Hybrid dog breeds

[BruceCaboose]

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I'm babysitting a puppy this week who is a shih-tzu/bichon mix who is driving me crazy but I guess I should have expected that from a puppy. Anyway, his mom got him from a pet store because he was a cute designer hybrid dog and I was wondering how people in the veterinary community felt about these dogs. I'll keep my own opinion out of it for now. Also, has anyone found any substantiative literature documenting hybrid vigor?

 

[RazorDoc2010]

Designer Dog = Overpriced Mutt.

by the way, I love mutts...not so big on this "designer" dog trend though

 

[bovine]

I had an owner tell me the other day that their dog was a "purebred goldendoodle"

Sometimes I just want to pull my hair out...😛

 

[chris03333]

I'm babysitting a puppy this week who is a shih-tzu/bichon mix who is driving me crazy but I guess I should have expected that from a puppy. Anyway, his mom got him from a pet store because he was a cute designer hybrid dog and I was wondering how people in the veterinary community felt about these dogs. I'll keep my own opinion out of it for now. Also, has anyone found any substantiative literature documenting hybrid vigor?

overpriced mutt...
usually the worst combos (shih-tzu + bichon= bitchn****)

my humble opinion

 

[nyanko]

It has nothing to do with hybrid vigor. Hybrid vigor is a documented trend in genetics, and backyard breeders and puppy mills who put out these overpriced mutts try to exploit the public's meager understanding of the principles of inheritance. It's abhorrent really that they can get away with it.

Both parents of these dogs are purebred. Often the purebred parents are of types who are both susceptible to similar genetic diseases. I'm sure that most of us who've worked in private practice have seen shih-poos or whatever with luxating patellae or goldendoodles with hip dysplasia. If the breeders of these animals really wanted to claim hybrid vigor, they would have to very carefully screen their breeding stock for these diseases and know the history of their animals, same as any purebred breeder.

I don't understand the point of making mutts intentionally, I guess. The Australians had a valid reason to try to make working Labradoodles and the program has not succeeded. None of these "designer breeds" were bred for a purpose other than to pad the wallets of whoever bred them and that is ridiculous to me.

 

[pressmom]

I have a "designer dog" from the shelter. I'm pretty sure he's a maltipoo (maltese-poodle cross). He has a luxating patella on the left side, and suspected microvascular displaysia. He's had several urinary tract infections, which is probably why he got thrown out of his first home or two. He's on medication for continued urinary difficulties. So, while I am a fan of my dog and shelter dogs, I am not a fan of paying $1200+ for a designer dog that may have similar problems to mine. I've spend that money on his medical care, which now with several urinalysises, urine cultures, ultrasound, radiographs, splenic scintigraphy, and a cystourethrogram (sp?). Anyway, I love my dog and couldn't imagine life without him, but I seriously hope whoever bred him isn't breeding dogs anymore or is doing a MUCH better job with genetics.

 

[thereservoirdog]

did you guys see the article yahoo yesterday about $20,000 hybrid cats? Pathetic.

 

[VetMed555]

In our clinic (emergency) owners have to specify the breed everytime their animal is checked in. So everytime somebody writes: "labradoodle" or "pugle" one of our doctors scratches it out and writes "MIX" in big letters. Also, there is no such thing as "labradoodle" in our computers =) Tis' the benefit of working at an emergency clinic: you don't need to cater to clients quite as much as at a day practice.😀

 

[Steelmagghia]

did you guys see the article yahoo yesterday about $20,000 hybrid cats? Pathetic.

Granted, those are expensive cats, but those aren't quite the same thing. They genetically engineered the Ashera (the ridiculously expensive cat) so that they produce a different protein in the saliva (thus they are actually "allergen free"...unless of course you are allergic to a different part of the cat).
At least THOSE cats are actually scientifically proven to do what the breeder claims (money back guarantee and everything).

Sorry, I did a report on the research they did to make that cat for Biochem I.

The hybrid part of that cat is just for show...a 30 super cool looking cat is more fun to pay a ridiculous amount of money for than a normal looking cat that is allergen free...though they also sell a Siamese version and a Rag Doll version as well.

 

[winglessflight]

One of our clients, who works at a pet store, came in with his new purebred cat that he had paid $200 for after his discount at the pet store.

the breed: domestic short hair

 

[Steelmagghia]

One of our clients, who works at a pet store, came in with his new purebred cat that he had paid $200 for after his discount at the pet store.

the breed: domestic short hair

Oh my god! Haha. Tell me you didn't tell her how much she was screwed over?

 

[UVA Wahoo]

I think what the designer dog breed craze of late boils down to is that people are looking for something unique, to distinguish themselves from the hundreds of lab, golden retriever, etc owners out there. Perhaps people think that their dog sounds more important or trendy if it's called a shih-chon or a pekapoo rather than a "mix".
In my opinion, as long as they aren't being lied to by the breeders, clients can call their dogs what they want... Before they walk through the door, I have a better idea as a vet assistant of what I will be recommending to a new client who claims to have a havi-chon rather than just a "mutt". I think we are going to be seeing a lot more of this with the advent of DNA testing...

 

[TrocarKarin]

Granted, those are expensive cats, but those aren't quite the same thing. They genetically engineered the Ashera (the ridiculously expensive cat) so that they produce a different protein in the saliva (thus they are actually "allergen free"...unless of course you are allergic to a different part of the cat).
At least THOSE cats are actually scientifically proven to do what the breeder claims (money back guarantee and everything).

Sorry, I did a report on the research they did to make that cat for Biochem I.

The hybrid part of that cat is just for show...a 30 super cool looking cat is more fun to pay a ridiculous amount of money for than a normal looking cat that is allergen free...though they also sell a Siamese version and a Rag Doll version as well.

I found this website about the guy selling the Ashera cats.

 

[NittanyKitty]

One of my dogs is a lab/poodle mix, and my family does NOT call her a labradoodle. We got her way before the whole "trend" started, and she's definitely not a designer dog. She was born and raised on a Pennsylvania farm, cost us $25, and loves to hunt. 🙂

 

[Steelmagghia]

Interesting. I hadn't seen that article, thank you.

It appears that he's definitely a financial fraud, but the cats themselves are actually hypoallergenic, just not in the way he says they are.

Here are the articles I used about the Fel d 1. Though they are definitely about the protein and not the cats "created" (or not) by Allerca.
http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full...7730&gca=jbc;278/41/40144&gca=jbc;280/5/3208&
http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full...7730&gca=jbc;278/41/40144&gca=jbc;280/5/3208&
http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full...7730&gca=jbc;278/41/40144&gca=jbc;280/5/3208&

Sorry about the width of this post. I didn't feel like looking up my html codes and I'm not even sure that the forum would handle it.

 

[bunnygirl]

In our clinic (emergency) owners have to specify the breed everytime their animal is checked in. So everytime somebody writes: "labradoodle" or "pugle" one of our doctors scratches it out and writes "MIX" in big letters. Also, there is no such thing as "labradoodle" in our computers =) Tis' the benefit of working at an emergency clinic: you don't need to cater to clients quite as much as at a day practice.😀

You just made my day! I do the same thing haha

 

[BruceCaboose]

I wish people would come talk to their vet BEFORE they got the dog so they could be steered to a shelter to pick out their own unique "designer dog" that looks different from all the purebreds. I get very worked up over irresponsible breeders (I came across a lot of "shichon breeders" while researching the puppy to see if this puppy's behavior was neurotic or from his parents) and far too many spoke of hybrid vigor like it was the magic bullet for all genetic canine diseases which we know it isn't. I'm all for breeders who genetically test their dogs and create new breeds to do a specific job, however I feel like the majority of these pet store hybrids exist only to look cute as puppies and make a profit for the breeder. Sigh. Ironically, one of the questions in my interview at VA-MD was whether I thought people should continue breeding purebred dogs considering the massive euthanasia rates at shelters.

 

[projekt]

You know that certain kind of mutt that's really ugly, neurotic, and antisocial? What's so vigorous about that hybrid?

 

[annaig]

Yeah, those "designer dogs" are cute for all of five minutes. Especially pugles. I've only met one calm one. But he was hit by a car trying to cross the street to play with another dog....

 

[Truth74]

Where I work, the dog ends up being a ______ mix. If it's a shipoo, its a shi tzu mix. If its a labradoodle, its a lab mix.
I don't think our place is going to all of a sudden change it, since they'd have to change the computers in new york, too.

 

[Pouches Rock]

It's sad that people don't understand the genetics behind the concepts. I think that "Individual Vigor" is more important than hybrid vigor. It doesn't matter if you have a gene pool or variation that is so small that its a puddle as long as there isn't any bad diseases swimming around your good to go. If you are breeding dogs than you have to ability to track the individuals vigor through its lineage and produce a great animal and its a shame when people don't do it.

Obviously, giving homes to animals that need it is wonderful but if you would like a particular breed or designer breed then its your responsibility to research and only buy from a good breeder.