25 June 2010

Designer Pets or Money Makers

I was talking to a lady about her dog the other day, it was a pedigree she advised me. Dad was a KC registered Springer Spaniel while Mum was a KC registered Cocker Spaniel. This had the delightful name of a Sprocker Spaniel.

Now, despite my ignorance, Two KC registered dogs have to be of the same breed to be considered pedigree anything outside of that was a mongrel. So when did designer pooches like the following become pedigree (or as I prefer to say money makers).

Jackapoo - Jack Russell with a Poodle
Sprocker - as above
Cockerpoo - Cocker Spaniel with a Poodle
Pugalier - Pug with a Cavalier Spaniel
Labradoodle - Labrador with a poodle (admittedly these were bred to enhance lives of people sensitive to shed hair)

The list is endless, and while they look cute as puppies, these guys grow up and then suddenly lose their charm finding themselves ignored, or up for rehoming, or worse just dumped. I miss having a dog, I want another one, but don't really want to pay premium prices for people carelessly breeding these puppies. I know I don't want another Jack Russell, not because it would remind me of Sam, more I have always wanted a bigger dog though god forbig it gets the idea it wants to be a lapdog.

The world is crazy enough, with too many dogs and cats needing homes without adding to the pile of must have designer things that have people digging too deep just because it is the next new thing in fashion.

2 comments:

Kath said...

We thought (not very) long and hard about whether to buy a puppy from a breeder. We chose to adopt 2 unwanted dogs and I have never regretted it for a moment.

~An9eL~ said...

so true, and don't get me started on the many health problems mixbreeds tend to have... !