Doodle is fun to say, it feels good on the tongue. Mr. Doodle Pants, Doodlicious, Doodle Head, Doodle, Doodle Pup, Where’s My Doodle, whatever, it’s fun.
We have Doodles of all types in our classes every single session. And as with all puppies, sans breed, when a little one walks into our training area, I am meeting a new soul a new living being, and we start to form a relationship based on who we are on the inside, nothing else. Breed does not matter to me in my relationships with the dogs I work with.
I am a stock dog owner, I have Border Collies, I play in the big world of competition, demonstrations, and the like. I own intense and hard working dogs, but all of my dogs have had Doodle puppy friends, and some of my good friends are Doodle owners or have taken the leap and become Doodle Aficionados, where their knowledge and enthusiasm on all things Doodle trumps everything else.
By now I think we all know the story of the dude in Australia wanting to create a hypoallergenic Service Dog, and he mucked around for a bit, came up with the Labradoodle and Goldendoodle, and his experiment was a failure for many reasons, and now after all these years he has regrets about ever doing this.
Since the experiment in Australia we now see ‘Poodling’ of pretty much everything. Bernerdoodles, Borderdoodles, Cairndoodles, Dobedoodles, Cockadoodle, Cavadoodle, Mini Poodle Goldendoodle, Aussiedoodles, Mini Aussie Goldendoodle, Jackerdoodles, Teddy Bear Doodles, Double Doodles, Mini Doodle Double Doodle, seriously it’s ridiculously fun to say.
And then you hear about the F1, F2 … F6, and you start to get a genetic run down of the line of Doodle standing in front of you. Doodle owners with a new genetics hobby.
But, there is a hard line, and sometimes a canyon size divide between those breeding and owning them, and those working in the dog world. The friction is palpable at times.
So why the hard line from professionals, why the divide? I am pretty sure dog professionals don’t dislike the dog standing in front of them, or the person who just paid for one. I don’t believe that is the problem, it isn’t for me anyway. The real friction seems to be between Dog Professionals and Doodle Breeders.
And here’s why –
The marketing strategy surrounding the Doodle world is incredible. There was a genius behind this movement at some point who influenced an entire generation of humans to believe that mixed breed dogs with fun names were worth more than a top line competition dog bred with care.
For example if you were to propose in a crowded room that you had a litter of mixed breed puppies, were selling them for $2000, there was no health guarantee, and you couldn’t guarantee the temperament either, but their name would be fun to say, well I would bet you wouldn’t get any takers.
So some fun things to know –
There is an enormous price tag because the market is supporting it, and because of kick ass marketing, Doodles are in demand. We have seen $900-$4000 for a Doodle.
Doodle Kennels are pumping them out, as in huge numbers per year. One kennel in our area boasts 10-15 litters per year, 9-11 pups per litter, $2500-$4000 per puppy, no returns, no guarantees, and IXOYE God told her to be a breeder, you do the math. It is a lucrative business for breeders.
Doodles are mixed breed dogs. Fact.
You cannot guarantee health with a mixed breed dog. Fact.
If you do the research on genetic wonk of the Poodle and whatever the breeder is Poodling it with, that will give you a heads up of what the mix really is, health considerations and all.
You cannot guarantee no shedding if one parent is a shedder, Mother Nature is cool that way.
If you get a non-shedding dog it is not synonymous with hypoallergenic if you take them out into the world, attend puppy play dates, or have a yard and garden. Their fur picks up everything along the way; grass, dirt, puppy saliva, other puppy hair, bunny dander, poop, dust, human epithelials, etc. If you are truly allergic to dogs, as in life limiting, cannot breathe, epi-pen needed, please do not get a dog, seriously.
Non shedding, if you get one, means heavy grooming. Every 6-8 weeks a trim, shave, cut, of some sort, and then daily brushing so the hair does not mat and pull at the skin causing sores, is the lifestyle.
A Goldendoodle and a Labradoodle are in fact two types of hunting dog in one dog, and this is most of the time a lot of dog for a person looking for a nice dog with a fun name.
Most households are not prepared for the level of energy that a Doodle puppy offers.
Most Doodle breeders do not take puppies back if they don’t work out.
Some Doodle breeders spay and neuter at 8 weeks of age so you cannot breed their line of Doodle on your own, dear god …
Just like all puppies of any breed, as litters are like a village, there is always a variance in temperaments. Just because Doodle is attached to a dogs name it does not guarantee you a specific temperament, a ‘Doodle’ does not mean nice happy dog in and of itself. Personally we have had super nice Doodle mixes in class over the years, and conversely we have had sociopathic Doodles that have caused a lot of damage, and then a little bit of every temperament in between.
New Doodle owners are usually given information from their breeder and are led to believe in some sort of genetic superiority in the specific way they cross bred their Doodle to create Doodle on Doodle for multiple generations, or have a … wait for it … out cross of an Australian Doodle, second generations Doodle to Doodle, bred to a Mini Poodle Golden Doodle that was Doodle to Doodle bred for three generations. If Dr, Seuss had signed his name under some of these statements I would have believed it came from one of his lovely books.
Marketing.
Marketing.
Marketing.
Does it matter in the long run?
Does it really matter that people want Doodles and want to tell the world they have a Doodle, and that they love their Doodle? Absolutely not, may all dog owners be so happy, and all dogs be so loved.
But we should also start calling a spade a spade, and a Doodle a mixed breed over priced dog. I think if that were the case, there would not be as much friction and push back from people in the professional dog world. And Doodle breeders would have to get really real really quick.
Talk with any rescue that has a litter of mixed breed puppies who were loved and taken care of at a foster home and are asking a nominal $100 for adoption and will 100% take that puppy back if it isn’t the right fit. They probably grind their teeth daily at the thought of people paying thousands of dollars for a mixed breed puppy because of marketing, yet their awesome little fur nuggets are being passed on.
Puppies –
Puppies have no choice in who their Mother or Father are, they don’t choose their breeder, and they are at the mercy of the breeder in hopes of finding a good home.
All little new souls need kindness, love, consideration, and understanding in order to flourish, no matter the breed.
All puppies deserve our efforts.
Nancy
Nancy Tanner 
Well said, Nancy.
Im a doodle mom. I like your article. I feel guilty every day for the price we paid.
My purebred spanish waterdog was 1/4 the cost.
I do love my doodles though. Athletic, smart, and guaranteed by their breeder with lineage papers and a home to go to if anything happens to us or we couldnt keep them.
Tammy http://www.seattleflydogs.com/evaluation/<http://www.seattleflydogs.com/evaluation/>
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I am a partner of a doodle and a struggling one at that. On top of everything that you have accurately said ,my little DoodleDan had his tail docked . My big challenge has been to read his body language through all the doodle fluff and then he has no tail so I literrally never knew if it was wagging or hiding between his legs. My thoughts were that other dogs were having the same problem. Not good! What I did is let the fur on his tale grow 2 inches longer than the rest of his fur and Voila! I could see it when he wagged his tale and it lit up my heart. It made a huge difference in how I responded to him… I have much less fur shed around the house than with my aussies , but I spend many, many more hours grooming him . He is not the easy dog that doodles are marketed as, in fact, I can honestly say that I have never had a dog like him! I have often thought that we should rethink the whole doodle idea.
I love you, Nancy Tanner! Well written, clear, and true.
$300.00 fee for my rescued Border collie, Magic, who is a typical Border collie. Quick learner, excellent listener, ALWAYS wants to do the right thing, ALWAYS paying attention. Magic will play will the local Doodle, but only as “I am the Border collie and you are the sheep.” I’m glad I went with the BC.
I take issue with spay/neuter before puberty (hell, in puppy infancy) as mentioned in your article. Bit of an aside to your main point, with which I agree, but back to the aside… Folks, those hormones do more than mature the reproductive tract. They are important to the maturation of several organ systems, not to mention the brain… just like in other mammals including human beings. I realize that we humans can’t be trusted to protect our adolescents (human, canine, feline, you name it) from reproducing the second they are physiologically capable of doing so. This is a big dilemma and it should be taken more seriously.
Yes, the 8 week de-sexing was the most horrendous part of this article IMO. This is like your 10 year old daughter having a hysterectomy with no hormone treatment after. Or castrating your 5 year old son. How can you expect anything approaching normal or healthy after that???
Nancy, I can appreciate a lot of what you’re saying about doodle’s coat maintenance and different temperaments then ignorant puppy buyers expected, they have become quite popular, but I’m frankly surprised and saddened that a woman of your dog knowledge and overall intelligence is neglecting to discuss the current detrimental purebreeding practices and far worse off dogs that have skyrocketed in popularity, brachycephalic breeds. I even went so far as to search your blog for brachycephallic, bulldog, boston terrier, and frenchie yet did not find anything.
I challenge you, in all the free time I’m sure you don’t have ;-), to explore more about these devastating practices and how historically we had mutts and crosses all the time in breeds. And that it actually promotes health, it’s modern science!
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/581084.The_Truth_about_Dogs
Click to access solutiondogbreeding.pdf
It wasn’t the practice to have closed studbooks until the rise of the modern dog fancier in Victorian times where eugenics reined. Even just look at the name of a Bull-Mastiff or a Pudel-Pointer… and this more modern experiment of the bobtailed boxer show how quickly phenotype can be restored. http://www.steynmere.co.uk/ARTICLES1.html
Poodles are rife with health problems and frankly need as much outcrossing as possible because of the way purebred breeders have genetically bottlenecked them.
http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.com/search?q=poodle
Doodles and other designer/cross breeds, for better and for worse, seem just as much a response to people frustrated with the purebred dog world, as they are looking for something cutely named and fluffy.
Plus, even with subpar parents, breeding to a different breed does in fact benefit the offspring, they have stronger immune systems, less risk of recessive diseases (parents have higher likelihood of different recessive genes so the other’s dominant/healthier gene prevails), and more moderate phenoype (less smooshed face, excessive skin, etc).
http://www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/blog/the-myth-of-hybrid-vigor-in-dogsis-a-myth
It is sadly only a matter of time before all purebred dogs succumb to inbreeding suppression and are plagued with recessive diseases no matter how “good” a breeder is, health testing and only picking healthy parents aren’t enough, unless we change the way we think about breeding health dogs. Population genetics just doesn’t work the way we’ve been taught in the dog world, it’s not good science for breeding purposefully. And that’s what I think you and I both want, purposefully bred healthy dogs for companionship, performance, and work. The purebred (eugenic) schema almost every kennel club adheres to is already manifesting serious problems in our beloved four-legged friends.
http://www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/the-pox-of-popular-sires.html
https://cgejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40575-016-0036-y
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/english-bulldog-s-gene-pool-may-be-too-small-heal-breed
http://www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/more-details-about-the-toller-study.html
I sincerely appreciate the work you do and your writing…I give you all this information in the hope you might explore different views and research, and therefore be an even greater advocate for dogs.
sincerely,
Nicole
Hi Nicole, yes I agree, there are problems everyplace in the dog world and breeding, but this post was specifically on Doodles, not all dogs in general.
Thanks, Nancy
Not all purebreds have smooshed faces. Not all walk on their hocks like bad German Shepherds. And you can most certainly get a mixed breed with health issues. I’ve owned 2, dogs I adored, wonderful dogs, both died of genetic diseases commonly associated only with purebreds. One was a German Shepherd/deerhound cross, near as we could tell. He got DM, an awful neurologic disease common in shepherds, and one we can now test for. Good breeders test for it and do not breed carrier to carrier. Ask if that nice mutt has been tested. Ask if that doodle has been tested. The other was a malinois cross, who had some of the worst hip dysplasia the vet had ever seen, along with hypothyroid and later, chondrosarcoma, and some consider sarcomas possibly genetic. I wonder if his parents had their hips x-rayed…. I now bought a purebred Belgian Tervuren from a person who breeds working ones, with a 4-year health guarantee, and it sounds like many doodle breeders don’t do any kind of guarantee or health testing, yet the charge far more than my Belgie cost. I’ve also gotten to be very good friends with the breeder and she’s a constant source of support. I loved my mutts, I love my purebreds, all dogs can be lovable, but I sure ran into genetic diseases in my mixes. And mixed breeds are not hybrids. Doodles are a marketing scheme with too many irresponsible breeders and too many people who have no idea what a high drive dog is and how to live with one (hint – they will bash you in the head with a squashed water bottle at 2:00 am if bored. Repeatedly).
I have a degree in Science and you are correct. In twrms of people Peurtoricans are the healthiest because of the mixing of genes. You are so right. The recisdive genes with dogs will do eventually show partial problems with purebreeds and they all started by mixing.
Sorry. I’m use to auto correct and typing in bed. Didn’t proof read.
Jenny, you have a degree in science. In what field of science, and what level of degree.
I have an MEd from UT Chattanooga in Exceptional Education, and a BS in Elem. Ed from Miami of Ohio. I know an assortment of individuals with similar degrees who have no actual experience TEACHING – and without doubt have no idea that sometimes, the ‘data’ and the ‘research’ bear little resemblance to what works and what does not, out in the ral world.
Yes, all purebreds began with mixed ‘breeds’… and particular traits were selected. The problems do not begin with selection for particular traits. The problems begin when the gene pool narrows, when no attention is paid to problems associated with gene patterns that produce a ‘desired’ trait… and when form is glorified over ‘function’. THis is what happens when breeders put many, many puppies on the ground without much undestanding of genetics….
… and in horses, disasters happen because breeders seek a ‘fashionable’ trait and ignore what’s happening to the breed as a whole (case in point: “Impressive” breeding for a bulky ‘halter horse’ in the QH world. Impressive carried genes for a deadly disease… and now, there is a conscious effort to stamp out his lines, several generations on down the road… but…. irresponsible breeders are STILL using his progeny to breed, despite the risk of genetic disease…)
Nicole, I think you are engaging in blanket demonization here. Sure, there are some breeds being ruinded by ‘breeding for what the judges seem to like’, conformationally. But other breeds have multitudes of responsible breeders who remember, every minute, that form MUST follow function, and breed for true betterment – not for ‘what wins in the show ring’
Judges do need to be more cognizant of FORM that is functional.
We have had numerous Airedales over the years – and generally have 3-4 of them sharing our home, none of them ‘shown’.. some rescues, some purchased, some given to us. Some have been bred without a lot of thought, other than ‘size’ and ‘papers’… Others have come from very careful breeders who breed NOT ONLY with conformation in mind, for the show ring… but for FUNCTION – because these dogs are intended to be hunters and workers, agile and tough.
The most agile, tough of our assortment of Airedales have come from two particular breeders – both of whom have winners in working dog venues AND your AKC conformation competition. TRUE champions, and robust health.
THAT is what breeding is supposed to be, in the area of purebred dogs. You, it seems, would prefer to toss the baby out with the bathwater. THAT, in my opinion, would be a huge, huge mistake. Promote quality, careful breeding practices… because the idea that random breeding is somehow ‘better’ reveals not only a lack of understanding – but more improtantly, a lack of experience with DOGS, in general.
This is a great response full of information! This information is not widely known. Most people trust what they are told by breeders as absolute. So a purebred owner will obviously give only positive info for purebred as mixed breeders will (if they know) give information about the benefits of mixed breeds. I myself have a black mouth cur. They were created by mixing MANY breeds of dogs to get a homestead dog. She is by far the best and most loving and loyal dog I have ever met!! She is really an amazing and talented canine. She is also my fur baby who owns my heart. She was a rescue, (as all my dogs are). And definitely sent to me by higher powers.
It is interesting that someone can charge so much for a mixed breed, just because of the name Doodle. Wish I was that good of a marketer. I love my little mixed breed. Most of the dogs I have owned were “mutts” and I’ve loved them all.
My first and best was a mixed breed of a black lab and German Shepherd. He was with us when the “designer breeds” started becoming popular so we came up with his breed calling him a
“Lab-Germ”!!! I got him from what was called a “haven’t home” before rescues started becoming popular and since they’d only had him one day (he hadn’t even been vet checked yet) I paid the cost of a bag of kitty litter (bought the biggest bag at the feed store where they were having their event at a cost of $13.50) in 1997! He was a best friend to our girls, played dress up in aprons and feather boa with them, tag and fetch, a pillow to them, guard dog and fierce protector so that even those who knew him well wouldn’t enter the house if no one was home. We were loved and so was he to the very end when we all surrounded him as he took his last breath being held by those who loved him for 13 1/2 yrs. I miss him every day. I now have a pure bred German Shepherd and she’s beautiful and sweet but she’s not my boy Blue who only cost a bag of kitty litter.
Mix dogs are often the best.
😢❤️
We see a huge number of Designer Dogs, especially Doodles, in our area. They are incredibly popular, so we have a great deal of experience with them.
This is another significant, very important consideration in their production…
Any puppies produced using the Guardian Family method are, by definition disadvantaged.
In the Guardian Family concept Producers’ dogs live elsewhere & are brought in just prior to whelping & may be removed from the litter after only 4-5 weeks post whelping. This money making practice is Very detrimental for the physical & mental health of both dams & puppies with far-reaching life long implications.
It’s simply done to produce FAR more puppies than traditional, reputable Breeders that keep their breeding stock in their homes as pets.
The Designer Dog Producers generally have puppies available ALL the time, usually multiple litters concurrently.
The Designer puppies are often lacking in vigor, socialization, bite -inhibition & generally unprepared for family life. Early neutering- yes- to squelch the competition further contributes to the physical & behavioral problems.
It’s really sad that so many buyers are unaware & unprepared for what will ensue.
It’s absolutely INEVITABLE that dams whelping puppies in unfamiliar circumstances WILL BE anxious & absolutely inevitable that her puppies WILL BE ANXIOUS. It’s now many generations of compounded anxiety in sires and dams in the gene pool, especially of Labradoodles. ”
My colleagues & I would greatly appreciate your assistance in spreading the message that the “Guardian Family ” method of Puppy Production is extremely detrimental and ONLY serves the Producers in their money making venture.
(We don’t call them Breeders, as they are simply Producers)
It is extremely detrimental for the dogs & all the families involved, especially unsuspecting owners that don’t have a clue about the origins of their new family member, who will be disadvantaged from the start.
This method is a Total scam, presented to the public as an advantage for the breeding stock to live with other families.
Most Reputable pure-bred Breeders don’t do this!
Bari Halperin
Dog Days
Since 1995
Training & Socializing
The price shouldn’t matter. People pay more for certain breeds or certain mixes because they aren’t as readily available.
Every few years we see a trend that sparks big price increases. Dalmatians were super popular after 101 Dalmatians. Chihuahuas after the Taco bell ads. Collies after Lassie. There may be problems with Doodles not living up to the marketing (mine did) or with breeder behavior (mine did offer the guarantees), but there’s nothing wrong with a doodle costing more than an AKC.
100% agree with you, Sarah.
Great article!! And your comments on the on the Doodle marketing, lol, reminds me of the Monty Python Spam skit. How about some Spam, Spam, eggs, and Spam to go with your Double Doodle Goldendoodle?
To be honest- your post sounds like sour grapes. Yes, there is great value in purebred dogs (they have been the overpriced dogs for years while the poor “mutts” and “mixed breeds” overran the shelters as people wanted the purebred Labrador or the purebred Yorkshire terrier). I had a purebred Australian Shepherd for 15 years so I think I can relate to what you are talking about with an incredible pure-bred, working dog. But, to be honest, your post sounds mad that people who breed Doodles figured out a way to make their dogs sound better than your pure bred dogs. Why can’t there be a place for both? Perhaps the Goldendoodle and the Labradoodle were a failed breeding attempt for service dogs, but, today plenty of service dogs organizations do breed doodles and they do incredibly well. Personally, after my beloved Aussie passed away I did a lot of research and got a Goldendoodle and she is amazing. She is incredibly smart, driven, and so good with people. She is now a certified therapy dog and I have seen her bring amazing qualities out in people. Also, your paragraphs about how Doodle owners don’t know what temperament or quality their owners are getting is malarkey. If someone chooses to do research on a dog and chooses to buy wisely, then, they have just as much opportunity to know the parentage and lineage of their dog than a purebred owner. I know more about my Goldendoodle’s lineage than I do my own. Another thing, yes purebreds can be wonderful, but, you can’t guarantee the temperament of an entire litter- just as you can’t guarantee the temperament of a Doodle. My Aussie was awesome, but, I went to the same vet who had several of her siblings and she would always tell me how wonderful and even-mannered my dog was and would tell me stories about how her siblings did NOT have the same temperament- they would get snappy with the vet and assistants. My Aussie was full-blooded related to her siblings, so, I don’t think we can say that the same litter of purebreds can be guaranteed as well. Another huge issues is health. Again, with mixed breeds (we have also had an incredible lab-german shepherd cross) and by far the healthiest dogs we have owned was the cross-breeds. My dog has never had a single health issue (not even an ear infection which floppy eared dogs are prone to) and my vet has literally told me that she wishes all the dogs that came to see her had the physique and temperament of my Goldendoodle. On the other hand, I have heard multiple vets refer to pure Golden Retrievers as the “cancer retriever” as they are prone to a slew of cancers. I have heard horror stories of Labradors and their health issues. Good friends of ours have a purebred Lab and they can trace her pedigree wayyyyyy back and guess what? She has torn her ACL and had to have major surgery, has had multiple allergies, multiple ear infections, huge issues with housebreaking (despite training), hip dysplasia issues, and now has cancer. Another thing, you seem to be under the impression that Doodle energy is just so incredibly high because you have bred two working dogs, yet, you are covering an entire range of dogs with that brush, which seems a little unfair. Are you saying that all of your Border Collies are all the exact same energy? All of the pure Labs and Goldens and PWDs and every pure bred dog out there all have the exact same energy level as all of the dogs in their particular breed? That’s baloney. You and I both know that all dogs have different energy levels, it depends on their personalities and, honestly, how they are trained, raised, and how adaptable they are. Just as not all Golden Retrievers out there have the same energy, not all Doodles have the same energy.
Some are super laid back and chill and others needs lots of exercise. What does that sound like? Any other dog breed that is out there. Also, your whole “you’re breeding two hunting dogs into one and many people are not ready for that kind of energy” just doesn’t make sense. One of my favorite service dogs organizations out there, specifically only cross Labs and Goldens. Those are both hunting dogs and the dogs that that organization produces are incredible. Somehow, in their decades and decades of experience they have never had to give up on crossing those two dogs because it’s just “too much energy”. And on a personal side note, I know a lot of people who have doodles and not a single one has had to rehome them (altho all of the breeders I spoke with said that if anything were to happen to please contact them before surrendering your dog as they would take them back and rehome them themselves), and on the other hadn, I have known many, many, many people who rehomed or surrendered their pure bred dogs- from small lap dogs like a Maltese all the way to full bred working dogs like, gosh I hate to say it, but a Border Collie. And before you assume my friends just gave up on their BC, please know they had spent years training him- they did it personally and also worked with professionals. he was a great dog, but, honestly he was never fully trustworthy and they weren’t in a place where they could give him everything he needed. And while he was a good dog, he was incapable of adapting to any changes in their lifestyle. You love your pure bred Border Collies- that’s awesome! Good for you! I love Borders as well. But c’mon, let’s not pretend Doodles are the bane of the dog world. Yeah, maybe they market them better than pure breeds, so, get in the game. I come from a marketing and social media background- let’s not be bitter berries. You think they market better? Learn how to be a better marketer by telling the amazing qualities of the breed that you love, just don’t try to bring other dogs down.
Not sour grapes at all, we have a ton in classes, and I know a lot personally, and they’ve been family friends of our dogs for decades now, and I think your response is longer than my original post, this was simply a commentary on the doodle thing, Nancy
I’m not sure what the length of my response has to do with anything, but, that’s cool. The reason my post is so long is because you threw a lot of one-statement facts out there that you imply only applies to Doodles, yet, they apply to many dogs including purebreeds. I felt that it was necessary to rebut your blanket statements with another side of the story. I do find it a little ironic that you didn’t address anything beyond the fact that you don’t have sour grapes and my post is long. I certainly wish you well with your BCs- they are amazing dogs!
Friend to all dogs- I appreciate what you said. The same things occurred to me as I read the article. Additionally, I dislike how people ignore that purebred dogs started out as crosses and mixes.
That said, doodles are nuts a lot of the time, but I still love them. You know what other dogs are nuts a lot of the time? Herding breeds that so often have difficulties in life because of genetic fear. But I still love them.
I think we need to turn away from breeding for looks. Instead, take a dog with parentage of sound temperament and health, breed it to a dog with a parentage of sound temperament and health. Sure we can still have working lines, companion lines, hunting lines, etc. just quit with the breed focus. Of course, this would require that people get over themselves and that people stop buying dogs for looks. Maybe impossible, sadly.
Well, I grew up raising English Bulldogs and breeders can’t guarantee their health either, along with many other breeds. Problems don’t always show up in puppies-and I know, our first female had to be euthanized. Also temperament is no guarantee either-2 fantastic parents can still have a very difficult, stubborn puppy.
But your marketing comments are spot on-they are getting premium payments for, essentially, a “mutt.” Yes, a boutique mutt, but still….
but they are also marketing “Olde English Bulldogs” now the same way-returning them to their “original” qualities.
Breeders, people who show their dogs, etc may need to check how they are doing. Because you’ve been out-marketed isn’t the other party’s fault now, is it?
I think breeders forget that their “purebred” dogs were once mixed breeds. Breeders making all the breeds that people wanted. Cropped, docked, brachycephalic — but oh how so cute — even though the “purebred” dog can’t breathe very well. etc., etc. And how much do these “purebred” dogs cost? The Goldendoodle breeders I researched before I put a deposit on GD pup — They do the health tests needed on their foundation stock. They will take dogs back, if needed. They do DNA tests. They help educate people. They want the best homes to be found for their dogs. I have adopted 8 dogs and cats in my life. For personal reasons, I chose a Goldendoodle — the best of both breeds — the Golden and the Poodle. And in the end — the Goldendoodle will be a “purebred” dog.
How EXACTLY do they ensure that the “best of both breeds” is what pops out? What magical concoction of chromosomic control do you think they have when they put two intact dogs in the same room and let them breed? Because really, what doodle owners are getting, as it turns out, are the WORST of both breeds. A doodle (and ANY intentional mixed breed) is less than the sum of its parts. There’s nothing a doodle offers that its purebred parents didn’t have that’s better already. Genetics doesn’t work that way and the number of people who fall for the “best of both worlds” nonsense is purely staggering.