Labradoodle-Sheepadoodle: are designer dog breeders going too far?

Ok, so it’s not cool to own just a plain purebred Labrador retriever or a standard poodle anymore! Oh no, designer dog breeds are in vogue and now you must seek out the local "labradoodle" and "puggle" breeder. For those of you not in the loop, a "labradoodle" is a cross between a Labrador retriever and a standard poodle (supposedly to breed a superior service-dog – yeah right). A "puggle" is a pug – beagle cross, with the benefit of being able to bay at the moon, without the same nasal throaty quality, thus rendering it a little more socially acceptable in suburbia..

And, this is just the beginning of the sinister backward slide into dog breed decadence. Designer dog breeds indeed. Not only are the designs becoming more unique (bizarrre?), but a google search now even reveals the existence of designer dog jewelry sites! The perfect set of pearls for your "puggle"? Nice.

And what do most designer dog breeds have in common, I ask? Well, they’re almost all crossbred with that most pampered and spoiled rotten canine of all, the infamous poodle. Alleged to be one of the smartest dogs of all, the poodle is prized for it’s intelligence (no kidding) and sophistication (it must have something going for it besides the hair-cut). Anyway, now we’re bombarded with such clever breeds as: "Chi-poos, Doxiepoos, Golden Doodles (indeed!), Irish Doodles, Jacka-poos, Papi-poos and Peka-poos," just for starters. Believe me, the list is virtually endless, as is the fertile imagination of the breeders. The more unusual, the higher the price.

Well if you can’t beat them, join them! I’ve developed a few designer breeds myself. My first contemplation is the cocker spaniel- pit bull cross, I’ve named it the "crocka-bull," to be followed by the cocker-shih-zu cross, which I call the "crocka-shihz." Of course, these are nowhere near as cool, cultured, and classy as the "Schnoodle," "Sheep-adoodle" or "Rottle" developed by the competition. Nonetheless, I figure the pups will be worth at least a grand.

I was just thinking, with all the attention on designer breeds, what about the lowly mixed-breed mutt? What we need here is a new spin. Perhaps the animal shelters should reconsider their marketing efforts and try the snob appeal route. Now, the last time I visited the local shelter was in January and I saw that many, if not most of the abandoned canine residents there seemed to be pit bull, as opposed to poodle crosses. The other common observable parentage seemed to be that of the ever-popular Labrador. So what we have here is not a pit bull-lab mix, oh no, what we have here, is the new designer dog of the American streets, the
"Pull-Tab."

About the author: Greg Marlett is a dog and animal lover, who is the proud owner of a "M-ound" (mixed breed hound) puppy and a "snippy" little Pomeranian. See his blogs at http://bravodb.blogspot.com and http://bravodn.blogspot.com for further authoritative dog information.

Copyright 2008, all rights reserved. No publication or use of this article, without the expressed and written permission of the author.