Dog shoppers should beware

Prices of cross-bred canines seem outlandishly high.

I read the classified ads pretty thoroughly, and I am amazed to see the number of ads in the pet section. People are breeding and selling dogs. Many of them are hoping to sell what have recently come to be known as designer breeds.
 
Let me explain: Take a Labrador retriever and breed it to a poodle. What do you get after the 60-day gestation period? A Labradoodle. Then take a Chihuahua and a miniature pinscher. What results? A Chiha-Pin. Then there's the Dober-doodle, the Cocka-Poo, the Goldendoodle and many more. I think you get the idea. But what do you really get? Why a mongrel, of course. If the sire and dam are purebred but of different breeds, crossing them does not make a new and different breed. It's a mutt.
 
Interestingly enough, the Labradoodle began as a legitimate experiment in order to produce a hypoallergenic service dog for the blind. After failing to consistently produce the desired results, the experiment was abandoned. That is because genetically first generation crosses do not combine the best -- or worst -- qualities desired in one animal.
 
Some breeders believe they're creating a dog that doesn't shed. But all dogs shed. The long-hair, soft-coated dog may not shed on your carpet and furniture, but it does shed. Where does the hair go? Into the dog's own coat, and that causes mats. Constant brushing or frequent trips to the groomer then become necessary.
 
Caveat emptor. What I don't understand is that the sellers of designer breed puppies are charging hundreds of dollars for these mutts and people are buying them.
 
If you want a mutt, go to the shelter. As a former director of the Chemung County SPCA, I know many dogs go begging for homes and would love to go home with you and be your friend forever.
 
More than 160 breeds are recognized by the American Kennel Club. Many of those breeds have been in existence for eons. The Pekingese's history dates back more than 1,000 years. The Chinese Crested goes back to the 1500s. Other breeds date back to the 1700s and 1800s and were bred for specific purposes. It was recognized and understood that careful selection and the need for a legitimate stud book be part of the process. There have been many attempts over the past 50 or so years to produce a new or exotic breed. Most have failed because the breeders did not understand what it takes to produce a new gene pool.
 
Some years ago, many dogs in the United States ceased working for a living and became couch potatoes, their original purposes abandoned. Nowadays the American Kennel Club encourages and holds more field and obedience trials, terrier trials, agility tests, lure coursing and many other athletic pursuits. This gives the dogs and their owners good exercise, good competition, good companionship and great bonding.
 
But the breeds today still have the inborn qualities for which they were originally bred. For example, never get a border collie as an apartment pet. This dog needs to work for a living, preferably with sheep or cattle. An extremely high energy breed, he would be very unhappy in confined indoor quarters.
 
America is devoted to its pets. More than $35 billion was spent on pets in 2005. More than $19 billion was spent on products and services other than veterinary care. If you're looking for a specific breed, check out the breed rescue sites on the Internet. Please understand, you are taking on a responsibility that will live in your home and your heart for 10-15 years and beyond.

Reference: www.stargazettenews.com

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