Hi all,

I dont want this to start up a big row so please count to ten before you post your answers.
I was just wondering why people dont like the idea of selling cross breeds for the same amount of money as some pedigrees. I mean alot of cross breeds have better temperaments, easier to train, good looking, etc etc and wouldnt it make sure some people who pay for them respect them and love them more?

So please post your opinions thank you :)

Why should they be sold for the same money ?
Mongrels have no healthchecks done -
no hip tests
no eye tests
no thought put into the breeding whatsoever
no time spent tracing lines and seeing which is the most suitable dog/bitch to breed with
no time spent travelling to studs etc

theres a few reasons to think about for starters

besides people who "breed" mongrels arent what I would define as a breeder- they are usually owners who havent bothered to look after their dog as they are supposed to and have let their bitch become pregnant

and if they sold for the same money any old idiot would just simply put any two dogs together regardless of temperamanet or quality and expect a hefty sum for each pup produced :(

When you buy a well bred purebred pup it is not just a lump of flesh and bones it is the result of years of careful study and expense. When you buy a crossbreed or a mongrel you are buying a lump of flesh and bones as you have know idea what you are getting and in most cases nor does the breeder. It's a lucky dip and lottery.  When you buy 'a breed' you know within a small margin what you are paying for, if you buy a crossbreed or a mongrel you have no idea and would be better off buying an adult dog, at least you would know what it will look like and the temperament.

Still I suppose if you like to buy without knowing what you are getting that is up to the purchaser, but the old adages apply 'you get what you pay for' and ' buyer beware'.

I have no issue with anyone selling a non-pure bred for the same price as a pure bred dog as raising a litter of puppies is the same (size dependent of course!) irrespective as to the parentage. However, as has been said most have been bred with no thought although I wouldn't say all not by a long streak.
As to temperament and trainability well that comes from the parent breeds, if you crossed two breeds that were both notoriously difficult to train their offspring would not suddenly become trainable just because it is a cross.
I have an old copy of Our Dogs (goes back to 1900) and the numbers of cross bred dogs for sale in there is huge. Clearly not as much as a stigma as it is today.
I'll say this, firstly people should stop making sweeping statements about crossbreeds/mongrels being healthier and better because they are only as good as what goes in them and secondly, people shouldn't make sweeping statements about all crossbreeds being produced solely for financial gain and with no thought. Neither statement is entirely accurate.
Best advice if looking for a dog is go to a breeder who produces quality pups of the breed you want in he manner you want them to be raised whether a Labrador or a Norwegian Tripe Hound :D

Jesse

Jesse, do you really think someone who has had the expense of health testing their stock for the last 20 or so years and in most cases checking in the show ring that they are on the right lines is not entitled to charge more for all that expense and knowledge. Against someone who has decided to breed their boxer with the stafford up the road simply because there is a market for butch looking dogs. 

Hi Poodlebabe,  While the raising costs are the same, what about the stud fee, health test fees (which can be multiplied back over the generations for many of us)  the losses absorbed for studs which did not result in pups, registration fees, vaccinations costs, microchipping costs (I dont see a lot of crosses advertised with vaccination/microchip) and the lifelong help and support most of us offer with our planned, pedigree litters?

I do agree with you comments about no guarantee the cross breed will be  healthier - it all depends on the genes and how they mix!
bye
Gwen

You'd be surprised. Someone wanted to use one of my poodle boys at stud on her terrier cross (looked like a Manchester she said) and was quite willing to pay the going rate!!! I declined but that shows that there are people out there that will pay a stud fee to mate their bitch irrespective as to breed :D

Jesse

To put it another way, would you pay the same amount for a kitcar that someone had put together using brand new parts from all different makes of vehicle, and who offered no warranty or after-sales service, as you would from a 'proper' manufacturer? It will still get you from A to B after all.
:)

Basically if there is the demand people will charge what they can get! if breeders are finding a popular cross fashionable has a huge waiting list & can charge £400 then they will!!!!
if people have their "heart" set on a particalar cross they will find the money from somewhere!
would i? no but for me nothing can beat a collie in my eyes so ihave no need to look further!

I think charging the same amount for a crossbred as you would a pedigree is diabolical. Like many people who have answered my post there's no health checks and who really knows what kind of  temperament you will get crossing...
Having said that I "own" (or he owns me) a crossbred that i refer to as a mongrel cos in my eyes thats what he is...
He's loyal.. beautiful and mad with it... He brightens up most peoples day when they meet him.  Funny enough hes never had any health problems, whereas the other 2 have...  Guess im just lucky :)
However, i would not of paid 400 pounds for him way back when i got him... no way! (Of course id pay the world for him now) Whereas id happily pay 4/5/600 pounds for a pedigree

Donna and charliex

Ok thank you:)

Just thought that I'd add that, having got a £50 quid Battersea Special :) , - I do/did expect to pay as much as a pedigree dog on his food/insurance/vets bills/training etc :)

Daisy

i have a MONGREL and i love her to bits she is a pom x terrier when my uncle gave her to me we had no idea what we were taking on but if we had not taken her she would have died because her mother would not leave her feed ,  she was also the runt the vet said she would die in a few days 8 years later she is still here we had no idea what size she would be or what health problems would arise but we took the risk and she has never been sick tip wood .

with a pedigree you are getting what you paid  for a well bred healthy puppy which is what i am hoping for when i get my prt pup in may ....

with a mutt you are taking a risk but i would do it again if it meant saving a puppy from death...

ginastarr
and mollie the mutt ....

I have a pedigree.  Excellent pedigree he has.  He also has shoulder dysplasia, a heart murmour and several minor genetic problems.

The crossbreed I had as a kid never had a days illness and lived to 18.

Blows that theory out of the water.

But Joe, if you mate your pedigree with another different breed pedigree with it's own problems to produce a 'mongrel' it will run the chance of having the problems of both the dam and sire.

>>Blows that theory out of the water.<<  

I agree but the first reply to the first message was what I was referring to.  I know I didn't put it in the right place.  Apologies. :)

Joe
I said they had health checks I didnt say they are 100% healthy

No one in the world can guarantee health
if i am the poster you are referring to ?

Yes, and what I was saying was that a pedigree is no guarantee of health. :)

I never said that in my post though ?
I said that health checks were paid for -as in eyes tests and hip testing -so why should a dog that has had no checks cost the same as one that has.

Pedigree is also no guarantee of quality either , never mind health .
But not all mongrels are healthy - when highly unsuited breeds are bred together that can cause problems. :(

Whoah!  Basically it comes down to money.  Sorry but bluntly that's what it is.  And maybe a bit of competitiveness.  If the welfare of the dog was paramount we wouldn't have dachshunds (like mine) bulldogs or basset hounds - we'd all have wolves.  I don't mean to offend all the excellent breeders that are breeding because they love their particular breed - like a lot of people on here - and just want to spread a little happiness.  But it's a fact of life that not everyone is like that.  That's why we read about puppy farms every day - and people who know no better still buy from them for the prestige of the individual breeds.  Never seen a crossbreed puppy farm have you?  It's just my opinion and Idon't expect everyone will agree but I respect your opinion so ......... :)

mongrels don't need to have eye tests or hip tests etc because they don't have the problems which pedigree dogs have, there's too many people trying to make the perfect dog and so end up with all these problems..i've never met a nasty mongrel yet in all my years of working with dogs and the majority don't have on going illnesses either, yet the pedigree dogs which board at the kennels where i worked were always on medication for something or another.....This is my opinion so be kind to me, i've just had surgery :D

Jacki,

At the risk of being attacked by an army of angry ants - I agree.  Although I'm getting some very dirty looks from the pedigree!!  The point is that not all 'breeders' do take all precautions.  My bairn comes from a very well known breeder (who shall remain nameless) complete with all her genetic faults.

Hi, I dont really want to join the pro pedigree debate right now but what I have noticed reading this thread is the impression that crossbreeds/mongrels are the spawn of satan 'a lump of flesh and bones' - really!  We are dog lovers are we not???  My mother has a springer x BC who was suppose to be a springer but the farmhouse BC got to the bitch first :rolleyes:  Her name is Molly she is absolutely gorgeous and very intelligent.  She brings joy and companionship.  My issue is not about how much to charge or should crossbreeds be purposely bred - my issue is that they are dog's and I still love 'em :)
Well done Daisy for taking on a rescue crossbreed and providing a loving home for the canine outcasts ;)
Sarah

This type of subject will never be agreed upon - of course no one is regarding crossbreeds as satans spawn .
Certainly not me . I have posted many times about introducing a rescue dog into my family ( I am just waiting to move house or it will be unfair to get the dog settled and then upsticks and resettle it again)

The post was about the "cost" not whether there should be crossbreeds.

At the end of the day no-one should really breed (cross or pedigree) unless there is a very good reason- thats my view anyway.

I think the problem comes when you refer to 'pedigrees'.There are well bred pedigrees whos breeders have done evrything possible to ensure that the dogs they produce are healthy and then there are pedigrees bred by 'joe bloggs' down the road who bought his pedigree GSD for example from a mate down the road and decides he wants to breed her cos shes got a nice temperament.He does no health tests and uses mr smiths 'stud' at the end of the road...because he's a GSD and thats good enough!!! The offspring off this mating is pedigree but it is likely they will have health issues in the future.
A mongrel has no breed specific health problems...but they are no more likely to be healthy all their lives than a pedigree.We all know that GSD can be affected by HD,boxers by heart murmers,bull dogs by breathing problems but they are known about because people care and are trying to address the issues within that breed.If breeders did not 'bang on 'about hip scoring etc how many of us would know about HD?..only those of us who had had experience of it.
I wonder if the question of pedigree/mongrel health problems was asked of say battersea what the answer would be and how many of the pedigrees with health problems were responsibly bred...not many I would bet.
Archer
    

Just a thought maybe we should do a poll on this...mongrels/pet bred pedigrees/pedigrees from health tested parents....minor health issues/no health issues/major health issues breed specific/not breed specific
Archer

Jacki that simply isn't true. Puppies are the genetic result between 2 parents. If both parents (irrespective of breed) carry a disorder than that can be expressed in the offspring, breed is irrelevant. There are just as many unhealthy crossbreeds and mongrels as unhealthy pure bred 'models'.

Jesse

as i said true or not ..it was my opinion :)

I think this is coming across as a bit of a 'witch hunt'against cross-breds/mongrels, and I think that most of us posting in favour of the purebred dogs dont mean it this way.  There are loads of wonderful, healthy, much loved mongrels, and I wish them all well.  However, what this started out as was the reasons why a breeder should be able to ask more for a pedigree dog than for a cross-breed.  Very few people breed crossbreed with the thought, care and attention that good breeders of pedigrees do.  Too many crossbreed pups are born each year without having planned them to make adding hundreds (or thousands) more justifiable.  Some organisations (and individuals ) have sound reasons for crossing breeds, including Guide Dogs (although I dont know if they still do it) Hearing Dogs,, etc.  I feel strongly when my breed is used to promote one of these "popular" crosses.  But I dont think less of any crossbreed.  Only of those who deliberatley "farm" them, and then con a deluded public into paying over the odds.
bye
Gwen

Gwen,

I agree.  Because the morals are right.  I don't care if the dog has a piece of paper or not - just that he's happy :)

Jacki, my in-laws had a lovely cross-breed, Labrador/GSD, who had the most appalling HD. :( Both parents (it was an accidental mating) were fine. But obviously they both carried the gene.

I didn't even know they properly bred labradoodles in this country:
http://www.ukdoodles.com/index.html

I noticed there were no mentions of any health checks!

Jesse

Ah, didnt you Know, Poodlebabe, these crosses dont need health checks, becasue there is no record of there having any genetic defect!  Of course, what they dont say is "becasue there are no records at all"!
bye
Gwen