University
Commons Animal Clinic
1827 Wehrli Road , Naperville, IL 60565. Phone:
630-544-3333 |
|
I was in shock! New clients
walked in my clinic with a puppy they just got. They proudly handed me the
purchase papers indicating they paid $650.00 for an eight-month-old Shockerpoo,
a mix of a Shih Tzu, Cocker Spaniel and Poodle. In other words, a carefully selected mutt. Not that I don't
like mutts; I love them, just like the rest of the creatures I take care of, but
a Shockerpoo is no pure breed and should not be sold as such, much less with
that "suggestive" price tag.
The
market is flooded with all these new trendy "breeds": PicaPoo,
Schnoodle, Cockapoo, Labradoodle, RotPit etc. They are all very nice dogs, but
they are not pure breed dogs. As a matter of fact, they are all a little
different, even within the same litter. They are "designer dogs" with
exorbitant price tags that often are an "impulse buy". They have a
high abandonment rate due to the unpredictability of temperament, health,
appearance and lack of pedigree. Their popularity is largely a result of
successful marketing and creating a demand that dictates supply. These dogs are
not recognized by the main registry (AKC, etc.) and should not be sold as a
breed.
Creating a new breed takes
a long time. Dog breeds are the result of many years of population genetics.
They usually evolve in a particular region or territory and undergo natural and
manmade selection, mostly for traits of usage such as hunting, herding, working
etc. Purebred produces more of the same in a predictable manner. They share many
characteristics related to look, function, health and more that make the breed
standards. The number of the breed ancestors or founders is crucial to the breed
quality; the smaller the population, the higher the inbreeding and the
expression of bad genes and breed defects.
Bad breeding is a common
phenomenon involving not only the mixing of breeds by design, but also
unscrupulous amateur "pure breed" breeding. Inbreeding, defective
blood line breeding and poor/substandard/non-standard dog breeding takes place
all over the country in the form of puppy mills/farms and smaller home made
settings. These ignorant activities all share the motives of greed and
easy-money opportunity and do more harm then good by flooding the markets and
causing severe long-term damage to the dog population as a whole.
The next time you buy a
dog, please do some homework. If you are not intent on a pure breed, you can
adopt a dog very inexpensively. If it is a pure breed dog you want, search for a
reputable breeder. As always, in case of questions, consult your veterinarian
before taking any actions. Your veterinarian has access to numerous resources
and is dedicated to do what is good for you and your pets.
