murraysmom

http://magazine-directory.com/Newsweek.htm

Above is the link- pretty interesting article about the trend in Puppymill "designer dogs"

Quotes:

By some accounts, there are Amish breeders earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.


The Zimmermans did particularly well selling designer dogs—Elmer favored cockapoos, a cocker spaniel–poodle mix. "They don't shed and then people's houses don't get dirty," Elmer's father says. Amish and Mennonite dog breeders on some of the eight other farms NEWSWEEK visited cited other reasons for favoring hybrids. "It's less paperwork for me—you don't have to register them," says one Lancaster County breeder, who declined to be named—but who, according to rescue officials, has kept as many as 500 dogs on his farm.

As you're driving through bucolic Lancaster County, it's impossible not to be struck by the number of worn, wooden rabbit hutches stacked beside barns. There are often no rabbits, however; inside many of the hutches are puppies, a NEWSWEEK investigation found. Often, the animals are left outside during the frigid winters. Their feet slip painfully through the cages' wire floors—and sometimes, so does their excrement, which rains on top of the dogs below when breeders stack cages to save space. Some of the dogs are nearly as big as their cages, leaving them little room to move. In front of the farms handwritten signs advertise the different breeds available. On these farms, hybrids like Labradoodles and puggles are plentiful

Under the Pennsylvania law, which goes into effect in October, wire flooring and stacked cages will be outlawed; dogs must be let outside for exercise; minimum cage sizes will be increased; and owners will be required to have every dog examined by a vet twice a year. (The regs also outlaw shooting dogs.) Legislatures in North Carolina, Washington, Oklahoma and about two dozen other states are considering or have recently passed bills to improve conditions in puppy mills, too.

The legislative crackdown isn't very popular among the Amish farmers, nor are they convinced their practices need reform. When NEWSWEEK visited the Zimmerman farm last month, Elmer hid inside, but his father defended the shootings.(70 dogs slaughterd last summer rather than be treated for fleas) "It was instant—if you take them to the vet [to be put down], how would you feel lying there unable to get air for 15 minutes?" he says. Elmer's father, who declined to be named, says the uproar has led his family to abandon their breeding business, which he regrets. "It was very profitable," he says, bemoaning how new regulations will make it prohibitively expensive to raise puppies. "It's one more business that is out of our hands. Japan, Mexico—all these countries are taking our jobs," he says.

Back in Amish country, there's .. more agitation over the regulatory threats. "All this will be gone," says Edwin, a 34-year-old Mennonite farmer in Lancaster County (who declined to give his last name). He's pointing to a row of elevated wire cages and a chain-link pen, where he breeds mini-pinschers, Labs and a half-dozen other breeds. "I built a business since being a little boy and they're going to take it away, says Edwin"


I certainly hope so.
Mary Gottfried

edited to say: There's a problem with this link- to get to the article, type in "society" in the search box, then scroll down until you see the "Designer Dogs" article- click on it, and the article will open-

Mikey T

[quote]
http://magazine-directory.com/Newsweek.htm

Mills are very late to the designer dog craze. But let us not dismiss the fact this is how all the current breeds were developed. There are many designer breed clubs forming with the intent of forming and registering a new breed of dog that does "breed-true" Thes mutt command high price because of popular demand. The mills just fill the public demand it is not the other way around.










Michael Tefts

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I strongly disagree. Many breeds were developed by subdividing exisitng breeds, not combining them. And most others were developed with a working purpose or desired appearance in mind, not simply throwing two different breeds together to get a cutesy name to sell puppies.

The "Cockapoo" has been around for, what, nearly 50 years now, and it's STILL nowhere close to being a breed.

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Mikey T

this is going on today with much consternation by the founding breed clubs Mini Aussie's and White GSD have form their own seperate breed clubs and working toward recognition via all breed orgs but with much consternation and road blocks being but up by the the original breed clubs. And not without reason. general any division made is done sonly for the sake of appearance and has nothing to do with function.


The curent cutsey named designer breed are being bred for appearance not the name one of the problems is that the first generation crosses tend to breed true than subsequence breedings so there are many individual that find the first generation cross the only acceptable breeding.
Puggles et al is designed because of a desire for a more pug like muzzle on other dog breeds. This is not a new phenoneneom. Take the Cavalier Charles Spanial for example . Wikipedia - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
The whole "designer dog" craze arguable began with the labradoodle which was deliberate breeding to produce a less alergenic service dog. a noble cause.

History of the Labradoodle

There is a breed club for labradoodles dedicated to perefect the dog for the prupose it was first bred AUSTRALIAN LABRADOODLE CLUB OF AMERICA

The Genetic Tide Continues to Swell: Will DNA marker research stop the flood?

I don't think the motivation of breeder of dogs in a earlier time were very much different than they are today. You will find good and bad in each era. As a matter of fact many practice used then would never be used now. To over state the nobility of the current breed as paragons of ethical breeding practicies as compared to today is a streach. THe one thing that has changes is more of an emphysis on conformation today than function. And with a continued emphysis of defineing breed through a closed registry there are many prediction a colapse of many breeds under the weight of genetic defects. A more open registry as such used by Master of hunting dogs as used in england ands allowing the known ocassional outcross to uotside bred may be ultimately healthier for the breed in general and also benefitial in correcting fundemental conformation faults in breeding stock.

Speaking Heresy:A Dispassionate View of Cross-Breeding

in bred thinking

Basenji Conservation An Overview of the Backcross Project