Just saw the newest Cairn crossbreed.....

[Barney's Mom]

Well, we were out for dinner tonight and went into a big pet store near the restaurant. We went to this store many times before we got Barney so we could see what a Cairn terrier looked like in person, and so we could be in a room with one and see how they behave. They often have Cairns and one that I saw on a particular visit stole my heart. It fell asleep in my coat, and that was it....I was hooked!

But quite often this pet store has crossbreeds of Cairns: Cairnoodles, a cross between a pug and a Cairn (ugh...) and now tonight we saw a new one

[TheWolf]

I think anyone breeding dogs should have an obligation to the breed, the individual puppy, and the future owners of that puppy. Once profit comes into the picture sometimes all values seem to be forgotten. There are sometimes problems with purebred dogs that come from puppy mills because the breeder is too concerned with $$$$ to make the effort to produce the best ( physically and mentally ) puppy possible. These are certainly NOT the people who should be putting two dogs of different breeds together to produce something unique. A close friend has a Maltese that she rescued from a puppy mill. Recently she adopted a "Morkie" (Maltese/Yorkshire Terrier) that was bought on impulse by a lady who knew NOTHING about dogs. The puppy came with all the papers from the pet shop that sold her and the price was $ 1,999.00 !!! She is a sweet cute puppy, a great pet, and a great companion for the Maltese but we can't get over that price. What are people thinking ? BTW what did this Boston Cairn actually look like ?

[Barney's Mom]

The Boston Cairns were not stocky like Cairn pups. Barney was such a tank when he was little, so I am making my comparisson based on him as a baby. The BC's had a scruffy coat but it was not coarse at all. It was very soft and about an inch long all over. Their ears flopped down and their noses were just very slightly "pugged". They were all black with some white on them. One had just a splash of white right on top of her head and she was mostly black. It looked very funny! It looked like she had a hat on!

They are not short and stocky, but more slim and proportionate in their legs and body. I meant to ask the attendant how old thy were because they were so tiny. I held a pure bred Cairn at the same place and it was thick and stocky like Barney was. The BC's had a more delicate body type for sure.

[jodi0553]

It is terrible that someone can accidentally allow two unaltered dogs to be in contact, and then turn around and market their mistake as a fancy new designer breed. It makes me very sad. There are plenty of lovely mutts in pounds all across the country being euthanized every day. Last night I watched a taped episode of the Dog Whisperer where Cesar went to Tijuana to help rescue dogs to bring to the US. It was so sad I couldn't watch some parts in the beginning. I wish there were stricter laws governing puppy mills and their practices. I think someday in the not so far future, we will see something like that though. It was less than 20 years ago that you would find mass chain pet stores in malls across America with a huge window with dogs of every breed in filthy cages, and that practice has fortunately become a thing of the past...

[Barney's Mom]

With pet store dogs, sometimes the owners suffer as much or more than the pets. My brother in law got a sweet cocker/beagle mix at a pet store (paid $300 for a mutt, can you believe it??) and Buddy ended up having a horrible heart condition and died in Mike's arms. Poor Mike was devastated, and to add insult to injury, had to pay mega vet bills while Buddy was sick. The store reimursed him for the dog, but that doesn't make it any easier. The money was not the issue. He and my sister had recently gotten a divorce and the house was feeling very empty to him. He just wanted someone to come home to. Then the dog ends up dying. That was rough.... Just a bad situation all around....

[Toby23]

I'm not crazy about crossbreeding myself......but, as long as people are willing to buy, it will continue. There are a couple of folks who have "Puggles" that go to the same dog park I do. One day I'll have to casully ask why a "puggle".

Along the same line as consumers creating a market.....

I live in San Diego and work maybe two miles from TJ. One of the problems/issues in S. California is purebred puppies being smuggled in, they are usually very very ill, loaded with vermin, underaged. These wicked (best word I can come up with and be "G" rated) people advertise the pups in local papers, use disposeable cell phones and meet potential buyers in parking lots. The pups are sold for quite a bit less then breeders, and here goes the cycle of un-educated people supporting illegal ventures to save a couple of hundred dollars. When they purchase one of these ill pups, they certainly aren't thinking ahead to their vet bills. My boxer recently got a bug bite on his ear, that was a 240.00 vet charge in a flash !

[sheila and Misty]

makes me angry too!

[kcsdogs]

Okay........that is just wrong. I own a Boston Terrier and a Cairn terrier. Both are lovely breeds of dogs, but just look at a Boston terrier! Belive me it is easy to screw that up! It is becoming increasingly popular to Bostonize things these days. My Boston is a show dog an very well put together for a Boston, but as you can imagine there is very little room for error in a breed that is naturaly that ugly! I had a Boston/Poodle mutt come through my obedience class last fall (whoawhatanuglydog!!!) I have had it up to my eyeballs with these "designer dogs" the people selling them ought to be drug out in the street an shot, for false advertising.....