Backyard-Bred Designer Dogs Plague Animal Shelters

[Miakoda]

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_009164449.html


Backyard-Bred Designer Dogs Plague Animal Shelters

Amateurs Breeding Sick Animals With Health & Behavioral Problems

John Slattery
Reporting


(CBS) HUNTINGTON, N.Y. Mixed breeds or mutts used to cost little or nothing. But in recent years, certain cross-breeds like the so-called Lhasa-poo from a Lhasa-Apso and a Poodle have become a popular boutique breed that can cost thousands of dollars, but the dogs may have medical or behavioral problems.

A Cock-akita is from a Cocker Spaniel and an Akita. A cross from a Pit Bull and labrador is a Pitador. Offspring of a Poodle and Schnauzer is a Schnoodle. A Pug and a Beagle? A Puggle.

Why do dog breeders do it? "I think they thought if we put two breeds together, we can come up with the best traits of both. But that's not what happening," said Maryann Chernovsky, director of the Little Shelter Animal Adoption Center in Huntington, Long Island.

The staff there has seen a surge in the surrender of these designer dogs, because of problems like they recently saw in a puggle. Chernovsky said, "That dog was born with a deformity on its face."

There's a dirty little secret in some of these boutique breeds: undesirable traits. Chernovsky said, "The problems are both behavioral and in many cases also health issues."

A Bichon mix at the shelter is partially blind and completely deaf. A Labradoodle came in with hip problems, according to veterinary technician Brooke DeSantis.

"We brought the dog down to our vet. We did X-rays, and the dog was born without a femur head," DeSantis said.

DeSantis suggested that the problem with many of these designer dogs is that they are in-bred by people who don't know what they're doing. "They backyard bred. They hobby breed, and instead of getting good genes, they get bad genes," DeSantis said.

Advice on how to choose a mixed breed is to find out as much as you can about the dog's parents -- their temperament and any medical problems.

While designer dogs like Labradoodles and Schnoodles are becoming increasingly popular, they are not registered breeds with the American Kennel Club.

 

[Miakoda]

I put this article in this section so more would see it & read it. If it must be moved, I understand, but I would really like for it to stay here for a while if possible. Thanks.

 

[yankeedownsouth]

I don't agree with the breeding of designer dogs (yes, I have one, but not intentionally). And I agree there are probably alot of them in the shelters. But there are a lot of purebreds there too - so many labs I can't even count; in fact, I got my lab from the city pound. I think that there are unscrupulous breeders of "designer" mutts and unscrupulous breeders of "pure-breds." It's all sad.

 

[Bobsk8]

It would seem that the chances of having a purebred with problems would be just as frequent....

 

[~Jessie~]

The theory is that breed specific health problems are recessive traits, so if 2 different breeds are bred together then they will not have any health problems. This is at least what these BYBs say to claim they have healthy dogs.

I do NOT believe in breeding mixed breeds, and I can't wait for the "designer dog" phase to die out.

 

[Bobsk8]

I have a book called the Dog Bible and there is a very large section on all the different breeds and on each different breed they list the common illnesses that breed is subject to because of the inbreeding. It would seem to me that a mixed breed would have much less of a chance of coming down with these same health problems, unless I am not understanding the subject of inbreeding.

 

[Miakoda]

Never mind. Seems many on here are in favor of this crap.

 

[~Jessie~]

^^^Who? I can't think of anyone who is.

 

[AnimalLoverCatRescuer]

I can't stand the idea of designer breeds either. I think that is basically the common opinion here isn't it?

I also hate (and I come across this all the time) when people tell me that they are completely against it except for their puggle, labradoodle, whatever that they adopted from a shelter or a pound. If you are designer breeds then don't call them by their designer names! Say you have a poodle lab mix or a pug poodle mix or whatever... sheesh! That drives me nuts. Then someone comes along and says oh I love your dog what kind is it and the owner says a Puggle! and the think oh I gotta go out and get one! Plus there is no way to know it's exact breeds if it came from a shelter or pound!

 

[schurpug]

The whole "hybrid vigor" theory is crap. Plain and simple. It's never been proven true, and anyone with any kind of veterinary experience can tell you the exact opposite.

I work summers as a Veterinary Assistant in a rather afluent area, and I'll tell you, I have seen more problems in the "Goldendoodles", "Labradoodles", "Schnoodles", etc.

There may not be as much of a likelihood of the Breed Specific diseases being passed on (for example, PDE in the Pug), BUT I know of not ONE Designer Dog "breeder" (using the term loosely) who tests their dogs hips, elbows, patellas, etc. and many of the breeds they are using to create their "breeds" are well known for (and have well documented cases) of their HD, Patella Luxation, etc. I've seen more Goldendoodles/Labradoodles crippled to the point of having to be PTS by the age of 4 than I care to remember.

It's about time the media starts taking note of the truth instead of jumping on this "The newest must-have" Fad.

 

[agilityretrievers]

Breed-specific problems may be recessive traits, but if you breed a Golden and a Standard Poodle, both of which have problems with and are somewhat likely to carry the recessive gene for HD, you are just as likely to get a dog with HD. Since one of the breeds must have a higher frequency of HD than the other breed (I'm guessing Goldens but I'm not sure), a Goldendoodle would be more likely to have HD than a purebred Poodle. The concept of "hybrid vigor" would only work on diseases that are only found in one of the breeds that are being crossed.

This is compounded by "designer dog" "breeders" who don't do health tests on their own dogs and don't own dogs from lines that have health testing behind them (which I'd bet is true most if not virtually all of these "breeders"), so that a Goldendoodle is also probably more likely to have HD than a purebred Golden from a responsible breeder.

 

[Dolly]

That's so sad. Breeders that want to preserve their breed and are responsible don't deliberately breed mixes . . . so most of the "designer dogs" you see people selling aren't from high-quality purebreds so they could have just as many health problems!

So-called designer dogs are uncommon at shelters or rescues around here though. Labradoodles, cockapoos, morkies, shi-poos and most of the more popular mixes don't show up much in shelters at all! Currently there are only 25 dogs available for adoption between both of the shelters in our (highly populated) county, and I'd say at least 70% are some form of pit bull or pit bull mix. Lots of labs and GSD too And not one puppy! True mutt puppies are very hard to come by, especially if you don't want a big dog -- and a friend of mine was lucky to get a rottie/malamute puppy from his shelter since they chose the owner by lottery since they had so many good people apply for it. :yikes:

I hate that there are all these kennels and puppymills that breed "designer dogs". But around here at least I can see why the average person would buy them, even if I don't agree. I don't think its worse than buying a purebred from the newspaper, they're often from the same kind of breeder. Most people looking for a dog, sad to say, aren't going to do extensive research, contact reputable breeders, and possibly wait months for a well-bred purebreed puppy.

But poor doggies.

 

[Novel_Weims]

Refreshing article, glad to see someone doing a story on a growing problem, the influx of these poorly bred dogs into shelters, further complicating and draining the shelter system.

As far as the genetics behind designer dogs. The original Australian bred -oodles were found to be inferior to their purebred parents. No true type could be maintained, and no prediction of traits was possible. These were dogs bred from good quality stock. This has been documented numerous times by AKC and elsewhere on the internet.

Now we have everyone and their cousin breeding two breeds together and they're using crap purebreds to begin with, because no quality breeder would allow their dog to be used in such a manner. A person doesn't champion a labrador so they can make labradoodles. Low and behold they are encountering the same problems that were found in Australia, but magnified because of the lack of quality in the 1st generation and yet... noone stops producing them and noone stops buying them. What's the adage, A wise man learns from the fool's mistakes? I would put the majority of the human race as a fool in that case.

 

[schurpug]

But poor doggies.

Completely agreed.

So many of us - myself included - get caught up with our anger at the deceptions of such breeders (irreputable ones of any kind - be it those that breed "designer breeds" or those that breed unhealthy/unfit purebreds) that we forget about the worst victims - the dogs.

 

[carlar]

I don't like the designer dogs mainly because I believe that the breeds should stay pure. I don't believe in inbreeding or line breeding. I have very strict rules I follow when breeding my dogs.

 

[schurpug]

How can you consider yourself a "breeder" but never linebreed or inbreed? Do you mean to tell me that you outcross EVERY litter?

I never knew there was such a gene pool as to allow you to NEVER double up on a dog or a bloodline...

*wonders how such a breeder locks the "good" traits into their breeding program*