How to deal with snarky comments about cost and "designer mutt"?

[jenn D]

Hello fellow doodlers!

Long rant here sorry! I'm sure some of you have experienced this.

When I Take Brisby out I get comments about how cute he is, how excellent his temperment is and how well he listens. While I've done a lot of work with him I feel that some of his temperment comes from good breeding.
People often ask where we got him and how much he cost. If I choose to tell how much doodle *can* go for I get shocked looks and a lot of comment such as "you are crazy to pay that much for a dog!" Etc.
Growing up I had both purebred beagles and mixed rescue dogs. They were great and it's helped me learn a lot about training. I have nothing against people who bring a dog into their house via rescue. In fact, the first labradoodle I trained was a rescue from a kill shelter and we took her in, trained her to perform as Sandy in the Musical Annie here in my town and then found her a great home where she's lived her last 12 years.
However, after getting married and having kids I've had to adjust what type of dogs we get. My son has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and sensory disorders so I needed a very stable and reliable dog. My daughter was finishing up chemo and we needed a dog with limited shedding. Idid a lot of research and narrowed in on multi gen Labradoodles and then researched more and found a breeder who's dogs temperaments I liked.
We made a great choice and im happy with our decision. The comments about "designer dogs" and cost just get to me at times, especially when they follow a comment about how "great"our dog is.

Just not sure how to respond to the comments. Even telling people about doodle rescue and some of the costs there, they still balk. I have friends who have awesome rescues and I think that's a great avenue too. I just don't get the bashing about my "$2000 mutt" directly after the "wow what a great dog!" Why even comment at all?

Thanks for letting meget that off my chest.
Jenn

[Breanna]

Another point I'd like to make is that labradoodles are actually being recognized as purebred by some companies. When I got a quote for pet insurance labradoodle was under purebred instead of mixed. Also, pit bulls were once a cross between the bull dog and terrier. They aren't known as a mutt anymore, they are simply pit bulls. Not that any of this matters. 

On the bright side, the people who ask about Crush in public usually ask "is that a labradoodle?" or "what kind of dog is that?" and reply with "oh my [so and so] has one, they are great dogs!" and I agree :) 

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Not that it makes a darn bit of difference to any of us, but both Labradoodles and Goldendoodles are up for being named as AKC Breeds. I imagine it will take sometime, but eventually, it will come about.
We participated in a charity event a few weeks go. It was called : Car, Canines and Heroes. This Org. supplied Companion dogs for handicap war veterans. Many of the guys were there with there dogs. I was so thrilled to see so many a Goldendoodles used as Handicap Dogs! One of the trainers I spoke with said GoldenDoodles make her job so easy, with their ability to learn quickly. I was one proud Mama, as we had Enzo with us. All her " relatives" made us very proud.

[Chelsie]

I had a gal get snarky/ snooty with me who had a doodle, but her's was a mini unlike my giant Sam! It was strange to have to defend my doodle to her, a fellow doodle owner. I wanted a giant and would have paid triple what I did for him! Haters are always gonna hate and they live in a sad, sad world without the love of our doodles!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

That's a new one, her's was better because it was a mini! 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Because I have one of each it gets very complicated when people ask me what breed they are so I always answer Poodle mixes and they look at me with great surprise. I have never been asked what they 'cost' but if I was asked such a rude question I would not reply. I learnt many years ago that you don't have to answer questions if you don't wish to.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Jenn, God bless you. You have a lot on your plate and I'm glad you've got a sweet guy like Brisby to help out.  In the past few years the number of doodles in my town has grown so the comments are lots more positive now as more people "know" a doodle. Rude designer dog comments are easily ignored or handled with - "No not a designer dog. These dogs are bred to be service and therapy dogs. This boy is a registered working therapy dog" and I move on.  Cost is nobody's business - I just say "a lot but worth every cent." Sometimes someone is sincere about wanting a doodle and then I'm happy to give them my breeder's name and a couple of others I've met on DK to check out plus DRC and leave them with a warning about puppy mills.  Amen to Adina's comment :) and some of these other comebacks :)  

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

I had an interesting experience the other day.  A man in front of me was checking out at Costco with 2 bags of dog foods.  I was being nice and asked what kind of dogs he had. He responded "a poodle and a golden retriever"  I responded I had 3 goldendoodles - I was ready to say something like "a mix of your dogs" when he said "Oh mutts".  I was shocked at his attitude and just let him continue checking out in silence.  I knew if I said anything to him I would not have been kind to him or his dogs.  It is not the dogs fault that they have a small minded owner.

[jenn D]

It's so silly because weren't all purebreds "mutts" at some point in their evolution???

[Frank and Elaine]

Loved Kris's reply. My Kizzy was kind of a rescue and she has spoiled me from wanting any other kind of dog.

[Marie Dennen]

The dog world is very political. It is fascinating to study about all the breeds because they did all come from a mix of some sort. But it take years to develop quality lines. Read up on the history of the golden retriever sometime. That is one breed that people put a lot of work into. You do have to admit there are a lot of unscrupulous breeders out there So 2000$ is pretty crazy when you think about it.  I mean they can't all be high quality doodles. My friend's mom had an AKC grand champion shar pei that she was able to ask for 1500$ per puppy and that was over ten years ago. And she went through a big process to match up a mate. Everyone has a different perspective. I just had to throw out a devil's advocate perspective out there.

 

[Jen W]

To be honest, I do think I have a designer mutt.  She was carefully designed by the breeder to combine fantastic traits from multiple breeds.  Designer to me just means not accidental.

 

Mine is part poodle, part golden and part Irish setter and while the breeder calls her an Irish Goldendoodle I have yet to be able to say that and expect to be taken seriously.  When people ask what she is (and they always do b/c she is gorgeous!) I say she's part poodle, part golden and part Irish setter.  No one has ever asked me what I paid, though sometimes when people ask where I got her I get the feeling that I should feel bad for not having a rescue dog, but that's on me, not them.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

In the nearly 4 yrs we've had doodles, I can honestly say we've never encountered a 'doodle basher', and only 1 person, a 10 yr old little girl, ever asked how much they cost. We've been approached by people who were interested in the breed and wanted to know who our breeder was, but never any snarky comments. Maybe its the neighborhood we live in (there's a fair good number of doodles springing up everywhere here), but after reading some of these comments I'm feeling pretty fortunate. Its funny, we often refer to our doodles as 'the mutts'. And expensive mutts, they were!