Crossing 2 breeds of dogs does not create a new breed!

I think I have found a new type of dog breeder, one who thinks that crossing 2 breeds of dogs creates a new breed of dog with the first generation of off spring.

This type of dog breeder can be found commonly on Craigslist and they mostly specialize in small or tiny dog breeds. The most common cross is a Pomeranian and Chihuahua. Commonly referred to as pom-chis. The next common one is a Pomeranian and poodle known as a pompoo. What these people don’t seem to care about is their contribution to the mutt population once their darling puppies grow out of the cute puppy stage and into the ugly adult stage. Their new owners are now looking at some strange looking mutt that they never expected.

These cross bred puppies often never turn out looking like either parent and can take on some of the worse qualities of both parents, simply because low quality (poor examples of their breed) parents are often used in these matings.

If you think that these cross bred pups are cheap, think again. I have seen them advertised at no less than $300….. disguised as a re-homing fee of course. Even at the age of 1 year old many rescues get a hold of these dogs and still want $250 for them. By the age of 3 they are typically given away for free, on Craigslist, where else?

The asking price is what those so called breeders find attractive. They figure it is quick money doing some breeding and selling of pet livestock. These breeders are not what one would call puppy mills. They will often tell you that their dogs are never kept in kennels or that they only have one or two females and one male. It is the fact that they are only breeding for the cold hard cash and not the better meant of the dog or a dog breed that is disturbing.

Now for the hard part, how do we as responsible dog owners, discourage this type of behavior in other people? Do we make it extremely hard to advertise a cross bred puppy for sale? Can the price of spaying and neutering be lowered enough to encourage more people to bring in young dogs before they have the chance to reproduce ? How can we educate these breeders after they have found out that people will pay those prices for a mutt? And lastly, why are these pups selling? Is it because the purebred dogs are priced above what an average person can afford to pay?

You have to keep in mind that there is a market for these types of puppies, because if there wasn’t they would not be produced year in and year out.