Thank you for your reply. My point is that after doing some of my own homework outside of this forum, there is no reason why dogs that a mixed dogs cannot have come from a responsible breeder.
I suppose it is a more a matter of opinion.
I'm glad you're here asking questions and not just breeding your dogs without first looking into the why's and why not's - this alone puts you above any backyard/irresponsible breeder type of person.
I'll give you my honest opinion on the concept of BYB's and breeding mixed breeds. There are hundreds of established breeds already. These are breeds that have been carefully molded throughout the years, breeding dogs with certain attributes to other dogs with certain attributes to develop a consistent set of traits that makes up a particular breed. This is why, when you breed a chow to a chow, you will get a predictable result. There are breeds to match any person's needs already, and because of the number of dogs already out there it is hard to support the concept of people deliberately mixing breeds just to feed into a money-making fad.
Pet over-population is a serious problem. Many of the people on this forum have helped with rescue and understand the huge problem that is out there. It's not just mixed breeds, it's purebred dogs too. And this is why ANY breeding - mixed or not - is under a certain amount of scrutiny. If all those breeding for the wrong reasons (or allowing their dogs to breed indiscriminately) would stop, the suffering of hundreds of thousands of dogs would stop.
Breeding dogs should be a huge responsibility. A good breeder is one who is very conscientious about what they're doing. It's a lot more than simply taking a male and a female and putting them together to produce puppies that they can now sell for a profit. It's testing their dogs for genetic diseases. It's knowing the lines behind their dogs for at LEAST 4-5 generations and understanding what is in those lines (including health). It's breeding for a specific goal that has zero to do with making money. It's being responsible enough to take back any dog they have produced throughout the dog's lifetime - for any reason.
There is a huge fad going on in this country of "designer dogs". It's led to a lot of unscrupulous people breeding just because they can sell these pups for a large amount of money to people who fall for that cute little puppy face. Designer dogs are not a breed - they're a mix of breeds that can often be found in animal shelters across the country. By putting a cute name on them, those breeding these dogs increase the desirability and therefore the price. These breeders don't research to find the best matches as far as health. These breeders don't know the backgrounds of their breeding stock, other than maybe having a pedigree with some names on it. They don't understand the concept of researching a pedigree to try to avoid genetic diseases. Even if they have their own dogs tested (which is rare), without the background on the dogs they really don't know what they're breeding.
What they DO know is that they've got a money-maker, and if they happen to produce dysplasia, epilepsy, hypothyroidism, entropion, etc. it doesn't really matter to them as they have their money in hand and the people who bought the puppy are already in love with it by the time the disease is diagnosed. They don't care that the dog may be in pain the rest of its life, or that the owner may rack up thousands of dollars in vet bills.
Like I said earlier, this isn't JUST mixed breed breeders. ANY breeder who does not test their stock, know the backgrounds, and work toward producing a healthy and proper representation of the breed is a backyard breeder. Yes, your breeder probably knew she could sell these puppies - breeders like that depend on the almighty $$$ and know that these puppies are cute and people will fall for it. And unfortunately she will probably continue breeding her bitch just to make more money.
You were comparing dog breeding to human breeding, and to me there's just no valid comparison. Humans have a choice. Dogs do not. If a human had a disease that they knew would likely be inherited by their offspring and would likely create a life of pain for their children, I would hope that they would seriously consider adoption instead.
I really feel that we humans should be working toward reducing the number of dogs out there that are being produced by irresponsible breeders and we can't do that if people continue to support them by buying their dogs. People aren't doing this deliberately for the most part - it's a matter of just not knowing. Education is the key.
By the way - did your breeder health screen her dogs? This doesn't mean that she says "my vet checked them over and said they're healthy". This means that she has OFA numbers available to look up. Poodles have a large range of genetic health risks, including progressive retinal atrophy, luxating patellas and von willebrands disease. They also run about 13% in hip dysplasia. Maltese can also have a problem with PRA as well as luxating patellas. Mixing these breeds doesn't guarantee health by any means but the mix is more likely to be healthy if the breeder tested her dogs and researched the pedigrees to avoid health problems.
Best of luck to you with your new pup and again I'm glad you're asking questions here. People ARE passionate about dogs on this forum and when you ask about breeding mixes you may get some heated replies. This is not a reflection of their feelings about you or your purchase but about the overall "irresponsible breeder" problem.
Melanie and the gang in Alaska