Designer Dogs are very popular and rising well ahead of purebred dogs, of late. Over time, we have mainly focused on hybrids vs. purebreds because they seem to be a much hardier, healthier dog in the long run. Appreciation of the designer hybrid dog goes far deeper than most realize.
So many of today's' purebred dogs have genetic problems from too much line-breeding..back breeding.....inbreeding and plain-matter-of-fact....Poor breeding.
Behavioral problems, genetic problems, health problems....the list goes on and on. There are also many novice breeders out there who pay very little attention to what they are breeding as well as not paying attention to their pedigrees or learning about them.
More and more people are seeking out the Poodle hybrid for many reasons....one reason could be low shedding comes with nearly all Poodle hybrids......another could be shedding. With space getting smaller and smaller for those in the city and suburbs, having allergy problems and the like......many are seeking out the Poodle hybrid in hopes of keeping down shedding and allergies.
Designer Dogs are not at all as complicated as the "Mixed breed Mutt"....although, don't get me wrong....Mixed breed Mutts are wonderful too! With Mixed breed mutts, you get a "one of a kind" dog....you never know what you're getting because there are several or many breeds all mixed together. With a designer dog, an experienced breeder can tell their customers what can be expected..they know the history of their dogs.....the designer dog has the best of both worlds of its heritage/lineage. Designer dogs are unique and carry many paw-sitive traits when bred correctly and when the dogs themselves carry a nice lineage! There is much debate regarding "hybrid vigor" and no scientific proof that it exists, but it certainly makes sense. When two dogs of different breeds are bred together, it is definitely a plus for the offspring when neither dog has the same exact genes. There will always be the "Naysayers" where mixed breed dogs and designer dogs are concerned....but those who place themselves upon a pedestal believing their purebred dog to be better, should stop to remember that EVERY SINGLE PUREBRED DOG OF TODAY came from mixed breeding of some sort....some intentional and some not.....other than the Maltese, there isn't a single dog on the face of this planet that DID NOT start out as a mixed breed dog.
So, what is the appeal to these designer dogs? These Poodle hybrids that are hitting the popularity charts with great intensity? For one thing, shedding is a major issue with many people whether they have allergies or just don't want all the shedding inside of their home or on their clothing. While breeders can not guarantee how little or how much a Poodle hybrid will shed...if at all. But many report low shedding for Poodle hybrids. None, however, can be proven to be "hypo-allergenic". While many breeders claim "non shedding" and "hypo-allergenic" creations....I have yet to meet a dog breeder who is a certified allergist or geneticist or any who can back up such claims. If anything, any breeder who has not had any of their doodle hairs laboratory tested, are treading thin ice when making such statements to the general public.
The problem with designer dogs is the fact that there are far too many inexperienced breeders who "jump on the hybrid" band wagon and then turn around to provide inaccurate information or none at all to those seeking them. They don't do enough research on their own to find out any actual answers and make it up as they go. That's really too bad, because while some may not appreciate the information that is being put out there, many DO appreciate the information provided to them because it helps that person decide whether or not a particular dog may or may not be right for them.
Another great, low shedding dog is the Bedlington Terrier or the Bedlington Doodle........yes....we do breed these dogs too on occasion. While the purebred Bedlington Terrier can have problems with CT (Copper Toxicosis) ( Click here to read more about it.)...the Bedlington Doodle has no issue at all with CT (Copper Toxicosis). Why is this? Because the Poodle bred into the offspring of the Bedlington Doodle helps eliminate this health issue that is very common in th purebred Beddie. Our Bedlington Terrier female is CT clear and comes from an extensive Champion lineage with many of her ancestors being CT1 (clear). We know she does not have CT or the genes to pass CT on to any of her offspring....when we add the Poodle to her offspring, their offspring are safe from the CT problem. Hence, this is why many breeders are going the hybrid (Designer) route. Hybrids have far fewer problems than the average purebred.
Determining size in a hybrid puppy is a difficult task, not only for beginners but for experienced breeders too. Hybrids can produce offspring of any size within any given litter regardless of the size of the parents. The parents DO NOT determine 100% what size the offspring will become as an adult. The hybrid's entire lineage plays a 100% role in determining what size a hybrid will be. Experienced breeders will, however, be able to provide you with a better "guesstimate" based upon the information that is provided to them from their past customers. Another way to give an exact size for a doodle is if a buyer has purchased an adult who is already fully grown. Hybrids generally go through a rapid growth spurt from the time they are born until age six months. Then they slow down in growth from 6 months to one year.
We do not have a crystal ball to give us exact knowledge and we are definitely NOT John Edward....lord knows I wish I had his psychic abilities.....so we must rely on past data to give us some kind of realistic answer regarding size determination of our created hybrid dogs. If your novice breeder does not have a history of data, their knowledge is not going to be of much use. We have come to learn that if our puppies weigh 2-4 pounds at the age of 8 weeks....we can expect a 26-38 pound dog when they are an adult. If our puppies weigh 5-7 pounds at the age of 8 weeks...we can most likely expect a 45-55 pound dog as an adult. If our puppies weigh 9-11 pounds at the age of 8 weeks....we can most likely expect a 65-75 pound dog as an adult. Can you see where I am going with this? The more your puppy weighs at the age of 8 weeks, the larger the dog will be as an adult (regarding Goldendoodles.) Our doodles, when weighing 16, 17, 19 and 22 pounds at the age of 8 weeks will DEFINITELY be an 80+ pound dog as an adult. So..what if a TOY Poodle was sired with a Golden Retriever? Well, we have come to know what sizes come about from this type of pairing because we did just that awhile back. There are more links provided down below that will discuss doodle sizes and such.
The point behind a designer dog is creating a heavenly dog that all will love and come to enjoy........those who purchase "designer dogs" are people who don't want what Joe Smith down the road has.....they want something unique.....Of course you are going to have your outraged purebred fanatics stomping the ground over designer dogs....so what! More people love them than despise them.
The novice breeder needs to pay great attention to their breeding dogs and ask themselves what exactly it is they are incorporating into their designer pups....
for me.....temperament is #1..... The one thing that drives me crazy is owning an uncontrollable, neurotic, nasty yapper! That gets on my nerves faster than nails going down a blackboard! Secondly, I don't want a "biter" or any aggression in any dog that I personally create. Thirdly and lastly, I want an all around attractive dog who can fit in with its family on many levels. I want a structurally sound, versatile dog who not only LOOKS nice....but IS nice. Is it possible to have it all???? Not really.....not even show breeders have that luxury.
Show breeders can be some of the worst breeders who have good intentions. Let me explain. The problem with Show breeders is that they cause a genetic bottle-neck in their chosen breed because they keep the gene pool tight. Most create offspring who have either exact or very similar genetics to their champion stock....this is to continue the dream of winning or producing more champions. While it seems the show breeder would have a better chance of success, it is but only a dream. Many know how difficult it is to constantly or consistently create future Champions. The tighter the gene pool, the fewer chances of quality. Outside genes must come into the picture in order to have sound, healthy offspring. Then we have the breeders who down those who do not test their breeding stock for every known disease to dog. We don't even do this with humans who are considering having children.......testing does not always work.
The reason that testing does not always work is because dogs, like humans, can be silent carriers and unless we humans (including dogs) are tested as being a silent carrier for certain diseases....we can never know if those we match up to "breed" (humans included) will pass on any defective genes to our offspring. Breeders who test have the same percentage of defective offspring as breeders who have their own lineage or history of dogs on hand. Show breeders kill puppies that are not born perfect.......the term is "culling" the litter. It is sick and sad....but they do it. I wonder if those who do this had parents who terminated pregnancies they deemed NOT perfect.
So what about the coat of a hybrid? Well, coats are difficult to determine on certain hybrids. I do know for a fact that any dog with short, tough, straight hair bred with a Poodle will create offspring that looks "wirey" or who has very little "fluff" to the coat. The Poodle fluffiness comes out better when they are bred to other purebred dogs who also has a long, soft, full coat of some sort....such as the Maltese, the Yorkie, The Silky, the Pom, The Golden Retriever, The Chow, The Samoyed, The American Eskimo Spitz, the Collie, The Sheltie, The Pekingese, the Schnauzer, The Lhasa Apso, The English Springer Spaniel, etc....dogs who have soft coats.
Poodles bred to short haired dogs like the Labrador, the Boxer, The Doberman, The Weimaraner and Retrievers of any sort with short tough hairs will see their offspring come out with "wirey" yet soft coat and they look like Terriers of sort. Poodles bred with soft coated dogs usually have offspring that shaggy and soft coated. Depending upon how the hybrid is created, this will determine the coat type.
Lets talk about those who believe that multi-generation hybrids are better than the first crossed hybrids...ie...multi-gen vs. first generation. Those who believe multi-gen doodles are better than the first generation are sadly mistaken. Why? Because I feel that multi-generation dogs have a higher propensity of having genetic problems and flaws than the first cross simply it has already been proven, over time, that dogs who are too closely related have more genetic ailments and flaws. Breeders who stick with multiple generations create a "genetic bottle-necking" system within the offspring they create. When there is a smaller gene pool to pull from, this causes "genetic bottle-necking"....ie...a genetic bottle-neck. What happens when breeders "breed" a multi-generation doodle? It works like this:
A Standard Poodle and a Golden Retriever have F1 Goldendoodle (First generation) puppies. The breeder keeps their selected doodle puppy out of that litter. Later when that particular dog is old enough, they breed that Goldendoodle (or other hybrid pup) either back to its mother or father of some other related Poodle. This is how breeders create multi generation doodles. Lets say the breeder bred the doodle back to its father. The offspring now become second generation instead of first generation because their "grandfather" is now also their "father". This is what F1B and F1B2 and so on means. A Goldendoodle bred to an unrelated Poodle has offspring who are STILL A FIRST GENERATION. Back breeding does NOT in any way guarantee the offspring as being enhanced in a positive way. Backbreeding can work either FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE OFFSPRING OR AGAINST. Many show breeders know this first hand. It is a known fact that offspring who come from too much back-breeding have multiple flaws and problems/issues and I don't see how this enhances the dog.
Let's say the breeder has bred a Goldendoodle to a non-related Poodle. Are you sure about that? Did the breeder do their homework before making the decision of breeding its Goldendoodle to a supposed unrelated Poodle? Did you know that out of 400 Champions dating back to the 1930's in our own Poodles' lineage/ancestry, many of those top Champions were either shipped all over Europe, Canada and around the world for breeding to other champion dogs in the hope of having offspring who would continue the Champion lineage or the dogs' semen was shipped all over the world in hopes of creating further Champion offspring. We know this for a fact, because we spent two years researching our Poodles' lineage that goes beyond the 1930s...but because many of our Poodles' ancestry is out of Europe...we eventually hit a dead end. The one thing we know for sure is out of pages and pages of ancestry....numerous times we saw the same Champion dogs mentioned repeatedly even though the dogs were from France, Switzerland, Canada and around the world. Either the breeder was doing alot of jet-setting with their Champion sire or the dog's semen sure was building up alot of flight miles! Unless the breeder does alot of pedigree research, they may believe they purchased an unrelated Poodle simply because they purchased it out of state when in fact, it could very well be related. So what happens if the Poodle and the Doodle are too closely related and offspring occur? Possibly nothing! Or a possible increase in genetic defects and flaws that will either be noticeable right from the start or will show up sometime down the road as the doodle ages. Canine are at a much higher risk for genetic ailments if they come from a narrow gene pool. The reality to breeding is the same that goes for humans. Defects can occur at random no matter how much testing we provide to dog or human. There is no breeder on the face of this earth who can guarantee with 100% certainty that one of the dogs they created will never come down with something, at some time or another during the dogs' life. The breeder, however, can reduce the risks by researching the parent dogs' lineage and NOT pair up dogs who they know for a fact are too closely related. We have heard many people claim to us they want to create Goldendoodles...so, they want to breed their Goldendoodle to another Goldendoodle. They need to be very careful when breeding two Goldendoodles together simply because you do not want to create offspring who will have heavy shedding that is similar to the purebred Golden Retriever.
Breeders will need to have many years of experience if they are going to create Goldendoodles correctly.
Another popular hybrid is the Schnoodle. They are super cute, fluffy and stay on the small side so long as the breeder has not bred a Giant Schnauzer to a Standard Poodle. Schnauzers in general have a low shedding and low dander factor and are suppose to be great for those with mild allergies. Keep in mind that not all allergy sufferers can own a dog of any kind. But many can and do relatively well with a Poodle hybrid of all types. Our own Schnoodles have outgrown the popularity as that of the purebred Schnauzer, so much so, that we have not bred a purebred Schnauzer in a couple of years. Schnoodles, when they have a great lineage, make wonderful indoor family pets. They are curious, energetic, playful and so very fluffy! It's amazing how little they shed..to include the Goldendoodle...when they have so much hair!
