Why breed/buy a Portmanteau dog Discussions

Now i will use a bit of a post by magpye here as she put it so well . . .


"Portmanteau word" is used to describe a linguistic blend, namely "a word formed by blending sounds from two or more distinct words and combining their meanings

Thus Labradoodle, Puggle, Huskamute etc are all potmanteau names for crossbreeds.

Now there has been a few threads on specific x breeds and I wondered WHY people bred or brought these dogs when so many crosses with out designer names are in rescue. Do you think this is an entemp to bring more breeds into exsitance or just a fad that will fade away?

Well i have a purpose bred X breed, but she was bred to create an old fashioned excellent foxing dog and her breeder had been forming her lines for a considerable time to the point where dogs were almost totally breeding true in image and work requirement, before she chose to do a straight cross again to bring some new blood into her lines. My bitch was from health tested parents for four generations, vaccinated, insured and a perfect pup. The best dog I could ever ask for, the perfect temperament, stupidly easy to train, very placid, and generally a pleasant dog to own.
I brought a kc registered English Springer from a reccomended breeder, and the dog has been one of the most difficult dogs to ever own, dominant, slightly aggressive, and numerous behavioural problems with difficulty to train! And no, it's not cause he's a springer at all, it's HIM as a dog due to HIS breeders and what they produce. So yes, I'm quite happy with my "fad xbreed"

We've had a similar thread before.

Of the people I know of who bough/considered these crossbreeds, none of them actually were attracted by the designer name, though I'm sure that does attract many people.

The ones I know have all been concerned about the health of pedigree dogs. They are unaware of the efforts that good breeders are making to improve health through testing etc. and have been convinced by the cross-breeders that the cross-breeders will be healthier.

As for why they are bred. A very small number are bred by people who work their dogs and are looking for something in particular. I have no problem with this when genes etc are properly considered, when the breeder knows what they are trying to achieve, and where they are doing it because they want to keep the pups or if not keeping all, have other working homes already lined up for them to go to.

The rest I am sure are just out to make quick money

Should add, i went for my "fad cross breed" as I wanted a dog for a light spot of work, yet with a nice temperament. And upon meeting all these beautiful, healthy happy wee dogs I didn't even give a damn if the pup turned out to be a lazy pet, as she did! I'd give my left arm to be able to find someone still breeding Florrie's line of terriers in all fairness.

I can understand why different types of dogs are crossed for work such as the whippet bedlington, both 'types' bring something to the table so to speak. Its crosses like puggles i don't get . . .

Feel i should add i am not getting at anyone that owns on of these dogs, i would just like to know what made you choose. The only side i have heard about so far is the resuces and the papers horror storys. Now we all know how much newspaper love to beef up a story to get it to sell so i thought i would ask. . .

Magpye raised some good points in another thread and i felt rather then go off topic to make a new thead.

i don;t think this thread is aimed at dogs like Florrie Luke i can see where Razcox is comming from ..its when these dogs are bred for a name and money and nothing else

I know of 2 liitters at the moment 1 are cavadoodles bred buy an lady near me now 4 weeks old and all sold for £900 X6............. I also know of a litter 2 weeks old of a cavalier mum and ? can;t remember off hand all pups will stay with the breeder and will be MRI scanned will hope that the gene mixture will reduce syringomyelia
at the end of the day both litters are cross breeds but bred for 2 different reasons.

some might think neither is right

Yeay! Maybe we can adopt 'portmanteau dogs' as a term when talking about these crossbreed dogs... 'designer dogs' has so much baggage and seems to refer to a very specific type of breeder, deliberately breeding crossbreeds to dupe unsuspecting and ill-educated dog owners into paying over the odds for crossbreed dogs.

Some portmanteau dogs are from genuine accidents, or from crossbreed mongrel owners innocently trying to make their puppy adds sound cuter. Some are from well meaning and good homes wanting to let their beautiful crossbreed dog have a litter of puppies.

Unscrupulous breeders, who take bad care of their dogs, or who over breed and mistreat their dogs should be stopped, whether they breed 'designer dogs' or not. Good dogs, come from good homes.

Some may make it into new breeds, most wont. new breeds is one of those things that takes time, the dogs have to have a proven history and a role to play... you know how that goes. But for as long as neighbour dogs can dig and bitches can jump fences there will be portmanteau dogs and for as long as people will buy cute dogs and not worry about their breeding and home bad breeders will continue to ruthlessly create them alongside their inferior and medically unsound pure breeds.

3 dogs from the same terrible kennel one is a shi tzu pure puppy, bred father to daughter and sibling to sibling, the other is a Jack russell with similar inbreeding and terrible care, the third is a Jackshi tz created from a paring.. Which dog is better? The Jackshi tz may have fewer health problems (may have more)....

Answer they are all bad. They will all be awful and though you could enter the first two in crufts that wont make them better dogs, nor the breeder a better person.

Don't think the JRT would be able to go to Crufts as they are not a recognised KC breed . . .

I doubt they'd get as far as Crufts if so badly bred.

I know what you mean about the bad breeders thing, there is a place not to far from us called 'Lakeside Kennels' they ALWAYS have puppies and breed so many types of dog. Its horrible and to see then have a website and offer to delivery the dog like a bag of spuds is just awful

Here is a bit from there website ....


We are a family run business. Established in 1999 we have many breeds of dogs available including: Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, West Highland White Terriers (Westies), Pomeranians, Labradors, Cocker Spaniels, Shih tzus, cross breeds and many more...

They should be clossed down

Why breed? As said, some for work reasons, but sadly a lot for money, but I dont think the money reason is soley a crossbreed problem as the is many pure/pedigree dogs overpriced.

Why buy? That is a huge question, some may buy if its a mix of to breeds the cant decide on, some for a mix of breeds the have owner in the past, some for work reason, some people are just not fans of pedigrees, I know two who are like this. But you will also get people buying as its a "cool" thing the new must have breed, oneupmanship on neighbours.

I have always said I dont have a problem with people breeding crosses aslong as they go about it in the right way, Health test the parants, reasearch the history of the dogs being used, if they cant do this, dont breed, dont charge the earth, dont use some daft name as a selling point. Look after and care for the pups, be prepared to take the pups back should the need arise.

In short, the same as any decent breeder of pedigrees. I would much rarther badly bred crosses and pedigrees than just focus on crosses.

Really? Jack russells not recognised? Wow! I know nothing about posh dogs and showing and the like! But... You got my point right?

I know it was a bit of a shock when i found out a while back, they are so popular and been around for so long you just assume they are a KC breed. But no 'friad not

Next two dogs we have - one will be a chihuahua for me and my husband wants a labradoodle as he had labs when he was growing up and would now love another, but this time needs a breed that doesn't moult. Many of the doodle type crosses are bread mainly for their non shedding abilities.

We have been tempted previously by a puggle and it was looks and temperament, we knew both parents and they were both lovely tempered dogs, icing on the cake as far as we were concerned was how beautiful the pups were. Having seen one now grown up we were right she turned into the most gorgeous dog.

A lot of us who just love dogs (not specific breeds) don't see much difference in a pedigree or a cross as to us temperament and beauty are what we look for.

I haven't mentioned health as I think that is obviously most important and almost not worth mentioning.

Just in case you are not aware - getting a labradoodle will NOT guarantee non-moulting (if you have a look on labradoodle forums I think you will find they confirm this). I also understand that this is the reason for quite a few ending up in rescue - people think they are not going to moult and they do.

As I understand it to guarantee a non-moulting coat, both parents have to be non-moulting breeds.

If it's more than a first generation cross, I suppose your chances of non-moulting may be greater, but I would have thought still no guarantee.

Would NI, BI, Ute, Tamaskan be classed in this then??

They have been bred and given a designer name??

If F1 crosses are so predictable, how come the guide dogs association use crosses so often? I have often wondered exactly WHY they cross retrievers with labradors, labs with poodles, retrievers with GSDs etc etc. This is something they have done for many years so I assume there is SOME good and logical reason for it? Can anyone enlighten me please?

I am aware, and would not send a dog into rescue for losing hair, we just want to maximise our chances of getting a dog that doesn't moult. Why don't we get a poodle ? Is probably the next question - well to be very honest they simply do not appeal to my husband he prefers labs.

What ever we actually get will no doubt be a rescue anyway, as all our other crosses and pedigrees have been.

I think you would have to address that to the guide dog association