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Re: Pedigree dogs
i love my little mongrel too CP and would choose him all over again if i had the ability to wind back time.
On the subject of labradoodles, yes they were bred for a reason, but i was under the impression that the reason they were first produced by the well known kennel in australia has now been disproved due to its unpredictability? Perhaps you could correct me on that score.
There are good and bad breeders on both side of the fence. Bad pedigree breeders and bad mongrel breeders. Unfortunatly fashion dictates the rises in bad breeders of one type of dog over another. At the moment the market is flooded with bad mongrel breeders because they are what are in fashion at the moment. The television programme you refer to was in part responsible for that. Its a shame it didnt actually show the good breeders and only the bad.
Interestingly I watched a programme on a puppy farmer. Many of the dogs featured were mixes, along with some of the more popular toy breeds. 15-20 years ago bichons and chihuahuas were not very common, i now see them very regularly. Fashions change, so the puppy farmers change their stock to suit. After all all they want is to make money.
Rescues have always had to bear the brunt of the dog fashion trends. When it was dalmatians, then they flooded the rescues, weimeranas have also flooded. Staffies were very fashionable status dogs not long ago (and in some places still are), as replacements of the banned pit bulls. Being more readily available and a more common dog they were bred even more. The result... thousands of them in rescue. I wonder what will happen in a few years when the fashion for mongrels (particularly poodle mixes and toy mixes) wanes..... i would bet money on the fact that many will end up in rescue.
I do think some people have bought mongrels because they mistakenly assume that they will automatically be healthier. I only wish that argument really stood up.
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