I saw an ad in our local paper for "Labradoodle" puppies the other day. The person wanted $400 each for what I see as a mutt with a fancy name. I've seen others too, mixed breed puppies with wacky names and even wackier price tags! Why would anyone shell out that much money when we have shelters full of pets with only 7 days to be adopted out or put to sleep?
I think $400 dollars is way too much for a mutt with a fancy name. I would just adopt a pet from a shelter and save his or her life. Here the shelters just charge $25 for each pet you save. I don't think they put the pets to sleep that fast though. I've seen pets for adoption in local websites from last month that are still available until now. I plan to adopt aet when we move so my dacshund will have a partner. I hope the dog that I want will still be free by then. Her name is Lady. Unfortunately, I can't get her yet due to lack of space.
I think it depends on what kind of a puppy that you want to have, how much you are going to have to pay to get it. It used to be that only a purebred dog would cost several hundred dollars, but nowdays, the tiny Designer Breeds of dogs cost as much, or more, than a purebred.
Some of them are extremely cute. My personal favorite is the Shorkie, which is a Yorkie and Shih-Tzu cross Designer Dog.
Shorkies are usually toy size like the Yorkie, and have the laid back temperament of the Shih-Tzu, and their face is a combination of the two breeds, so they have the cute little flat face, but then they have the little perky-up ears sticking up, like a Yorkie.
They usually sell for $300-500 if they are Toy or Teacup size, and are perfect companions for older people, since they are small enough to easily carry around.
I personally would not. I agree with the other posters that there are way too many dogs in the shelters that need to be adopted, so I wouldn't have the heart to buy a dog, especially not one that cost that much money!
I guess I could see someone buying a specific breed under special circumstances. For instance, I know that Labradoodles are highly desired because they have excellent personalities (very smart, loyal, and mellow) and are hypo-allergenic because they don't shed, making them desirable to people who are allergic to most dogs.
I'm sure there are other special circumstances as well. I bet there are some people out there that just don't care about (or don't think about) dogs that need to be adopted, so they go ahead and get their custom dog anyway, which is kinda sad.
We just babysat a friends dog who was a Chihuahua mix, and I believe she paid like $800 for it. I can't recall what the other part of it was, but it was one of these new "designer" mixed breeds. It was a cute dog, but as a former owner of several dogs we've rescued from the pound over the years, they were some of the best pets we've ever had. Think what you can do with all that money you would be saving, you can get them their shots or get them fixed if they haven't been already, you can get them a bunch of toys, a new bed, etc...
I paid $700 for my pure-breed chihuahua, and really I feel like a pretty big sucker about it now. I love my dog more than anything, don't get me wrong, but to pay $700 for a dog to me now seems pretty nuts. I did at least talk the breeder down $100 haha. At the time, I was making good money and I wanted to get a dog that was "pad trained" because I thought it actually meant I didn't have to potty train them... that was DEFINITELY not the case, it was probably at least a year before I got her fully trained. I also had a very specific idea of what I wanted my dog to look like, gender, etc and I think I got a little nuts over it. I also wanted to get her as young as possible to train her and bond with her from a young age. At the end of the day though, it really is a silly waste of money that just leads to breeders breeding more while sweet dogs sit in cages in shelters (or worse).
It's not what it seems all the time. As normal pet owners, it's definitely best that we adopt. However, getting a puppy from a legitimate breeder also has its advantages, especially for show type dogs, service dogs and police dogs as training is required to start while they are very young. This also eliminates issues regarding health histories (e.g. genetic defects) and behaviors easily avoided with proper training.
I've seen designer breeds that actually turn out for the better. For instance, Labradoodles were bred because someone wanted a better service dog that was hypoallergenic. With Labradors, you get the service dog trait. With Poodles, you get the hypoallergenic trait. A friend of mine has often chosen Labradoodles with good breeding as their therapy dogs, the ones that visit hospitals to comfort other patients, for such reason.
Now, as for the other wacky mixed breeds. I dislike people breeding them simply for monetary gain. So I'm not all happy when I read these postings online. As far as I know, no responsible dog breeder would post their ads online.
Yeah @haopee you make some good points. I agree that it's really nice to know about your dog's medical history, that is a definite plus. I also even thought that getting mine as a little puppy ensures you have the maximum time with them possible. Training is a huge plus as well, if you have the patience to do it right. I don't think I was perfect by any means, but I get comments all the time about what a nice chi I have. People are usually surprised because they expect chis to be unfriendly and yappy, which mine isn't at all. I really feel that how I trained her and socialized her had a big impact on how friendly she is now. This is how I justify it to myself anyway, in the back of my mind, I always feel a little guilty though because every time you support a breeder, that means one more dog is sitting in a shelter somewhere...
I have a 3yr old white GSD that I paid $500 for when she was 8 weeks old. She is worth every penny I paid for her. She is true to the GSD traits. I also have a blonde GSD that I got at the groomers for free. She was 2yrs old when I got her and she is only 6mo older than my other GSD. She is the smartest dog I have ever had ! I am deaf in one ear and have limited hearing in the other ear. She warns me when someone is at the door, water is boiling on the stove, my cell phone is ringing, and when my 13mo old grand-daughter is crying. She is my hearing aide ! It all depends on your reasoning and resources when buying a dog . Just make sure that the dog you purchase has the traits you are looking for before shelling out a lot of money for your dog.
Personally, I think it is totally up to each person to decide what kind of dog they want, and how much they want to spend on the dog. If a person feels strongly about having a rescue dog, then that is what they should do, and if they want to buy a purebred puppy, then that is okay too.
Buying a purebred dog does not mean that you should feel guilty about not getting a shelter dog, any more than you should feel guilty about eating your dinner when there are hungry children in the world. Whether you have your dinner , or go hungry, it is not going to change their world one bit.
The same with the dogs. Until irresponsible people stop letting their dogs breed and have unwanted puppies, there are going to be dogs in the shelters and dog pounds.
If you want to make a difference, help someone pay for having their dog spayed or neutered.
I must admit that I bought my dog for 500 dollars but if I had known more about other venues my choice may have been different. I love my dog very very very much but I have recently heard a lot about the overpopulation in the shelters and I would have just gotten a dog from there. So I do not advocate spending anything over 100 dollars for dogs because there is a big problem with dogs in shelters who can not find homes.
