Tapir on Nostr: poodles aren't necessarily structurally unsound like french bulldogs and pugs are. ...

poodles aren't necessarily structurally unsound like french bulldogs and pugs are. You can breed healthy poodles if you're doing it right.

My main concern with doodle breeders are the ethics behind breeding them. There is a lot that *should* go into dog breeding to ensure that the breeder isn't simply adding to the overpopulation of dogs in animal shelters, creating unhealthy dogs that will suffer and cause their family grief, or create an unstable animal that will suffer and cause others to suffer as well.

The issue with doodle breeders is that they are breeding for a fad. These 'breeds' are not actual breeds; you can even see just physically how much the dogs can differ from one another. Just like there is no physical standard, there is no behavior standard either. There is no breeding for the betterment of the breed as there is no standard; they are quite literally breeding to pump out dogs. Check out how many doodle rescues and how many poodle crosses are currently in shelters. There is no push to try to make these dogs stable and predictable.

It is also apparent how little is thought of in breeding when taking into account the types of breeds getting mashed together. Some of these animals having very clashing temperaments which can create neurotic dogs. Many of these breeds have polar hair types, which makes grooming excessively difficult and undercoat matting is a huge problem with many individuals.

Then there's the health aspect; doodle breeders only seem to test for health issues seen in both breeds (IF they are a rare doodle breeder that health tests at all). Really, health tests need to be done on each breed for most issues as many of these hereditary health issues have several genetic markers or are not dominant. And these health tests often need to be done yearly, not just once while the animal is young and healthy.

Ultimately it's a cash grab. These people are scamming pet owners to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars on these dogs that they barely put an ounce of money, thought, or effort into. They don't care what they are creating, they often don't care who is adopting from them, as long as they can make money. I believe if a breeder is going to make a conscious decision to breed an animal, being the sole reason for the animal's existence should make the breeder responsible for giving that creature the best potential outcome it can have.