Rethinking the ‘designer dog’ craze

Let’s talk about so-called “designer dogs.” Some people also refer to them as hybrids. A hybrid is a cross between two different species, not two different breeds, so that’s a complete misnomer. I know there are plenty of “doodles” and “poos” of all varieties in Canton. And I’m sure they’re lovely, sweet pets. I’m equally sure that the people churning out these dogs and collecting hefty sums of money for them are laughing all the way to the bank. Your adorable labradoodle is a mutt. That you paid over $1,000 for a dog that not so long ago would have been given away does not make your mutt a “designer dog.”

Kramer, the finest mutt there ever was

I did a little bit of checking into how the labradoodle came to be. Psychology Today’s website had an article about Wally Conron, the creator of the labradoodle. Mr. Conron, who was once the breeding manager for the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia, decided to breed a poodle to a Labrador retriever for a particular client who needed a seeing-eye dog but was allergic to dogs. Poodles, who don’t shed the same way as other breeds, are more easily tolerated than many dogs by people who have dog allergies. So Mr. Conron bred a standard poodle to his own Labrador. The Lab gave birth to three puppies. Saliva and hair samples from those pups were sent to the client, and of the three, the client was not allergic to one of the pups, and so he bought it. The remaining puppies were cute, and the breeder came up with the name labradoodle as a marketing gimmick.

When asked if he was proud of himself for starting this “designer dog” trend, he said, “I opened a Pandora’s box, that’s what I did. I released a Frankenstein. So many people are just breeding for the money. So many of these dogs have physical problems, and a lot of them are just crazy … Today I am internationally credited as the first person to breed the labradoodle. People ask me, ‘Aren’t you proud of yourself?’ I tell them, ‘No! Not in the slightest.’ I’ve done so much harm to pure breeding and made so many charlatans quite rich. I wonder, in my retirement, whether we bred a designer dog — or a disaster!”

I will make this as plain as possible: there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog (or cat). Don’t believe me? Then check out the American Lung Association’s website that says so, and then check out the several sources they list as references, one of them being an asthma expert. The vast majority of people who are allergic to dogs react to dog dander, not fur. Dander is made up of skin cells, saliva, and other substances found on every breed of dog on the planet. So the fact that poodles don’t shed the way other dogs do does not mean they are hypoallergenic. Even hairless dogs and cats produce dander. So if you were planning on buying a doodle dog because you were told it was hypoallergenic, you will be disappointed.

There are other proponents of “designer dogs” who suggest that by mixing two breeds you end up with a dog who has the best traits of both breeds. So if you cross a poodle with a golden or Labrador retriever, you might have a dog with curly hair that fetches. Does that make it worth $1,500 or more? Responsible breeders do not sell breeding quality dogs to people who are not breeders working towards perfecting their chosen breed. They would never sell a dog to someone who told them they were planning on breeding to another breed of dog solely for profit. It’s really all just clever marketing — even as far as giving them adorable names like Puggle, because those are easier to sell than “pug/beagle cross.”

Suggesting you will end up with “the best of both breeds” is as silly as thinking if a man who is a great athlete marries a woman who is a genius their children will all be superstar athlete geniuses. It doesn’t work that way.

I’m pretty passionate about this topic, and you may wonder why. To me, deliberately crossbreeding dogs for profit is nearly criminal given the hundreds of thousands of dogs sitting in shelters all over this country right now. I would like to see people adopt that sweet mixed-breed dog at the shelter and pay the $200 to $400 adoption fee and save a life that is already here needing a family than supporting a greedy breeder who is raking in cash creating more mutts.

I am not anti-breeder. There are responsible people out there, working to improve their chosen breed. Responsible breeders test their breeding stock for things like hip and elbow dysplasia (for breeds prone to those conditions) and vision and hearing problems (for breeds like the English setter who are sometimes deaf). I doubt the person who buys a poodle to mix with a Labrador is going to pay to certify the hips and elbows of that Labrador before breeding it to their poodle.

It would be overly dramatic to suggest that for every doodle sold, a shelter dog meets an untimely end and overstays its welcome in the shelter, but in a time when pet overpopulation is a huge problem, making up stories and claims about mutts and selling them for as much as their purebred counterparts is just wrong. When the person credited with coming up with the first “designer dog” calls it a Pandora’s box, people should take note. Save your money. If you want a companion animal, support your local shelter. Look into purebred rescue organizations. And if you must have a puppy of a specific breed, find a responsible breeder and buy from them. Don’t let a cute name and a high price tag dupe you into thinking your mutt is more special than that mutt in the shelter waiting for a family.

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Posted by Susan Scheide on Jan 22 2016. Filed under Featured Content. Both comments and pings are currently closed.