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I know this topic has been discussed before, but I searched and can't find the exact thing I'm looking for...
In advance, please forgive my naivety...
Before Beesley I'd never owned a dog before, but being around my best friend who had only adopted shelter dogs, I decided to go the same route. I had no clue there was such a controversy of mutts vs. pure bred dogs.
When I adopted Beesley it was a big deal at my job. I work with a lot of dog lovers, so I had a bunch of people ask me questions about him. One coworker asked what breed he was, and when I replied "Half Dachshund and half Cocker Spaniel", she said "He's not pure Dachshund?" When I said "No", she gave me this look and said "Oh." and walked away. I was puzzled.
Here's another example...
I recently signed up for a meet-up group for local Dachshunds. After a few days, it became very apparent that this group is only for pure-bred Dachshunds--of which Beesley is not. One recent discussion began as a group member asking for referrals for getting new Dachshund and all subsequent replies had suggestions of looking up breeders online or even looking in the local newspaper. MY reply was "Go to the local animal shelter!" I don't think it was received well...
I'm very much an advocate of adopting shelter dogs, and I don't really like the feeling I've been getting lately of being judged for having a mutt. Beesley is the greatest dog I could have ever found and it doesn't matter to me that he's not a pure bred!
How can you NOT love this face???
I want to go to one of these Dachund meet-ups, but I have a feeling I'm not going to be welcome.
I know some of you on here have pure bred dogs, and that's great! Do you look down on people that have mutts? Am I just imagining this controversy or does it really exist?
Help educate me on this topic. I've only been a dog owner for 3 months and I'm still learning!
P.S. I'm not trying to start a fight here! I'm merely asking for educated responses to help my naivety...Lord knows I need all the help I can get
if someone looks down on me and my dogs and cats for being mutts, then i have no need to have them in my life or association.......
years ago, when i was still with ex-dh and wanted another cat after hobbes got killed by what I presume was a raccoon, he was insisting that i get an abyssinian..... "because they don't shed..."
went to a few cat shows locally and discovered exactly how much one of those cats costs..... even if just going to be a pet.....
i just could NOT justify in my own mind paying $400-$500 or MORE for a purebred cat when i knew that the shelters were overflowing with kitties in desparate need of good homes.......
so...... because he is such a rockhead and so NOT a pet person, this turned into his way of me not having any more pets while we were married..... ...... when we separated, i was down at the shelter within 2-3 days of moving into my own house to pick out what turned out to be charlie and max....... i still had most of my boxes to unpack...... but i just could NOT wait......
Well I have an interesting combo--I have a mutt who competes in agility and I have a pure bred who was a rescue. I love both of my dogs for different reasons. From a competitive angle I can see why many look for a pure bred or even a mix which is bred for performance and also now that I am a kennel club member I think it would be fun to show a dog in conformation (dog shows etc).
Both of my dogs were rescues but I never get the feeling that people look down on me for it (and this is coming from crazy dog kennel club people who have like 5 of the same breed, some are breeders etc)--maybe you just need to find a small dog play group instead of breed specific.
My mixed breed is most likely lhasa/schnauzer and who knows what else so I wouldn't put him in a 'schnauzer' play group--because I suppose I would assume that it was for pure breed dogs--
Last edited by girlbuffalo1; 12-18-2009 at 10:18 AM..
Reason: typos
Many years ago, I bought 3 purebred dogs. They were as advertised by the breed and they were lovely dogs. I've since gone the shelter route and the next 7 or 8 dogs have also been lovely dogs.
I currently have a GSD mix, a GSP who sure looks to both me and the vet to be purebred, and an APBT who also looks to both of us to be purebred. I didn't plan on that, they just happene to be there and were the "right one who clicked."
I don't look down on mutts but I do know some people who do. You can't change their minds so find other groups! Beesley is a love by his photos and if they look down on him, I look down on them as ignorant and stupid!
Dylan, as you know is PB. I have had nothing but PB Goldens...BUT, they were all of my line. To me, a dog is a dog, I have nothing against mixes, and certainly don't look down on them. Most of my friends who have PBs, also have at least one mix in the family. I don't think I know of anyone who turns their noses up at a mix. Not to say those kind of people are not out there. But, have to say, every dog club I have ever joined was chock full of both PB's and mixes.
I agree with girlbuffalo...find a play group, rather than a breed specific group...they sound like a bunch of boring people anyway! I'm guessing they are "snobbish" to any breed, PB or mix, that is not of their own.
The thing I notice on this board is people seem to thing that only mutts come from shelters. That is not the case. I see comment after comment of people saying they prefer purebreds to shelter mutts. Last I checked, our shelter was overflowing with dogs, many of which are purebreds.
That said, there are certain breeds that you should not get from rescues. Bulldogs and doxies are two of those. I am very familiar with both rescues in this area, and both of the presidents of the rescues will tell you that if you are looking for a dog with a sound temperament or without health issues, go the reputable breeder route. Both Bulldogs and doxies end up in rescue because their owners cannot afford the vet bills. If poorly bred, they can have many health issues and people are just not willing to deal with it. So I can see why the doxie Meetup is referring people to breeders.
The guy who runs the Bulldog rescue here told me that unless you are willing to deal with agression issues, serious health issues, or a not so good temperament, find a reputable breeder instead. He said that people who want to rehome healthy Bulldogs do so on their own and either make a profit or give them to friends or family. The rest end up in rescue and are not the type you'd be bringing to the dog park. I love his honesty and how unwilling he is to push these dogs on people who are lookign for one.
And regarding the Meetup, well every single Meetup group here in San Diego is breed specific. They have a Bulldog one as well, but we got so sick of seeing the same breed over and over again that we started our own for medium and large breed dogs, regardless of breed or mix. We have close to 200 members now, mostly with mutts, and they are very thankful that they can attend all the events because every other group out there would exclude their dogs. PC has made some great friends and learned to play with all breeds, not just ones like himeself. We are the only Meetup in this area to allow all breeds.
i just could NOT justify in my own mind paying $400-$500 or MORE for a purebred cat when i knew that the shelters were overflowing with kitties in desparate need of good homes.......
Don't think for a moment that there aren't any purebreds in shelters.
The so-called Christmas and birthday gifts of a pet 'not really wanted' often finds itself at the shelter.
I think there will always be snobs of it's got to be pure this or pure that - of anything.
Mixed breeds are just as worthy of adoption and love as a purebred.
I applaud you for getting a pooch from the shelter.
There will always be snobs....frankly they are there on both sides of the issue. I wouldn't pay too much attention to them. Find a group that you enjoy and go from there. Every family has reasons for what they do. No biggee..
Heck with the meet-up; just go to the dog park if you don't feel welcome. Shame on those people! But maybe this is the one thing they have in common - their 'purebred' dogs - so the conversation revolves around breeders; etc which leaves you feeling left out. I also post on the Yorkietalk board - but other people post there too that have small dogs that aren't yorkies. Lots of them have mixed rescues; they probably aren't interested in discussing the merits of one breeder over another - but everyone can talk about training issues; fun stuff your dog does ; annoying stuff your dog does.
I have two 'purebreds' but they are just pets; not show dogs so it would make no difference to me either way.
I purchase from breeders because I want a specific size (smallish) and I doubt my ability to train a dog with any issues. I'm not great with the training (as evidenced by my many posts about Ringo). Growing up, all I ever had were mutts and I loved them just as much as I love my dogs now.
Usually, I"M the one that feels bad because I DIDN'T get a dog from the shelter!
mak ... what a GREAT idea..... and i bet pc has a LOT of fun playing with dogs of all sorts of shapes and sizes.......and cat1116, believe me ... i KNOW that purebreds wind up in shelters every day...... but at the time the ex and i were going through this little tussle, i didn't even know about rescue groups.........
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...... when we separated, i was down at the shelter within 2-3 days of moving into my own house to pick out what turned out to be charlie and max....... i still had most of my boxes to unpack...... but i just could NOT wait......
