My Dog, the Diva Designer Dog

[Kim]

I had to take Allie to the Vet on Saturday, she has Conjunctivitis (Pink Eye) and an Ear Infection. We weren't able to see our regular Vet as he wasn't in. The Vet that did see her noted how thick her file was (lol). I told her that we are at the Vet's office more than all 3 of us combined are at the Doctors. Her statement was "you get a designer dog, you get designer problems, and a designer Vet bill." It sounded like a joke at first, so I chuckled. After thinking about, I kind of got offended. First of all, I'm not really sure why they are called designer dogs... is that a more expensive term for "mixed?" and do "Non Designer Dogs" not get ear infections, and pink eye, or Lyme Disease, sliced all over the place by the Groomer, or attacked by a German Sheppard? Those are the "designer problems" in her file. And was I charged more because she's a designer dog? I compared the bills to our old bills and we didn't get charged more. I guess I'm really not sure why she said that, so I'm just venting.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

I know how you feel! I get ridiculed from my own friends -the ones who went to the shelter and picked up the mutt-du-jour at the local shelter for the family pet, which is wonderful and altruistic but I was wanting a certain type of dog. I am fairly fastidious and we all, in my family, have some degree of allergies so we have always had non-shedding dogs. I dont want a mean scary dog. I dont like pitts,rotties, or any of these mixes. And I didnt want some inbred reserve dog.(the shelter here is full of them)

When Abby got her terrible infection one friend had the odacity to say and I quote "Oh the $2000 dog has a cyst and the world comes to an end!" Of course I didnt let her get away with that and graphically explained that this "cyst" was not a cyst but a fist sized ball right in her throat , where she couldnt eat, swallow or breathe right. Ass.

I always get a lot of jokes and inuendo about the $2000. dog. (she was actually only $1800 - part of it was the flight - lol) (and she came spayed etc...) See... people make me feel I have to justify the expense yet nobody says anything when they go spend money on spas, clothes, ATVs or something else equally ridiculous. LOL.

But the new vet I went to and all his staff were all over her, oohing and awwing over her beauty, and softness, they loved her. And the vet said "they are great dogs". So at least I got that LOL. And people always stop me to compliment her, so there is a reason people are wanting these dogs designed!

[Kim]

ugh!!! I usually get the oohing and ahhing when we see our regular Vet - he absolutely loves her and has GREAT things to say about Goldendoodles in general. This Vet we saw on Saturday doesn't know what we spent on her, so just for her to say that irked me.

[Kathy Wilson]

Hey Abby's mom, tell 'em to kiss yer a$$! As IF the world doesn't come to an end when their dogs get sick! Our rescue dog, Snoopy, was a Border Collie, and she had a tumor the size of a softball, poor thing. It's awful when any animal has that happen! Some folks.....geeeeez!
Hope Abby is okay now.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I love having a "designer dog"! It gives me a good excuse to purchase designer accessories to go with him, such as my fake Coach poop bag carrier!
My "designer dog" cost me a $300 adoption fee at the shelter, and about $6000 in vet bills since then. The vet and I joke about it all the time. Hopefully, your vet's comment was just a joke. But I think the term "designer dog" was coined by the media about the deliberate breeding of mixes like puggles and doodles; I wouldn't let it bother you.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

LOL. Think of the money you saved Karen! LOL!

[Kim]

LOL. Fake coach poop bag carrier!!!!!

Hopefully the Vet's comment was just a joke.

[Kathy Wilson]

Hey Karen, do the fake Coach poop bag carriers come in pink? It would go with all my baby's pink toys! :D
Might even get one that's got rhinestones!

How is Jack doing? I love your videos of him!

[Kathy Wilson]

Hey Kim,
Several years ago, I had Gigi, a champion-sired, full-blooded toy poodle. I lost her at the tender age of 11 due to heart disease. Toy poodles mostly last alot longer than 11 years. She was fed the best food we could come up with, had been fed a natural, non-kibble diet as a puppy, was given the best possible chance in life and we still lost her. I don't think "designer" has a dang thing to do with your vet bills. Pure-bred dogs can have health problems and so can mixed breed dogs (aka- designer dogs - sometimes referred to as mutts). I had a Tonkinese kitty who I lost to kidney failure at the age of 11....young for a cat, and yet his blood cousin is still alive and fairly well at the tender age of 19. Had I known that Ben's kidneys would fail at 11, I'd still have bought him. He was my baby boy, he was a phenomenal being. If I cried, he'd run up my chest and touch my face with his paw, just to name one of his many wonderful traits. I'm no expert, but I think all kinds of animals can have all kinds of things go wrong (or right). Ask your vet about purebred English Bulldogs or French Bulldogs. English Bulldogs can't give birth naturally, Frenchies can't breed the 'natural' way, Modern Persian cats have tear duct problems and breathing troubles, etc, etc, etc. She's fulla it. ;)

[Kim]

awe :'( It sounds like you had a lot of heartache when it came to your animals. Luckily for me, everything has been pretty much minor and hurt me more than it hurt Allie. And no - I don't think designer has anything to do with my Vet bills. Looking back, she probably was just joking... I hope!

[Kathy Wilson]

Hope I didn't sound as if I was indulging in a pity party, just wanting to give examples of purebreds having their problems too. For example, the stories I could tell you about my beloved Ben...I wouldn't change a thing. It was still a joy to have him in my life, even if only for 11 years. Our sweet Jerry is 19, a cousin of Ben's and he's still going pretty strong for an old guy. The new baby.....a chocolate labradoodle, will arrive mid-November and I will love her whether I have her for two years or twenty. Sorry if I overdid the sad stories. I can get carried away at times when trying to 'help'. Sigh.......and yeah, now I see the strong possibility that your friend was joking. I have friends who give me grief for paying 'top dollar' for a "mutt". I now just laugh and say "yup". :o)

[Ellen]

We sometimes get the rolling eyes when we say that our pooch is a goldendoodle, but the most vicious retorts came when we were researching how doodles should be groomed (not from DK members of course!). Oy vay. We saw comments that GDs were mongrels/mutts, that there is no style for mutts, and that nobody cares how GDs are groomed (often stated in ALL CAPS and multiple exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!).

Ok, I'll admit that GDs technically are mutts, but didn't a lot pure breeds start off as mutts?

All I can say is that we should all thank Adina for starting DK! I love that this forum is available for me to talk about and gush over my lovely little GD teddy bear!

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

No. Technically they are hybrids "mixes of known lineage" a mutt is "a dog of unknown parentage/lineage." Thats my story and I am sticking to it!
:o)