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

[DonMarie and Picco]

I always get someone running out to us or cars stopping when we go out on walks, wanting to know what type of dog he is. My favorite was an old farmer in a beat up truck asking "what type of doodle is that? a snickerdoodle, labradoodle, cockadoodle, whatsadoodle...??" He kept going on & on just cracking me up!  I've only had on person complain about "designer dogs" but when she met Picco she fell in love!    It's just a mixed breed, but aren't they all till some organization (AKC) decides they can be part of the elite club.