much ado about pooo
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/poodogs.html
Much Ado About Poo
Are Cock-a-poo’s, Peke-a-poo’s and the other poo dogs real breeds?
“Rare!” “Exotic!” “One of a Kind!” “Luxury on a Leash!” proclaim the
ads in the Sunday pet classifieds. “Get the best of both worlds!” “Registered
New Breed!” “Special Price - this week only - $599!”
Curious? Who wouldn’t be? Almost everyone wants something different, unusual,
something new and exciting, something no one else has. What are these unique,
exciting dogs with funny names and high price tags?
Meet the Poo’s: Yorkie-Poo’s, Cock-a-Poo’s, Lhasa-Poo’s, Beag-A-Poo’s, Peke-A-Poo’s,
Pom-Poo’s, Doxie-Poo’s and Terri-Poo’s, just to name a few. Meet their cousins,
the Cocker-Chons and the Bi-Tzu. This large and incredibly diverse family of
dogs includes such “breeds” as Cock-a-Shels and Malt-oodles; everything from
the imposing Rott-a-Dor down to the diminutive Peke-A-Pom and Yorki-Huahua.
What do these dogs with the whimsical breed names have in common? The fact that
they’re not real breeds at all. They’re mongrels — mixed breeds — masquerading
as something glamorous, valuable and highly desirable. Yorkie-Poo’s are simply
Yorkshire Terriers crossed with Poodles. A Bi-Tzu is a Bichon Frise/Shih Tzu
mix. Cock-a-Shels result when Cocker Spaniels are bred to Shelties (Shetland
Sheepdogs) and Rott-A-Dors occur when a Rottweiler and a Labrador Retriever
join forces. New breeds? Hardly. Behind the hype and the clever name is a common
mutt.
Have you ever looked at a Basset Hound and a Poodle or a similarly mis-matched
combination and wondered what the puppies would look like if the two were mated?
Lots of us have. It makes for an entertaining exercise in imagination. But the
people deliberately breeding “Peke-A-Poms” (a cross between a Pekingese and
a Pomeranian) and other such fanciful mixes have taken the “what if?” game a
step further. Rather than playing games with their imagination, they’re playing
games with living creatures, charging big prices for their results and telling
some pretty tall tales to justify it. Here are some of them:
- “We’re making a new breed. The AKC is going to recognize the Cocker-Poo
real soon now.”The process of creating a new breed and achieving AKC recognition is long
and involved, requiring many years and many generations. A “breed” is a
genetically similar strain of dogs that resemble each other in appearance
and temperament. Bred together, two dogs of the same breed will produce
puppies that are also similar in appearance to the parents and will develop
in a predictable fashion.The first step in creating a new breed involves a definite vision of what
the breed will look like and the writing of a breed standard to describe
it. For example, what characteristics must a Yorkie-Poo have in order for
it to be considered a Yorkie-Poo? What is a Cocker-Chon or a Peke-A-Pom
supposed to look and act like? To date, no breeders of these “new” breeds
have even taken that first step.(see note) There has
been no agreement among breeders even as to what a Yorkie-Poo is supposed
to be other than a cross between a Yorkshire Terrier and a Poodle. After
years of mixing these breeds, no two Yorkie-Poos look anything alike; neither
are any Peke-A-Poms or Cocker-Chons similar to one another. There has not
been any serious effort at all to create a distinct breed that the AKC would
recognize. - “We’re combining the best of both breeds into one! Shelties shed
but Poodles don’t. A Shelti-Poo will look like a Sheltie but not shed.”Not exactly. Genetics doesn’t work that way. Some Shelti-Poos might fit
this description but many won’t. A breeder can’t pick and choose what features
will be passed on from each breed — it’s strictly a matter of luck because
the genetic combinations involved in the crossing of breeds is random and
unpredictable. There is just as much of a chance that the puppy will grow
up to have the worst characteristics of both breeds! The selection of certain
traits is achieved only by generations of careful breeding, discarding dogs
that don’t have the desired qualities and narrowing the gene pool until
the right combinations occur with regularity. - “These Beag-A-Poos are registered with the ‘Dogs International
Kennel Club’.” The word “registered” has a magical effect on people. They seem to think
something that’s “registered” must be legitimate and valuable. Not so! “Registered”
is no more an indication that a dog’s breed is legitimate any more than
it implies the dog has quality or value. “Registered” simply means “recorded.”
Someone has a paid a fee to an agency to record his dog’s name in a book
and the agency has sent him a certificate saying they did so. There are
many canine registries in business today that will register any kind of
dog whether it’s purebred, mixed breed or even of unknown origin.The two most long-standing and reputable canine registries are the American
Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club. Neither registers mixed breed dogs
or dogs of unknown parentage. AMBOR, the American Mixed Breed Obedience
Registry, is a reputable organization that registers mixed breeds but only
for the purpose of competing in the obedience trials it sponsors. - “The price is so high because they’re one of a kind.”One of a kind — yes, that’s certainly true! Every mixed breed dog, whether
bred deliberately or by accident, is one of a kind because its genetic makeup
is an unpredictable jumble of characteristics. No two are alike. Does this
factor alone justify a high price, higher than what’s charged by many reputable
breeders of quality purebreds? No way. If “one of a kind” made a dog valuable,
every mixed breed dog at the pound would be worth a fortune! - “We have been responsible breeders of Bass-A-Poos for four years.”
The term “responsible” is getting a lot of mileage these days. Almost every
breeder claims to be “responsible.” The dictionary defines responsible as
“trustworthy and dependable.” How dependable is a breeder who plays imaginative
“what if?” games with his dogs and expects the public to pay for his experiments?
How trustworthy is a breeder who deliberately misleads people about the
value of a mutt? I think you can answer that question for yourself.Truly responsible breeders are honest and knowledgeable with a strict code
of personal ethics. They care about the puppies they produce and the people
who’ll buy them. Would a responsible breeder deliberately cross a Basset
Hound and a Poodle — dogs with completely different and potentially incompatible
physical structures and temperaments? Would they deliberately mix any breeds?
No, not when they know the results will be completely unpredictable and
that there are already thousands of accidentally-bred mixed breed dogs in
need of good homes.
Does this mean that all producers of “Poos” and other mixes are unscrupulous
and deceitful? No, many of them are simply ignorant of responsible breeding
practices and unaware of what they’re really doing. Both the deceitful and the
ignorant, though, prey on the ignorance of the public — as long as people don’t
know the truth about these exotic-sounding dogs, they’ll continue to buy them
and support this unethical and unnecessary practice.
There’s no doubt that mixed breeds like Yorkie-Poos, Malt-oodles, and Bi-Tzus
can make wonderful pets. Thousands of people own and love mixed breed dogs of
every description. But are these unusual mixes really valuable, unique, “designer
dogs”? No, not any more so than the many wonderful mixed breeds available for
adoption at the local animal shelter.
Don’t be fooled by the whimsical names, the intriguing descriptions, and the
high prices! It’s just a lot of poo. You can find “designer dogs” of every size,
shape, color and personality as close as your local humane society or rescue
service and at a far more reasonable cost. Why not visit there first and save
a life? You’ll be glad you did!
Note
While no club had surfaced at the time the article was written, two clubs have
since begun the process of developing the Cocker-Poodle cross as a breed. For
more information, see the North American Cockapoo Registry (http://www.cockapoos.com/)
and the Cockapoo Club of America (http://www.cockapooclub.com/).
As noted in this article, however, the process is long and the requirements
for admission to the AKC registry are not easily achieved.
