because so many people stop me to admire her. She is a real joy and everyone loves her.

All contemporary pedigrees originally came from crossing dogs of different breeds. Why on earth people waste so much emotional energy on blood boiling over the practice of breeding crosses that they don't even own escapes me. I personally wouldn't have a highly bred pedigree with all the concomitant health problems, but I don't criticise people who do.

I also wouldn't be so rude as to use the negatively loaded term 'mongrel' to describe the product of a planned mating.

What a difference on the I Love My Cockapoo forum - such lovely, friendly people (rather like our dogs...).

MumOf2

I have rescued pedigrees, I can only have pedigrees because I'm allergic to breeds that shed. Thankfully both are from long living breeds with few health problems, particularly one, who may well live to 17 or 18, fingers crossed!

I'm all in favour of sensible crossbreeding that's done to improve the health of a breed and to undo damage caused by generations of inbreeding.

However, a pug and a cavalier? Two brachycephalic breeds that are prone to a lot of the same health problems as it is? What good does that do for either breed? I'm afraid it reeks of someone wanting to make money from two fashionable breeds and a funny sounding name.

If we're not careful, the new myth that 'crossbreeds are always healthier' could end up doing just as much damage as the old myth that 'pedigrees are inherently better'. Neither are right.

Frugalista

niandsa wrote: »

We have a miniature labradoodle and absolutely adore her. We researched the cross extensively and made the decision that the cross breed was for us.

Next we had to find an honest and knowledgeable breeder who had health checked both parents. In our case both parents were from a long line of champions, KC registered and checked for eye and hip problems.

Yes, we paid quite a bit for our dog. However, the breeder had exactly the same costs as she would have had if she bred pedigrees from her dogs. They had all been vet checked and immunised etc.

I refer to Poppy as a cross breed as she was planned and bred ethically. To me the word 'mongrel' is derogatory and has many negative connotations. There is also some evidence that cross breeds are healthier than pure breeds due to hybrid vigour.

We don't regret our decision at all, just as many pedigree dog owners don't regret theirs.

Hmmm! :think: - the jury is still out on that one - http://www.parispoodles.com/hybridvigor.html

flower24

Ahh he's lovely!!!

kittycatfan

Hes so adorable i love him

tigzem

He's very cute

begley

We've had The Boy three weeks now and all is very well! We think he's lost a bit of weight - he's going to be weighed this afternoon. He's an affectionate little fella and LOVES everyone with great enthusiasm! We can't let him off the lead cos he simply won't come back, but we're working on that; we've bought an extra long extendable lead so he can have a good run in the park.

He loves the telly, but doesn't like programmes or adverts with animals on - he goes MAD at the pony that dances to Fleetwood Mac! He went ballistic at a rhino on telly the other day....! He also has a strong dislike of helicopters.

The only problem, and it is a bit of a worry, is his obsession with chewing gum - 2 or 3 times we've had to prise it out his mouth when we're out. We can't take our eyes off the pavement when we're walking him cos if he sees a bit he'll nab it, and he's very quick. Worrying, cos we've heard about the Xylitol poisoning thing.... We keep him on a very short lead when walking on the pavement and only let him have free rein in the park. Other than that though we have no concerns - he's very much a member of the family!

begley

A couple of pics....

begley

Well, the boy continues to thrive! Recall training isn't going brilliantly, well, really badly actually - he's HOPELESS, but we will persevere. He gets so easily distracted!

He went to the vet last week and they recommended that he see the weightloss nurse; he's lost 0.6 of a kg since being with us but needs to lose some more so we've signed up to the weight loss programme - he has his own little pack with a graph you fill in! And it's all free! New food came today and he hoovered it up. He's 9.25kg now and he needs to be 8.5 ideally.

'Scratting' in the street continues to be a problem. Spoke to the nurse about that yesterday and she said that we may have to muzzle him to ensure he doesn't eat something really nasty. I think we will, we do worry when we're walking him.

So, other than his obsessive love for chewing gum, happy little chap! Seems very settled, loves everyone and everything with relentless enthusiasm. We're very lucky.

begley

begley

Good grief, those pics are huge, sorry!!