I was talking to a nice lady today, who appeared to be quite knowledgable about dogs. During the conversation, I asked her what breed of dogs she has, "oh a poodle and a sprollie" :rolleyes: What can one say?!!

Linda

I call one of my mutts a 'SprollieSation' despite being thoroughly aware that he is a collie/springer spaniel x gsd...(and that 'alsation' is not the correct name) and as such is a crossbreed or a mongrel.

Sprollie is a common name for a springer x collie or spaniel x collie, and ive never yet heard of anyone marketing them as 'designer dogs'.

My friend has a working cocker and a show cocker, she refers to them as teh 'wocker and the shocker'....

What can one say? One can say some people jump to conclusions a little too fast perhaps?

You could well be correct in saying I am jumping to the wrong conclusion- but surely by giving a name to what is a very popular and attractive crossbreed, this could ultimately lead to them becoming 'designer dogs'?

Linda

I dont think its the names that make them designer dogs, its the hype and the patter that goes with it.

Ive never yet seen a Sprollie or  a Sprocker, as a 'designer dog', although ive seen both with such names in rescues and for the sprocker, as working dogs (springer x cocker).

Quite why they havent taken off i dont know but i would assume that sprollies are invariably too big to appeal to the tiny weeny designer dog market, and they will shed, and they are hard work so dont really appeal to the pet market.

See a fair few odd crosses for agility, poodle x collie is one. I just dont think they have a market they can really be aimed at, unlike the 'doodles' which are marketed as being non shedding (which isnt the truth), and the tiny weeny dogs that are just 'cute'... and sold to morons....

Im confusing myself now.

As far as wockers and sprollies and sprockers go, the names came along way after the dogs themselves did.

Where cockerpoos, puggles, etc are concerned, these dogs arise out of the desire to make money from something purportedly 'special' and 'rare' and 'desirable' and the names invented to help drive that.

Ive never heard anyone describe a sprollie as a rare or special new breed. Ive heard plenty describe a cockerpoo as that though..

I was talking to someone in our head office about my dogs and asked what breed she had.....she said 'oh I've got a cockermation'.

Well what can you say to that??!!! :-D

Theemx- I hope you are right! Me- I'll just carry on calling lovable cross-breeds- Crossbreeds  :-)

Paula- wow! :-)

Sounds like ch 4's next reality show, "Cockermation" :D

I've always hear sprollie and sprocker and wockers too, never thought much of it.  I've got a labracollie myself, and I'm under no illusions - she's a mongrel :D It's just easier to say 'labracollie' when people ask!  But if anyone asks what one of those is, I'll say that she's a crossbreed.  No bones about it!  She was an accident, a true mutt :D

I was on a list for a husky X great dane, also an accidental litter (didn't get her as there weren't enough bitches) - my friend suggested "huskadane" but she was only ever going be what she was, a mix.  And I was always going to discourage anyone who said anything like "oh, I'd love one of those!"

5 years ago I had an accidental crossbreed litter -this was before all the designer crosses arrived on the scene. As the father was a Golden and the mother a Malinois, we made up the name "Maligold" for fun and indeed pretty much everyone in the Malinois breed knows the Maligolds and knows the story. These days I find that to play safe I have to refer to them (when speaking to people OUTSIDE my breed) as either crossbreeds, or if wanting a bit more fun, I say they are "Oooops Maligolds" -to make the point it was an accident. I also had to make a statement on my website saying please note this was an accidental litter, not a designer cross, and all the resulting pups have been neutered. Otherwise people instantly get the wrong idea.

Bramble was nicknamed 'The Transylvannian Bat Hound' at training classes many years ago and the name has sort of stuck (he is a GSD x ????? ). Some people think that that is actually a real breed (I don't like to disillusion them :D :D ). Anyway, the point is that the name doesn't really matter unless people think that they are getting a 'proper' breed or 'official' cross and charged accordingly or more :( :(

Daisy

Marianne are the Maligolds a cross breed that like washing up :D :D

yes you got it in one -they always have their heads in the sink! :D

Hi Linda,
I think for most of us it's a bit of fun!!  My x is known as the Stafflurdor (SBT x lab x lurcher).  Not a designer breed, just an irresponsible last owner of my SBT bitch!!

I am sure for most people, it is a fun thing. My concern, as others have said, would be if the time comes when some twit tries to market them as 'rare' or 'special' as happens with some crosses,particularly in the States. All dogs are special in there own way, but I do think it is important that we keep a clear distinction between what maybe delightful crosses and our established breeds. I personally have been owned by some lovely 'bitzers'

Some of the 'labels' :-) mentioned on this thread have certainly made me giggle- I particularly like 'Transylvanian Bathound' !!

Linda

we've always liked the term "pedigree tripe hound" - which is what my brother had at one time (aka a colador:rolleyes:) but has he said, it turned out to be the best responsible family dog ever - so from that day on, all our dogs - whatever their pedigree - aspire to be pedigree tripe hounds - or rfds)

We referr to our lot as Transilvainian Tripe hounds, after all it's what they eat and they say "You are what you eat"

I met a lovely little dog at the vets last night who was cross between a Bichon and a Chihuahua so was it a Bichuahua or a Chihuahon Anyway he looked like a fox. When I asked about his parentage she said what they had said he was crossed with, I looked very quizzical and she then went onto say she didn't believe a word of what they said and agreed he looked more like a fox :D

It's a Chichon... :-D

We used to have a 'Lossie Ridgeback' - from the area we came from and the fact that Ben so often had his hackles up!! :D :D When we were in London there were the 'West Ken Terriers' (aka random-bred small dog) and the ubiquitous 'Battersea Special'. :)

Our mongrels have always been Bitzers - bits of this and bits of that :) :D

We have the local old ladies' mafia here :) Quite a few, vaguely related, older women here have lots of small, crossed dogs :D :D Papillon crosses, Jack Russell/Shih Tzu (seems quite common) etc etc Some of them are very cute :D :D

Daisy

goodness what will be next a "staffy poo"LOL

It amazes me at the prices that some people charge for these mixes though, some are more expensive than an actual pedigree!!!

I always say 'mutt' when asked what breed Shay is.  If pressed, I go on to explain that he is Chow X Rottweiler which inevitably leads to having to describe what a Chow looks like, why his tongue is black etc  so it is just so much easier to say 'mutt' and leave it there :D

Mind you, most people assume that he is the same breed as Lola (Newfie) and that they are related simply because they are about the same size and he is black (although she is brown, which causes no end of confusion :rolleyes: ) but they look nothing alike

Mongrels here were always Heinz 57, (57 varieties) :D We had a Rough Collie X ? and the vet insisted he must be an English/smooth coated collie - he was a heinz 57 really though  (but the best dog my mother ever had ) :D

Does anyone have any experience of these ' non-shedding ' crosses ?
As they have one ' shedding ' parent , what are their coats like and do the purchasers take into account that they may need costly grooming ?

we have friends. whose vet insisted that their yellow lab was one of the best he has ever seen - had they not thought of showing/breeding him?....err no...why?.........'cos his mother was gsd!!!:rolleyes:

Blimey Margot that's priceless!!!

Many of the "non-shedding" dogs shed or should I say crosses!!!!!  Stupid names, people who only breed for the money etc and rip-off the GP.  I've seen 3 and 4 generation Labrador and Poodle crosses and they moult and all look so different!

I know of a couple of these crosses. You take pot luck on the texture of their coat, or whether or not they're going to shed. If they don't shed they're going to need more time-consuming grooming. And remember, that grooming is only costly if you don't do it yourself! ;)

Today I groomed a very cute 6 month old puppy that was a shih tzu X poodle, that the owners had made quite a lot of money for  :rolleyes: and yes, they did book it in as a 'shih-poo' politely leaving out the 'T' :D

The thing that gets me about cross breeds is how much people pay for them. :-(

A neighbour purposefully bred staffie/old tyme bull dog puppies just to make money. I made it quite plain what I thought about it but they know better than me.

And the REALLY annoying thing is that they have sold all the puppies so are now planning to do it all over again because it was so easy to make money.

Makes me so mad, and now they think I'm even more of an idiot because when I was having a go I said that there was no way people would buy the puppies for what they were asking. But I was proved wrong.

I know it has been said before but while people are willing to pay people like my neighbours will continue.

(These neighbours are the reason we are moving!!)

I have just been looking at an American site which lists loads of ' D Dogs'  including 'Labernese' and  'Mini-Aussie Doodles'  just to name a couple. All being bred for the pet market, and for sale at high prices. It is another frightening example of the way dogs (and other animals) have become just another commodity to trade. Unfortunately, there will always be greedy people and gullible (sp? )people for them to prey on. Sadly, our wonderful animals are the losers.

Linda

I know that site only too well :rolleyes:

goodness what will be next a "staffy poo"LOL

Already seen a litter of those on another well known ad website!:rolleyes:

Oh my goodness that mating doesn't bear thinking about!!!

I often have a job explaining why my two lurchers look different eventhough they are the same "breed", why they are not greyhounds/whippets/racing dogs... And explaining that lurchers are actually crossbreeds totally confuses people...

Vera

I usually call my friend's dog a sprollie, but then add 'spaniel/collie cross' to make it clear. I have enough trouble with people not knowing what breed my (purebred) dogs are! :-D