Hot Topic (2/19): Purebred dogs vs. "Mutts"

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

From NYTimes.com 

Timothy A. Clary/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Sadie, a Scottish terrier, won the Best in Show at the 134th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday.

This week, as Sadie, the Scottish terrier, strutted to the podium to accept her best in show award at the the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, two women held up placards that read: “Mutts Rule” and “Breeders Kill Shelter Dogs’ Chances.”

The protesters were booed, but the message was not being taken lightly. Some dog lovers feel that buying a purebred dog is ethically questionable because of health problems associated with overbreeding and inbreeding. At the same time, two million to three million shelter dogs in the U.S. are put to death every year. Even the Obamas faced these issues when they decided to bring a dog into the White House.

* * *

Should we feel guilty about buying or owning a purebred dog?

What are your thoughts?

Would you only own a purebred?  Or only own a "mutt"?  Or . . .?

[freckled-Sandy]

I have a shelter dog.  His mother was a golden retriever and his father was a "fence hopping" Plott Hound.  He's a wonderful mix and has a great nature. I don't think there's anything wrong with going with a purebred or a mutt doggie.  I think people are willing to pay extra to have a better chance and coming home with a dog with the qualities you want for your family.  You just get the good with the bad in all dogs.  If your looking for a dog to protect your family you wouldn't go with a golden retriever...they are not known for their protective traits.  If you want to insure a better chance at not having a dog which may later stumble over an aggression problem, you may want to have a golden retriever.  Differnt' strokes for differnt' folks.

[soccerchik8287]

I prefer mutts, because from what I have experienced, they live longer than purebreds. At the same time I am a sucker for any dog that does not have a home. We have one mutt, and one purebred. If my hubby would let me we'd have way more. Shelters make me so sad. Some keep the dogs only 24hrs and then they are put to sleep. Another advantage of having a mutt is usually there is no fee. Both of our dogs were free. I'd personally rather get a dog for free, than pay these crazy fees. I read the ads in the paper all the time and I'm sorry but I would never pay $1000 for something I could get for free. You don't have to have a purebred to have a sweet, fun dog. :)

[AMarineLovesMe]

I agree.  We have a purebred Belgian Malinois whose grandmother was imported for specific traits she had.  He is an amazing dog and fulfills what we were looking for, and is an amazing example of his breed.  We also have a rescued Lab, we know nothing about his past, why he is covered in dozens of surgical scars or how long he wandered around the woods.  Not knowing anything about has cause many issues, like his fear of being alone outside - he ripped apart our fence and also caused A LOT of damage to the outde of our house.  Rescuing an older dog can come with consequences like we have learned and many people aren't willing to take the risk so they go to a breeder.  As long as the breeder is only breeding to better the breed then I have no problem.  But it's the make a quick buck backyard breeders that give the good breeders a bad name with their inbred puppies and overbred females.

Quoting freckled-Sandy:

I have a shelter dog.  His mother was a golden retriever and his father was a "fence hopping" Plott Hound.  He's a wonderful mix and has a great nature. I don't think there's anything wrong with going with a purebred or a mutt doggie.  I think people are willing to pay extra to have a better chance and coming home with a dog with the qualities you want for your family.  You just get the good with the bad in all dogs.  If your looking for a dog to protect your family you wouldn't go with a golden retriever...they are not known for their protective traits.  If you want to insure a better chance at not having a dog which may later stumble over an aggression problem, you may want to have a golden retriever.  Differnt' strokes for differnt' folks.

[Robyn218]

I have pure bred dogs and mutts.  I love them all the same.  I go for the face...  How can you refuse a darling puppy face of any breed or heritage when he looks at you with that puppy love face...  I get sucked in. 

[Randi02]

I prefer mutts too!

Far fewer health problems (usually), there's not usually a million others who look JUST like them, and adoption doesn't encourage the pet over population problem.

I have NEVER bought an animal, we always adopt and end up with great pets. They often come with sad stories, and our dog had some serious baggage that took some time to get over, but we love her! She is fiercely loyal and eternally grateful for the home she has now. She's very protective and I can't imagine her not being part of our lives. She just needed someone who wouldn't give up on her.

Here's our Maya at the park! (excuse my grassy girl LOL)

[AMarineLovesMe]

I wish that were the case where I live.  The problem a lot of shelters/rescues here have finding homes for their dogs - they charge up to $300 for their dogs.  The Humane Society tried to charge me $200 for a kitten.  Then on top of that some shelters will make you pay to get the animal fixed on your own.  I think shelter animals would have a better chance if the greedy shelters and rescues like we have here didn't charge breeders prices for a mutt.  It's sad.

Quoting soccerchik8287:

I prefer mutts, because from what I have experienced, they live longer than purebreds. At the same time I am a sucker for any dog that does not have a home. We have one mutt, and one purebred. If my hubby would let me we'd have way more. Shelters make me so sad. Some keep the dogs only 24hrs and then they are put to sleep. Another advantage of having a mutt is usually there is no fee. Both of our dogs were free. I'd personally rather get a dog for free, than pay these crazy fees. I read the ads in the paper all the time and I'm sorry but I would never pay $1000 for something I could get for free. You don't have to have a purebred to have a sweet, fun dog. :)

[Randi02]

It's not greed.

Before I had kids it was my job to rehome, vaccinate, microchip, groom, do home visits, obedience training and aggression/behavioural testing for 3 shelters in our area.

It is SO expensive to house all of those animals. They often require vet care, which is not free and medications. Many shelters already have the animal altered and again, that is not free. Even if they just pay for the anesthetic... it still adds up very quickly when you have hundreds or thousands of cats and dogs going through there. Then there is the food, litter and transport costs. They rely on donations, but when they aren't coming in... those things need to be purchased and it's not cheap to feed that many animals. If an animal waits too long in a low or no kill shelter, they are usually shipped to rescues... again, not cheap.

ALSO, I think that a steeper adoption fee is a good idea. It discourages people from jumping into something they are not ready for. If the cost becomes somewhat of a factor, more people are going to put a little more thought into their decisions, and although that might mean less people adopt... it weeds out those who are not truly committed. A lot of shelters have you sign a contract saying that if you can't keep the animal for any reason, within a year you return it to them. By making sure that the adopters are ready, this means less animals should be returned and then rehomed.

Quoting AMarineLovesMe:

I wish that were the case where I live.  The problem a lot of shelters/rescues here have finding homes for their dogs - they charge up to $300 for their dogs.  The Humane Society tried to charge me $200 for a kitten.  Then on top of that some shelters will make you pay to get the animal fixed on your own.  I think shelter animals would have a better chance if the greedy shelters and rescues like we have here didn't charge breeders prices for a mutt.  It's sad.

Quoting soccerchik8287:

I prefer mutts, because from what I have experienced, they live longer than purebreds. At the same time I am a sucker for any dog that does not have a home. We have one mutt, and one purebred. If my hubby would let me we'd have way more. Shelters make me so sad. Some keep the dogs only 24hrs and then they are put to sleep. Another advantage of having a mutt is usually there is no fee. Both of our dogs were free. I'd personally rather get a dog for free, than pay these crazy fees. I read the ads in the paper all the time and I'm sorry but I would never pay $1000 for something I could get for free. You don't have to have a purebred to have a sweet, fun dog. :)

[AMarineLovesMe]

That's the thing though, a lot of them DON'T do any of that.  I've gone to shelters and the ONLY thing they did was vaccinate and the only time half of them even temperment test is if it's a Pit or Rott.  That's my problem, if they did all of that, then the $300 fee wouldn't be an issue.  But when you have to pay that then go get the dog groomed, chipped, and fixed, it's a little ridiculous.  My vet charges $200 for a medium sized dog to be fixed, so that right there is $500 right of the back for an older dog with an unknown background (in general, I know you can get younger ones and some people provide info when they drop off).  There is one shelter here that I love and I donate to - they charge $100 - $200 depending on if they were able to get the dog fixed.  If they are too full they will drop the fee to $20 and an agreement to have a home check instead of sending the animal to a kill shelter to be put down. 

Quoting Randi02:

It's not greed.

Before I had kids it was my job to rehome, vaccinate, microchip, groom, do home visits, obedience training and aggression/behavioural testing for 3 shelters in our area.

It is SO expensive to house all of those animals. They often require vet care, which is not free and medications. Many shelters already have the animal altered and again, that is not free. Even if they just pay for the anesthetic... it still adds up very quickly when you have hundreds or thousands of cats and dogs going through there. Then there is the food, litter and transport costs. They rely on donations, but when they aren't coming in... those things need to be purchased and it's not cheap to feed that many animals. If an animal waits too long in a low or no kill shelter, they are usually shipped to rescues... again, not cheap.

ALSO, I think that a steeper adoption fee is a good idea. It discourages people from jumping into something they are not ready for. If the cost becomes somewhat of a factor, more people are going to put a little more thought into their decisions, and although that might mean less people adopt... it weeds out those who are not truly committed. A lot of shelters have you sign a contract saying that if you can't keep the animal for any reason, within a year you return it to them. By making sure that the adopters are ready, this means less animals should be returned and then rehomed.

Quoting AMarineLovesMe:

I wish that were the case where I live.  The problem a lot of shelters/rescues here have finding homes for their dogs - they charge up to $300 for their dogs.  The Humane Society tried to charge me $200 for a kitten.  Then on top of that some shelters will make you pay to get the animal fixed on your own.  I think shelter animals would have a better chance if the greedy shelters and rescues like we have here didn't charge breeders prices for a mutt.  It's sad.

Quoting soccerchik8287:

I prefer mutts, because from what I have experienced, they live longer than purebreds. At the same time I am a sucker for any dog that does not have a home. We have one mutt, and one purebred. If my hubby would let me we'd have way more. Shelters make me so sad. Some keep the dogs only 24hrs and then they are put to sleep. Another advantage of having a mutt is usually there is no fee. Both of our dogs were free. I'd personally rather get a dog for free, than pay these crazy fees. I read the ads in the paper all the time and I'm sorry but I would never pay $1000 for something I could get for free. You don't have to have a purebred to have a sweet, fun dog. :)

[tallison1041]

I have 3 pure bred& 3 mutts. My yorkie was from a breeder, but my boarder collie& shelty are from a local rescue ( the same one my other 3 came from). You have a better idea of the breed traits with a pure breed, but variables still exist. I love all of them, they each have their own personalities& are wonderful babies. If you choose to buy from a breeder, please be responsible& make sure they are not a "back yard" breeder or a puppy mill. These awful people cannot be encouraged to breed irresponsibly for profit, it is animal abuse! 

 

 

 

 

[Cynthje]

I have two mutts and i love them, i used to have a jack russel terrier and a collie (both died) but i really prefer the mutts. One of them came from a shelter and the other one came to us as a stray. They are healthy, strong and gentle dogs and i dont see myself ever getting a specific breed anymore.