I’m not adverse to the creation of new dog breeds; after all, many of the most popular breeds today were created by crossing other existing breeds. The Doberman Pinscher is said to be a cross of Rottweiler, Manchester Terrier, Greyhound, a now extinct form of a German shepherd dog, and a pinscher, to name just a few.

I would prefer that there be a legitimate reason for creating a new breed, however. My breed of choice, the Australian Shepherd, came to be in the American West. A breed was needed that was more versatile than the Border Collie. Border Collies are the best in the world for herding sheep, but in the rough and tumble American West, a dog was needed to herd all kinds of livestock, from chickens to cattle. The dog also needed to have a looser eye (stare less) than the Border Collies normally do. The dog needed to warn of predators and even fight them off. Hence the development of the Aussie and of the English Shepherd, which during that era was often called the farm collie.

Today, however, many of the new “breeds’” are actually just crosses of two purebreds –  they are mixed breed dogs not  new breeds –and these crosses seem to be done simply for profit.

That bugs me.

Let’s talk Labradoodles. A Poodle and Labrador Retriever cross was purposely done in Australia for a woman who needed a service dog and whose husband was allergic. That’s the back story that everyone has grabbed hold of.

At Kindred Spirits we see lots of Labradoodles. New puppy owners proudly tell us the breeders told them the dog won’t shed, that the dog  is nonallergic,  super-smart, and so on and so on. One woman had a white/cream puppy and wore black slacks and black shirt. She was covered in white dog hairs. I said, “Non-shedding, huh?”  I get angry when there is false advertising.

I also feel bad when people pay huge sums of money for a mixed-breed dog. I understand “buyer beware,” but  I wish buyers would do more research. (See my book, “The Howell Book of Dogs”). But I don’t like it when anyone intentionally tries to rip people off.

The motivation for this postwas a quick glance–  that turned into an in-depth reading –  of the pet section in the classified ads of a local newspaper. There were ads for the Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Boxers and other common breeds. There were also a few breeds we don’t see too often: Cane Corso, Korean Jindo  and Coton de Tulear.

Then there were the misspelled breeds, which I hope were the data entry person’s fault and not the breeder’s: German Shephards and Australian Shephards, as well as  Cardigan Welsch Corgis.

There were also the breed variations. The mini toy and teacups Chihuahuas, for example. The Chihuahua Club of America says there is only one size of Chihuahua; there is no breed standard for mini toy and teacup. There were Yorkshire Terriers advertised as teacup, too, and again, there is no breed standard for that. I have no idea what babydoll and teddy bear Yorkies are, and I refuse to call and ask.

But the new “breeds” bother me the most. There were Chorkies (Chihuahua and Yorkie), Goldendoodles (Golden and Poodle), Golden Labrador (Golden Retriever and Labrador Retriever), Schoodles, (Schnauzer and Poodle). There were Chugs (Chihuahua and Pug) and lots of Maltipoos (Maltese and Poodle).

The price tags were jaw-dropping on some of these puppies. I won’t say what specifically because I don’t want to encourage anyone else to get into this for profit, but some of the puppies were advertised for four figures. No idea if they will sell for that of course. Kindred Spirits was contacted by a woman who had six four-month Labradoodles that she hadn’t been able to sell. She wanted to donate them to us for service dog training.

We said thanks but no thanks.

This is one fad that can’t end quickly enough for me.

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