How do you feel about cross-breeding different breeds of dogs?

United States
July 1, 2007 9:43pm CST
My parents have two beautiful dogs. One is a Cock- a- Poo and their new baby is a Matipoo. They are beautiful, fun and loving pets, but I have doubts as to whether these types of dogs, some almost a whole new breed, should be created in the first place. Is it ethical. These dogs have a whole new set of health issues. I think it is done so the breeders can create a cute puppy to sell for more money.I have even heard of a labrador and poodle being breed. It's called a labradoodle. Now that surely must be wrong. A loving pet it may be, but mixing a very large dog with what is typically a small dog( I haven't heard of the poodle being a standard size, only miniature) just doesn't seem, right. Your opinions please
5 people like this
9 responses
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
2 Jul 07
Well people will try anything, I had a nice little beagle, but she was never spayed and of course she came in heat and a big dog got stuck in her. Whatever happened, he pulled her insides out and she had to be put down. It was my fault for not neutering her. I doubt its a good idea to mix these breeds! But people will be people!
@rachel83 (101)
• Australia
2 Jul 07
hi....i have a maltese poodle also known as 'moodle' and a maltese shitzu...and they are great! its early days with the breeding so its hard to say about illnesses but don't all breeds get sick anyway!? its becoming more popular here in australia. poodle's aren't only just 'miniture' and 'toy', there is also the 'standard' poodle. is anything ethical these days? corporations and private owners are going to do what they want to make money anyway, and people are going to keep buying them. and this doesn't just stop at breeding dogs, we only have to look at the world around us. for example the scientists and governments and what they are putting into our food, and the labeling standards (or lack of!) its all about money for them. we have no idea about what GM food is going to do to us years down the track....
• United States
2 Jul 07
Yes, all breeds do sometimes get sick, but do you really think it is fair to the pet to create him/her without knowing what horrible or painful kinds of illnesses we could be subjecting them to just for money in our pockets? It's also true many things are unethical these days, but as it has been said before,not quoted verbatim," the only thing to stop evil is for good men to do nothing." Should we just sit back and do nothing to stop unethical behavior?
@rachel83 (101)
• Australia
2 Jul 07
we need to speak up more for sure! people power is the only way, and people don't speak up enough that's why society is getting away with a lot of these things. but where are the people who are going to speak up? i do think breeding is small in comparison to what is going on out there, but it is a huge reflection on the world. all the people dying in wars, and the brainwashing that goes with it...that's were the issues are... :o)
@quatelmon (955)
• United States
2 Jul 07
The type of dogs you're refering to are often called "designer dogs." Dogs that are breed for no other purpose than to be cute. I don't think that there is necessarily anything wrong with wanting to have a cute dog, but the problem with these dogs is that you don't know what they're going to look like most of the time when they grow up. They're cute as puppies, but sometimes don't look great when they're older. "Mutts," or dogs that are a mixture of unknown origin are known to be healthier than purebreed dogs. Many shelters are now reporting a large influx of "designer dogs" in their shelters. To me, there's no need to create new breeds. Dogs now a days are treated waaayyy differently than they used to be.
1 person likes this
@Mikki2 (179)
• United States
2 Jul 07
A standard poodle is around 15 inches tall and a lab around 21 inches so they are far from the same size. Most cross breeds can not be registered but yet the owners want to charge like they are pure breds. I believe some of these are bred by accident but you are right, some people bred them to create a certain look. I agree, people should take health matters into consideration before breeding.
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Jul 07
15 inches is the minimum height (at top of shoulders)for a poodle to be classified as a Standard poodle, they can be quite a bit larger than that. 21-24 inches is the breed standard for Labs (for competition) but they can vary in size also. So, it is quite easy to find one of each that would be similar in size to mate. Since the offspring aren't "papered" anyway, there would be no real need for either parent to adhere to the breed standard anyway. But I agree with you, breeders should be more concerned with the health of the animals than the money they are going to make.
• United States
2 Jul 07
By mixing breeds dogs tend to be healthier because they are less likely to have the same recessive traits. The Labradoodle was created as a potential guide dog for blind people with dog allergies because poodles don't shed as much as labs, but aren't a good temperament for a guide dog. Most standard poodles I've seen are very close in size to Labradors, so I'm wouldn't worried about health concerns in mixing the too. Careful breeders are aware of issues in breeding dogs of different sizes. By breeding a smaller male to a larger female you avoid these problems. (my grandfather bred male donkey's to draft horse mares for years to produce large mules). In the end though, check a pound or a rescue center before spending hundreds of dollars on a purebred dog that is likely to have health problems due to recessive genes.
• United States
2 Jul 07
I think celeste michelle was saying that poodles usually make great service dogs. They can be rather stubborn and a bit too smart for their own good sometimes, . Crossing them with a lab helps temper those behaviors (plus the benifit of less dander). The crossed puppies are more likely to make a good service dog than a purebred poodle.
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Jul 07
I do agree with you that getting a dog from a shelter or rescue group is the best way to find a companion, but not for the same reason. We have way too many abandoned and unwanted dogs in these shelters that will be put down if we don't adopt them. I didn't know that was the reason the labradoodle was bred. That is for a good cause then. A working dog, not simply a designer dog to to make a buck. Thank You for the information.I wonder why their temperment is not well suited for a guide dog. They are both loving and usually well behaved breeds.
• United States
2 Jul 07
The labradoodle is a mix of a labrador and a standard size poodle. They do exist (but they're ugly as all get up!!) LOL. I don't think we should be creating new "breeds" just for the cuteness and saleability. Most of the breeds that have been around for a long time were created for a specific purpose, ie: hunting, retrieving, guarding, ratting, etc. We have such a large population of unwanted dogs already, I think it's wrong to keep on creating them, just to get a buck. You're correct about the whole new set of health problems. Not only that, but it being a new "breed" they do not all come out looking the same. The genes are still so mixed up, there is no way to get consistency.
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Jul 07
Cross-breeding is not unethical, after all,dogs so it all the time when left to their own devices. The unethical part comes when people breed dogs only to make money, paying no attention to the potential problems that cross-breeding or (more often) inbreeding will cause. The reason so many pure-breed dogs look like they do today is because it was a huge fad in the victorian era to breed dogs for specific "looks." We have far more breeds of dogs now than we did 150 years ago because of this craze. Unfortunatly, most of these breeds were acheived by taking dogs that had the desired traits and breeding them "in-line" - what the rest of us would call "inbreeding" to get their results faster. Many breeds of today barely resemble the bred standard of 100 years ago. Also, little regard was given for the "side effects" of this type of breeding, which is why we have english bulldogs that are too broad shouldered to be born naturally (most are delivered by c-section); german shepherds with hip displaysia, shakey and nippy chihuauas, dalmations that are born deaf at a much higher rate then other breeds, etc. The list goes on and on. Personally, I feel that cross-breeding is a good way to correct some of the damage irresponsible breeding has done; so long as it is done right. Unfortunately, I think the new "designer breeds" are going to be just as mis-bred by people looking to make a buck as our more historical purebreeds have been.
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
2 Jul 07
I have heard of this more and more~ the mixing breeds of dogs. I think that they are a new 'fad' that people are going threw. Some of the dogs are darling, while others aren't. As someone else said, you can't register them so they might not be worth as much as a pure breed. I agree that is doesn't seem right to mix a large breed with a small breed. Although it happens all the time with mutts, but I wouldn't do it as a dog breeder.
@castleghost (1304)
• United States
2 Jul 07
Cross breeding has been going on for as long as I can remember. When I was a child that type of dog was called a mutt and most people just gave the dogs away to anyone that would take one. These days the dogs are considered to be "designer" dogs and have a high price tag one them. Whatever name tag you place on it cross breeding has been going on for years, its just that some decided to call them designer instead of mutt. I myself have two German Shepherds mixed.
• United States
2 Jul 07
I think the difference between what we use to call a mutt or a heinz 57 and a designer dog was the owners were not sure who or what kid of dog sired the pups where as today's designers are specifically bred knowing both who the dame and the sire are. I always had mutts when I was a kid. My Cocker Spaniel is the first pure bred dog I have ever had, but she was retired rom showing and breeding and her owner just wanted a good home for her, so we got her for free. Being a pure-bred dog, she does have some major health issues though. Terrible ear infections that are tough to keep under control and grand mal seizures. I let her previous owner know about her seizures so she could contact the puppies owners. Don't know if she did though. Dixie is being put through the pain of these ear infections and the seizures because she was specifically bred to show. She was a champion, but is it worth it? I don't remember needing to brush my mutts teeth when I was little either. mutts usually bred with mutts, it was nature's way. Few ppl made a dime off of these wonderful dogs, but these designer's are turning a profit for their breeeders and paying for it in terms of their health. That is whatI meant by being unethical. The difference is nature or playing mad scientist.