So Christmas is behind us, everyone has received their presents... and I wonder how many puppies were under the Christmas trees even though all the time the rescue centres and rescue organisations, like Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, or Dogs Trust are warning people that dogs are not presents, dogs are something that you should get for their whole life... they are not disposable, but not many people think like that. I and all those dog rescue organisations might sound like a broken record, with the needle stuck on a scratch and repeating over and over: Dogs are not just for Christmas, they are for life!! Dogs are not presents! You shouldn’t buy them on a whim... you don’t buy them just because your spoiled kid whines and wants one unless you are sure that the kid can actually be responsible and will care for it, otherwise they will just end up in rescue.
At the moment most dogs in rescue are staffs, it is because people buy them as status dogs, then when they can’t deal with them they get rid, or they breed puppies but if they don’t find buyers they just dump them on a rescue organisation to deal with them... but I suspect that this won’t be the case for much longer, because all these designer breeds are in fashion now, people keep crossing all sorts of breeds with each other, most often it is a cross of poodles (poodles are great dogs as they are, I don’t see the need to cross them with anything, but guess some people just do) with something else, and then of course they need to name them. In the past it was just called as it is – a cross breed – or a cross between x and z...... but now, they got to make up these ridiculous names for them, here’s just a few:
Lhasapoo: Lhasa Apso x Poodle
Airedoodle: Poodle x Airedale Terrier
Cadoodle: Poodle x Collie
Cairnoodle: Poodle x Cairn Terrier
Pugglepoo: Beagle x Poodle x Pug
Bassetoodle: Basset hound x Poodle
Pyredoodle: Great Pyrenees x Poodle
Labradoodle: Labrador Retriever x Poodle
Cockerpoo: Cocker spaniel x Poodle
Rattle: Poodle x Rat Terrier
Mal-Shi: Shih Tzu x Maltese
Labrottie: Rottweiler x Labrador Retriever
Havapeke: Havanese x Pekingese
Havanestie: Havanese x West Highland White Terrier
Hava-Apso: Lhasa Apso x Havanese
Havamalt: Maltese x Havanese
Some ridiculous crosses like Bullhuahua: Bull Terrier x Chihuahua
Bullwhip: Whippet x Bulldog
Well that is just the tip of the iceberg, there is hundreds of more, if you are interested, just google for designer cross breeds and you will find the whole list.
And of course, since it is designer, it will cost you too, in the past the crossbreeds were cheaper than pure breeds, but now, you will pay much more for a designer poodle cross than for a “pure” poodle... which is kind of ridiculous.
People don’t realize that all these dogs they are crossing are intelligent animals by their own right, by crossing them they don’t really get something “better”. Since they are so fashionable, there is a shortage, but people don’t like to wait, this is the “I want it now” society and this is the reason why a lot of unscrupulous people started breeding them too on puppy-farms with little regard for their health.
You might be thinking that with a cross you would get a healthier animal, which does not get all those hereditary problems, but you can be unlucky and the pup will actually inherit the hereditary problems of both parents and you get an even sicker animal.
While they are tiny and cute, little fluff balls with a ribbon around their neck in a gift box, they are all loved, but then they grow, they become mischievous, they misbehave, they chew things, they require exercise, feeding and attention, they cost money....... so many people get bored with them quick....
I wonder in the New year how many of these poor little souls will find themselves in shelters, waiting for somebody to come along and adopt them, and give them the love and care they deserve just because their only crime was that they grow, that they do not stay puppies forever.
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