As a dog lover, this is a topic that really strikes a hard nerve. By all means, I absolutely adore every kind of dog breed there is. However, there’s another dark side to the puppy market: designer dogs. You know what these are, they’re the in thing at the moment. They’re your labradoodles, your pomskies and your puggles.
These dog breeds are formed by mixing two (or more) purebred dogs together and claiming it as an entirely new breed. This, from a genetic point of view is not necessarily a bad thing as it allows for new genetics in a dog breed line. However, if done incorrectly and irresponsibly, can cause even more issues as many people breed these dogs for quick cash as everyone can’t currently get enough of them.
Trust me, purebred dogs are very expensive and have every right to be as they’re a carefully crafted dog that has been modified for select traits over centuries, offering pedigrees and lineage papers as proof of hard work when purchasing a puppy. Designer dogs , on the other hand, are two of these dogs put together, completely modifying this pedigree and sold at even higher prices than original. Let’s take pomskies for example: Pomeranians are around 800$ and huskies around 1000$. Pomskies are around 2000$- 5000$. There’s no excuse or reason why a mixed-breed dog is that expensive. That’s exactly what they are. Instead of wasting your money on a scam, adopt a dog in need of a home from a shelter that is equally a mixed breed.
Many people nowadays end up getting one of these designer dogs from a non-reputable breeder since they will tend to sell their puppies at a much cheaper price. The lower the price, the less-likely your dog comes from a reputable source. These types of sellers tend to use websites such as Facebook and Kijiji and use stock image to advertise their dogs. This is bad from an animal point of view as they have a higher chance of carrying genetic diseases as they were bred irresponsibly. From a consumer point of view, you end up with a puppy that will die prematurely. Nobody wins in this situation. In order to assure that you’re purchasing a reputable dog, ask the breeder to come see the puppies as well as the parents. Responsible breeders will agree as the consumer has the right to see what kind of conditions these dogs have been raised in. If the breeder refuses to let you check out the pups, run. Alarms should go off in your head indicating that you shouldn’t buy dogs form this breeder.
The goal of this article is to simply open eyes and shine light on this problem. By no means do I condone designer breeds. I just wish for dog owners to make certain that the dog they’re purchasing has properly been bred, has a clean pedigree and don’t cost a fortune. Also, be aware that some dog breeds such as the pomsky are mostly bred by the use of artificial insemination. (Then again, so are some purebreds such as French Bulldogs – that’s a story for another day.) The number of designer dogs bred by artificial insemination is much higher than the number of purebred dogs. Artificial insemination is also not all that bad, it’s just that to a large portion of the population, it’s not a practice that floats their boat.
All dogs deserve homes and there are plenty found in shelters. Please be mindful the next time you purchase an animal of any kind and do your research beforehand!