Anybody ever had their Doodle called a Mutt?

[Joy Williams]

I was just at Petsmart and a lady was walking across the parking lot with a beautiful Golden Retriever. She stopped me and asked me some questions about my car, as she is thinking of getting one. She said she is a Breeder and was questioning whether a crate would fit in the back seat or not. She asked if I had a dog and when I told her I had 2 Golden Doodles, she rolled her eyes,turned up her nose and made an awful face. "Why would anyone ever consider paying that much money for a Mutt!! That's all they are ya know...mutts." And she went on and on about GD's and all kinds of negative things about them. She made me so mad, I think if she had not had the Golden Retriever standing there beside her, I probably would have run over her.

[Lynda Kamrath]

One of my favorite stories (I don't know if I have told it here on DoodleKisses) was when I first had Hondo. We got him as a companion to our old standard poodle when his companion (a shephard) died. Hondo was this cute little mahagony colored ball of fluff. We were out walking and I got the usual question, "What kind of dog is he?" We had the standard poodle and I was feeling frisky so I said, "Well, we really liked the standard poodle, so we tried cloning him. The clone was not very successful and we ended up with this puppy. But we love him anyway." The man looked at me like I was out of my head, and I just walked away smiling.

[April Cliber]

THIS is the one of the reasons I send a puppy home with copies of the testing that the parents have had. If anyone tries to get elitist with them they can SHOW them exactly what there pup is. A pup who parents have far more testing than most purebred breeders ever even think of doing! And a pup with a health guarantee. One of my pups (and most pups from breeders on this forum & others.) has more testing and care than most purebred pups. A mutt is a dog that you don't know the background. A DOODLE is an intentional cross of two highly intelligent, healthy dogs that produce a wonderful companion.

Years ago I was in a petsmart parking lot when a lady with a poodle asked me what my dog is. When I said labradoodle she looked at her dog and said, "Well my dog is a purebred with papers." My response.... "My dog has papers too." And I went on to name the many tests her parents had that I have papers for. I then smiled and said "How many of those tests did your dogs parents have?" She was a bit unnerved, mumbled something about hips & got in her car.

OK, so that was a bit snobbish too, and since that time I've learned to let it roll off my back. Well... most of the time.

[Tante & Jordan & now Annie!]

I get "you could have "saved" so many shelter dogs for what you paid for Jordan." I was open to our family and friends what I paid Jordan.
Should of listened to Brian and not told anyone what I paid for her.

[Libby, Rufus & Jacoby]

I haven't even told my husband what we paid. He just doesn't want to know! I'm not telling you anything new when I say these are the best dogs ever!!!!!

I've never had anyone make a derogatory comment to my face, but I'm sure there are some who have questioned why we think our doodles are so special. Wish they could spend a week with them...

[hzs7npjxfgx2]

I never told my DH either ... and he didn't ask. I don't really equate the price I paid with the whole purebred/mutt issue anyway. I just wanted a great dog for my family. period.

[Joy Williams]

You're exactly right, Chelsea. Our kids are all grown up and have families of their own now, so these Doods are our kids. So talking bad about them is like saying "Your son is fat & ugly", or "Your daughter is low rent"!! It'll really get ya fired up!

[Marcia Stevens]

I was randomly searching poodle rescues for any Labradoodles in the S.Calif. area...and, to my amazement was a website sponsored by the Southern California Poodle rescue....they were literally condemning the Labradoodle, like it was an abomination.....it made me SO mad....How dare they!!
If you feel like reading a load of c*ap....

http://www.poodleclubsocal.com/labradoodles/

[Liz]

I really believe this is just a "jealousy" thing. It's no different than back in high school when the girls would just "hate" the pretty new girl for no paticular reason. I have noticed myself that mostly it seems to come from the poodle owners....I have handled it in a different way...I remind them that all dogs were originally "mixed", that doodles were bred to be service animals, that they have taken on all the sweetness of labs or goldens and poodles...I tell them how beautiful their dog is and that I was one of those people who used to think poodles were "foo foo" dogs...that the doodle helped me learn just how special poodles are! I really have learned that...I had always thought poodles were dogs that were just pretty to look at....boy did I learn a lesson!! These conversations usually happen at the dog park we go to...so by the time our dogs are done playing they have learned too....doodles are a pretty "awesome" breed and they usually end up proud their dog had something to do with that!! I do feel a little defensive about the why I paid for a dog instead of getting one out of the shelter and the whole designer fad that just is helping add to the shelters....I have in my lifetime gotten many lifetime pets from the shelter...this is the first time I have ever purchased a dog...I fell in love with the doodle breed....yes, I paid alot of money....but.... I spayed and neutered my pets, I take good care of them...I volunteer twice a month at the local shelter....how can they just assume that I have never done my part!!

[Richard Crowe]

IMO AKC folks include some selfish snobs who are more concerned with their dogs winning a stupid blue ribbon than they are in the health or betterment of the dogs.

We have raised purebred dogs (breed will not be named) and have had several champions to our credit but, I find the Doodle folks much friendlier and more concerned with the health and betterment of their dogs than many purebred owners.

As an example, we have a superb little male, Dandy. This little guy just about has it all. He has conformation, face and coat to die for and a temperament that allowed him to kick butt in the show ring. He became a champion very-very quickly. He also produced drop-dead gorgeous puppies. The problem with Dandy is that he also carries a recessive gene that causes severe liver shunt problems in some of the puppies he sired. After several litters, each of which had at least one puppy that had to be put down we decided that we would neuter Dandy and keep him as a pet. We received a lot of flack from other breeders that went something like this. "How dare you neuter a beautiful boy like that who produces puppies which easily could become champions. We'd love to have bred to him because of the looks of his puppies. Who cares if some of his puppies have to be put down, the others can be winners!"

We were also discouraged due to the lack of support from the general breed organization membership for Judy's efforts as West Coast Rescue Coordinator for the breed.

Finally, we became very disillusioned at the breed organization members fight against health certifications for breeding dogs.

We no longer breed...

And, I will get off my soap-box after i say that all AKC breeds were once mutts. AKC breeds didn't just pop up - they have been bred from other breeds. They may have been around for a long time but, they were originally the result of mating two other breeds.

Additionally, the American standards include breeding physical defects into breeds for looks. The flat face of the pug is one example, the dragging rear quarters of the German Shepherd is another while breeding the runt of one litter to the runt of another litter in order to reduce the size of the puppies is another example. In Europe the Maltese are larger and healthier than in the USA. A seven or eight pound maltese with a slightly longer nose is fine for competition in the UK or Continental europe. In the USA, it is almost imposible to win if your Maltese is much over 5.5 pounds and it must have a smuched in baby-doll face (which results in bite problems).

Obviously all AKC folks are not like this but, enough are that I don't bow down in awe because an animal is AKC registered.

[3bchewxb2bw4l]

I experienced this awful situation as well, and I too was at Petsmart when it first happened. The only difference is that it was my trainer at Petsmart that was calling my doodle a mutt. On several occasions she called him a mutt in front of the whole class and I almost quit that overly expensive training course because I was so upset over it. She even seemed to be bias towards him by never using him for the example or spending any individual time with us like she did with the other dogs. The funny thing is that at the end of the class when we did our little performance to see who can do everything we learned in the class my "mutt" was the only dog in that crowded class that could do every single thing we learned plus more that I taught him myself. When she called him a mutt my feelings were so hurt as if someone had called one of my children ugly or even worse, retarded. At first I thought maybe I was over-emotional with how I felt, so I am glad to hear others are as upset as me over it.

I too have gotten much grief about having a "designer dog" from people especially because I live close to Lancaster, PA which is now famous for its puppy mills. Oprah even did a special on the puppy mills in Lancaster, PA. It doesn't seem to matter when I tell people that no, my 2 doodles did not come from a puppy mill, I still often get the comment that there are already too many dogs in the world and everyone should rescue a dog from a shelter to save lives, and also that if us designer dog owners keep buying the designer dogs, it will create more and more demand for them which will in turn just end up causing more and more dogs to die unnecessarily. Here's my suggestion - since designer dogs are becoming so popular and are in such demand, maybe all "purebred" breeders should stop breeding dogs and leave the designer dog breeders alone. For years and years my kids begged us to get a dog and it broke our hearts to have to say no, but my whole family has bad allergies. Then we heard of the goldendoodle and how it didn't shed, and it was the perfect answer for us. We would have gladly gotten a goldendoodle or labradoodle from a shelter but in the shelters near me there are never goldendoodles or labradoodles. It seems the shelters are filled with all the other dogs that are not in such hot demand anymore. Those of us who specifically seek out a goldendoodle breeder and then pay 3 to 4 times more than what any purebred cost are typically not the ones who send them off to a shelter because they're not a puppy anymore or don't feel like putting the time and effort into properly training them and then ship them off to a shelter after the first bad thing they do. I have found that the doodle owners I have met have enormous pride in their doodles and spend lots of time training them and making them such wonderful dogs. I have yet to meet a nasty or tempermental doodle and I think that is why - because we take such pride and joy in training them and putting forth the effort to help them be the wonderful, intelligent, loving dogs they were meant to be. Our 2 doodles are part of our family like our children and they go everywhere with us including vacation (no kennels for these doods, they splash in the ocean and dig in the sand with us).

Here's a funny little doodle-related story - I recently had a used car salesman pretty much tell me I am stupid. I have been searching for a big Chevy Suburban to cart my kids and dogs around in. The salesman had a great deal on a Chevy Tahoe but it didn't have the third row seat so I told him no. When I explained to him that the third row seat was a mandatory item for me so that my WHOLE FAMILY (incuding the 2 doodles) can sit comfortably in seats he asked me if I was joking and got a look of disbelief on his face. He found out I wasn't joking when I walked off the lot. Right after that I ended up finding a Suburban that was also a good deal, and now my doodles have heated leather seats and a sunroof.

Well, I got off the "mutt" topic a bit, but I have found it all seems to be relative. Usually the people who call our dogs mutts are the ones who don't like designer dogs and don't want them to be bred anymore. Maybe they are afraid the "old" standard purebreds won't be desired anymore and will become a thing of the past. I have seen some pretty cool shirts and other items for sale at cafepress.com that say things to address those snotty people who call our dogs mutts.

Sorry to ramble on and on, I'm just an incredibly proud mom of 2 goldendoodles and I get a bit passionate about depending them and myself for having them. Have a good day everyone and enjoy your doodles!!!

[Joy Williams]

That is such a shame that a Trainer had the nerve to call a dog a mutt! I believe I would have had to quit that class and either demand our money back, or go to another class with a different trainer. I guess y'all really showed her how smart your "mutts" were. We took ours to an obedience class at Pet Smart too and the trainer was great. As a matter of fact, she usually used either Morgan or Maddie to show how to get them to do something. It started out with a class of about 10 - all pure breds except ours and the trainer's dog. By the end of the class, everyone had dropped out except our 2 and a dalmation!

[24726v7mf6d2n]

We have encountered the type also...., they call them a "DESIGNER mutt".
Sometimes, if my husband can read a person before we tell them they are goldendoodles, he just smiles and says that they are "rare tibetan golden water dogs" and walks away quickly. heehehehehee.
On the other hand, we have encountered the type that will actually go out of their ways to approach us...at a recent festival, a newspaper reporter set the record straight and gave the doodles the FRONT PAGE of the local Chapel Hill Herald...under the picture it proudly said they were "GOLDENDOODLES". We even have had people yell from across a parking lot, "HEY! Are those doodles?" and people who adore them. So, it all balances out.