What's the story with these new breeds, or is it just a mutt?

Wow, you've got it made! The perfect dog! oh, and when it might be twice the price of a pedigree dog, won't your neighbours be envious!

Well if you fell for this, you're about to be taken for a ride.

Here are some cross-breed truths:

• There is no such thing as a "new" breed. Everything has been tried before, and invariably with pretty average results.
• When you mix breeds, it's extremely unlikely you'll get a "non-shedding, hypo-allergenic breed"
• There is absolutely no proof that a mixed breed is healthier than a pedigree dog.
• Mixed breed dogs cannot be shown.
• Health stats on mutts are not collected and would be incredibly hard to collect because of the vast variables associated with the different combined gene pools. It is not that health issues do not exist - the statistics are just not collected and published.
• There is such a variability in offspring, that no breeder of mutts can guarantee why your pup will look like as an adult
• No breeder of mutts can offer a real guarantee for a "healthy, intelligent, great with children" mutt pup.
• Invariably, the parents of the mutt puppy are poor in quality. You will NEVER produce lovely pups from average (or worse) parents, regardless of breed or mixed breed)

So before you rush out and buy that cute little labradoodle, that golden-doodle, or labrashitz, keep in mind, you're more than likely about to be ripped off. Cross bred dogs, should be definition, be considered "accidents", all neutered shortly after birth - never to be bred from, and sold for under $200 each. And even with these accidental litters - you should get breeders support for life. Unfortunately, it is all too common for this not to happen.

And for those of you who are niaive enough to IMPORT mutts such as labradoodles, and other such multi-doodle mutts, you are doing yourself and dogs a great injustice. If you feel the need for a mutt, please go to your local dog shelter, and rescue a pup from there.

So mutt breeders make me angry? Well, it's very disappointing to see people being ripped off when they could get a well bred pure bred dog for a cheaper price.

However, there are people out there who are willing to pay more for a cross breed, then they are a good pure bred dog. Sometimes they justify it because they may have read an article where some "celebrity" has one, so they need to have one. Let me tell you straight,if I had a dollar for every person who contacted me about their fancy cross breed that turned out to not have the characteristics they were told it would, I'd be a wealthy woman. Then there are the very angry people who will continue to justify their decision by telling me their dog "hardly sheds", or is "nearly hypo-allergenic". hmmmm.... too bad it doesn't though, like you were promised by the breeder.

Go and talk to a few groomers, talk to a few vets, and visit a few shelters before you try one of the cross breeds. You'll be sadly disappointed at the terrible stories you'll hear that will put it quickly into perspective. You'll see "fancy" cross breeds dumped at alarming rates, and you'll certainly want to know why.

And if you think that because the cross breed stock is imported from Australia so it must be good - let me tell you straight - I live in Australia, and amongst the knowing dog community, the cross breeds sold at ridiculous prices are seen as a disgrace. In fact, one of the so called "big names" in labradoodles has already tried to acquire my own pure bred dogs to mix with her own. Funny isn't it that the "bad" pure bred genes that cross breeders are trying to avoid and so quickly sought after by them. Goodness knows how those purebred genes magically fix themselves when the dogs are bred to another breed, with its own set of genes.

Unless cross breeders are really genetic scientists who are doing genetic modification, all you'll end up with in the mixed breed is a mix of a lot of things. This is why the F2, and F3 generations are seen as such disasters.

The new myth - "Infusion"

Rather than calling it "cross-breeding", they now call it "infusion". There is one group of people breeding "labradoodles" - oh, and ain't that a political little fighting pool - who are "infusing" several breeds. What this actually means is cross breeding a number of different breeds. One group of labradoodle breeders now, by its own admission, have - standard poodles, minature poodles, labradors, irish water spaniel, american cocker spaniel, english cocker spaniel, and wheaten terrier - all in the cross-breed they want to call "labradoodle"!

I have also just learned that in one part of the world, the breeders have now got into their breeding program a barbet. Now the barbet is a gorgeous dog, but it is a dog from a very limited gene pool with noted problems, that dedicated breeders are working incredibly hard to sort through. How the "labradoodle" people think that a barbet is going to further improve their breeding program is beyond me.

It seems that if you mix any mutt with a poodle at some stage, even it was 20 years ago, you can call it a labradoodle! And honestly, these guys think that this "breed" is going to be registered by the official pure bred dog registries? Not any time soon!

If you've heard of any other breeds that people are now "infusing" (just like a cup of herbal tea) into the "labradoodle", please contact us and let us know which breed, who is doing it, and from what part of the world, and we'll publish it here.

Here's a tip guys - stop misleading the public by saying you have a "pure-bred". Clearly you have several. All within the same dog! Oh, and you might want to stop calling it a "labradoodle" - a mutt is a close as you're going to get from me and a lot of other people. Perhaps "muck-oodle" might be better.

Health?

Get real guys. In fact when I last viewed the register for DNA tests for genetic disorders, the labradoodle had one of the highest number of items that could be tested on. A lot of the labradoodle hype would have us believe that the "breed" is free of health issues. The evidence is there itself that there are plenty. An additional, and very important complexity is that now the breed mix consists of so many different breeds, this will then again change the requirements of the genetic testing.

Merle? - where did that come from?

At least the "labradoodle" (we have to put it in inverted commas, because really, it's hardly that is it? - well how can it be with the plethora of other breeds that people are prepared to admit it adding in) - some breeders are now admitting the huge issues associated with very big dogs, the real shedding issues that exist, temperament problems, and the subsequent re-homing and unfortunately euthanasing.

Mutt registries

Raw Feeding Boarding Kennel in country Victoria, Australia.

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Learning to the leader of your pack

This site last updated May 2010.

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