Wrong

[hallswel]

Why would anyone want to change a Cairn Terrier? They are such a wonderful breed and for someone who wants a cairn nothing else will do but look what they are doing

Mixed up breed

I had heard that they have mixed poodles with labs and have been doing it for 20 years but I was so surprised to see the cairn mix

[Fiamma]

This kind of things always makes me so mad. People without any responsibilities and decency mixing breeds just for money. What's worse, the little mixed puppies are the ones that have to suffer the consequences.

[bradl]

Gack.

[MikeC]

NO WAY!

[Guest mcc0004]

A good friend of mine has a labradoodle. And is considering get a cockapoo. The lab is a nice dog, just seems really odd to me. Almost like it isn't 'right'. It is a recognized 'mix-breed' now, but just seems so strange to me that people need to change things that were fine!

[mrskti]

he is cute though....(please dont hit me!)

[Anna_525]

They are definitely cute....

What disturbs me (and makes me look at their cuteness with some sadness) is the deliberate mix-breeding for $$$.

[savannahsmom35]

Cute but when we start mixing breeds is when we start developing more and more health problems in the pups because the breeders are less cautious about the dogs that they use for the breeding. Just my opinion of course....

[bradl]

My understanding (I am not a geneticist) is that hybrid vigor is a first-generation effect and that if line-bred beyond that you unleash the genetic problems from hell that presumably both constituent breeds had been fighting for years to isolate and control.

[Lesley]

Just recently saw a 500.00 mall pet shop cairn -pomeranian cross for 500.00 - and it was not cute. My neighborhood in the last month has 2 new golden doodles. Yes, they are cute.......although, I understand it's not even about the price or looks/behavior....health issues are sometimes a problem. Seems like Cairn's could be a target - cute, compact, non shed. With golden doodle - no telling how big they will get - although the non shedding is a plus. The cute little golden doodle puppy I know is 65# at 10 weeks. Yikes!! Can't fool mother nature and the gene pool !!

[mrskti]

It's amazing how much money they get for what we use to call Muts!!

[Brigette]

I have to first say that I totally respect preserving the pure breeds. We do have a yorkie-poo, one of my close friends had a yorkie that died jumping from the couch to a chair and broke her neck because her bones were so tiny. My feeling was, I wanted a yorkie, but was concerned about their fragility. I felt for our family a yorkie poo was a good choice because my dog is a little sturdier and can easily play with our other dogs. We also have a Lab/German shepherd mix we adopted from our local humane society. Although this wasnt an intentional mix, I'm hoping some of the common hip problems may not occur with him by his widened genetic pool. Let's also remember that many of the offical pure breeds were created by selective breeding among different breeds for desired features many years ago. I would never be so full of myself to tell any of you what is the best option for you, but this was the best decision for our family and circumstances.

[kayharley]

My feeling is that there are more than enough breeds right now to accomodate everyones preferences.

I believe it's now just a money market and the poor dogs have become the victims. Anyone intentionally supporting this field (and I mean the pet shop industry) should think twice.

[CathyAnn]

Not to slam anyone, but we always called mixed breeds mutts, too. We were always told that mixed breeds tended to be healthier than purebreds??

Cathy

[bubba]

I agree with Bridgette. We have our cairn, then our other dog, Yoda, is a schnoodle. Whether or not this was done intentionally, I do not know. I just know that this is the mix he is, and yes he is a mutt. There is nothing wrong with adopting a mix/mutt. In fact, it's a wonderful thing to do. However, people who go out of their way to make a profit on this by selling these dogs for an obscene amount of money are in it purely for the greed.

There is nothing wrong w/adopting or taking a mixed breed dog into your home. It's a matter of choice, and quite often, the dogs are quite loving. I'm not too certain that our first cairn, Pluto, was not a cairn/poodle mix. We got him at the Humane Society, so there is no way to know. I do know that his hair was much different from Coopers, and that it had quite a wave to it. He was a great dog!

pat.

[Eliz222]

I think it's wonderful to adopt dogs of mixed breed from the dog shelters, but I do not think it is right to mix pure bred dogs, on purpose, and then profit from the

"mix". Just my opinion. I read the other day that they were mixing a beagle hound...,but I can't remember what the other dog was! I'll take a pure bred Cairn any day!

[bradl]

It was a "Puggle" I'll bet, Shoe.

No one I know is prejudiced agains the accidental mutt - they can make a great dog and apparently really do have hybrid vigor. That was the gist of my comment above. Trying to apply that happy fact to 'designer dogs' is problematic as genetically hybrid vigor is a first-generation effect only. If the offspring are line-bred (as to create a designer breed) - they are potentially worse off than either of the original breeds. Yet obviously all breeds were created at some point. Creating new breeds for real is apparently somewhat heartbreaking work, with extremely close inbreeding required early on, and lots of culling of afflicted offspring to isolate and eliminate the really bad recessives to the point where you have a breed that reproduces true to type and with the smallest possible load of nasty recessives. It's the work of serious people and not the sense I get from most of the designer dog breeders. Again, I'm mostly talking through my hat, but that's the sense I get from wide reading.

[toomanypaws]

There's a big difference in mutts and these new, so called "designer pups". Most mutts just happened due to irresponsible pet ownership. Growing up, we had a mutt that was part smooth collie and part beagle. That dog was the best!

I agree w/ Brad and I do not agree w/ these breeders who are trying to make big money by creating a new breed. The thing is, the next generation of this new breed will go back to the dominant gene, not another "designer pup".

I've posted this link before. Notice the puppies, as cute as they are, to me there's just something missing in their eyes.

designerpups

[CathyAnn]

Beth...I can see what you mean about something missing in their eyes. Or, is it that we are just so used to the eyes of our Cairn babies....hehe!!

I about fell off of my chair looking at the asking prices of those pups! Ridiculous for a mutt, IMO. You can go the local pound and get the exact same pups for a ton $$ less.

Cathy

[savannahsmom35]

I need to clarify the comment that I made earlier. I think that it is great to adopt any homeless animal regardless of if they are purebred or not. BUT the breeder that Toomanypaws posted has mixed just about every breed on purpose and is selling them for as much as $3500.00!!! THAT is ridiculous. As many different breeds that this person has mixed, I find it hard to believe that a lot of research was done before the breeding of the animals. Some people may find that spending $3500.00 for a mixed breed like this is right for them but not for me. I wouldn't spend that much on a dog PERIOD regardless of the breed!

[Kathryn]

What about those new breeds that come from crosses and seem to be getting recognition? I've heard of a "Leonberger" that apparently is originally part Newfie, for instance. I don't understand why anyone would want to do this, but then I don't understand why anyone would want anything other than a purebred cairn -- carefully selected from a good breeder - anyway!

[Darcy's Folks]

All I know is adopting is "the" way to go when you can't afford a pure bred dog. Darcy cost a big whopping $85 when we adopted her and she truly possesses the best of the Westie/terrier qualities. Granted, we were keeping our eyes and ears open for an actual Westie, but when we saw Darcy it was all over... I fell in love with her! She needed a home and we decided adopting was the "right" thing to do. And hey, the price break sure was nice.

But to ever ATTEMPT to get another mix like Darcy would be foolish and ridiculous on our part. The joy in being a "mutt" owner is how unique that one dog will be due to the breed croses, appearance, etc. We had no idea we'd get a dog that would be mistaken for a Cairn all the time.

It irritates me that there are TOO many dogs that NEED homes and someone like this lady is producing overpriced mutts! Shame, shame.