Puppy Mix Advice

[Nekhbet]

I am sorely tempted to go down the lines of a boxer or weimarana but then wonder what will happen to those lovely pups?

and there are hundreds more lovely pups each year bred just like these. They are doing an injustice by not vaccinating in what is peak parvo season in some areas. If they cannot afford the vet bills then they should at least have the sense to lock up their bitch.

I would be offering help to rehome on the provision they desex their bitch. Every litter that disappears off into a dreamworld of 'lovely homes' means they do another. Wonder how many of all the pups they bred will stay in supposed lovely homes all their lives. Dont ever pick a dog on guilt! Do it with your heart yes, but with your head also. You will be living with this dog for the next 10+ years, not them.

[Snout Girl]

Doesn't Victoria have mandatory microchipping, prior to the sale or giving away of any puppy ?

I hope not, as one of our dogs came to us with no microchip! (he is now, of course).

and a friend just purchased a dog last weekend from a breeder (registered, etc) and it wasnt microchipped either.

i thought it was just mandatory to have them microchipped before you registerd them with council? i could be wrong tho

[D & D]

Mumsy - I would offer to pay for the bitch to get desexed as payment for the pup - but pay the vet direct

I really like this idea

[Cosmolo]

I think adopting the pup and paying direct to the vet for desexing Mum would be really great too.

[Jed]

Chances are ok that the pups will be fine.

And because it is free (a boxer will cost $1000+) there's a bit of money if something goes wrong. IMHO, x bred dogs like this have more chance of being healthy and growing up well than crossbreds from puppy farms with really big price tags. If the parents are ok, chances are good that the pups will be too. If you like them, and you want one, take it. And there wont be any breeder support, but it's free, and you wouldn't expect breeder support. You could pay a lot more than $0 and got no breeder support either. Yeah, sure, HD might be a problem, but you could buy a purebred which could jump the fence and be run over. Life's a gamble. Just don't take it if you feel sorry for it!! Take it coz you want it.

there are some very nice accidental crossbreds out there. If you want a pup, you want that sort, and the pup is handy, why not?

My daughter wanted a pup, we didn't have any, I saw a notice for Springer x Border Collies at the supermarket. She's a nice dog, good looking, healthy, no probs, she's about 10 now.

[benny123]

Mumsy, I adopted two 8 and a half week old pups from a rescue group three years ago. Their pregnant mother was surrenderd to the pound then rescued, where she whelped 10 pups. Long story short, the surrenderer got the guilts and contacted the rescuer to get her dog back (absolutely not) and got talked into rehoming her other dog (the sire), which is how I know the breeds that made up my pups.

Their mother was a golden retriever/German shepherd cross and their father was a labrador/pointer cross. They were very boistrous playful pups but with consistent training, both formal (dog obedience classes) and informal at home, they've grown into two very well behaved adult dogs.

This was them on their first week at home

And now as adults

Boy

Girl

They are big though. Our girl weighs 38kgs and our boy is 51kgs.

I do worry about health issues like HD though, given their breed mix and the fact that they are the result of an irresponsible dog owner.

I love them with all my heart and can't imagine life without them, but on the down side, they shed like crazy .

Good luck with whatever you decide and if you do decide to take one of the pups I really like the idea of paying to have the mother desexed.

[Loving my Oldies]

Mumsy - I would offer to pay for the bitch to get desexed as payment for the pup - but pay the vet direct

I really like this idea

And what about the dog over the road who is the father :D

[Guest Kate_Summer]

Mumsy - I would offer to pay for the bitch to get desexed as payment for the pup - but pay the vet direct

I really like this idea

And what about the dog over the road who is the father :D

Good idea, but if she does offer this she will most likely have to get all their vaccination & worming done first? As well as being flea treated?

[Baby Dragon]

If you decide to adopt one of the pups, I second the idea of the Volhard puppy test.

Info and instructions http://www.volhard.com/pages/pat.php

This is how it looks in action http://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer..._type=&aq=f

By the sounds of it, you'd want a pup that scores mostly 4s on the test. I wouldn't go for a pup that scores any 1s or 2s.

But keep in mind that the test is only an indication. There are many factors that will influence how a pup turns out temperament wise.

Like others have said, I think pet insurance would be a good idea for the new pup.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Baby Dragon

[Mystiqview]

Yay may not be able to do a full Volhard as it requires you to take the pups away to an unfamiliar area. You can do a partial one at the home of the breeder.

If you know someone who is into breeding, you could try Puppy Puzzle by Pat Hastings. While it looks at the conformation of the dog, it also looks a little towards the temperament. It is one that can be done at the breeders home and is done at 8 weeks.

No matter if you are breeding pedigree or cross. Breeding is a lottery. Pure and simple. In the pedigree world, you can put together the two best champions with excellent health stats and complimentary type/style and bloodlines, and end up with pups in the litter with problems. You can do an outcross mating to another line/style that does not look crash hot on paper but produce some excellent examples of purebreds. At the end of the day genes do funny and marvelous things. You can like people on her have said, bought a crossbred and it has lived to a ripe old age. I know others who have had crossbreds and have had a large amount of problems and their dogs have had to be PTS at a young age.

HD and all those are in all dogs. Not just large ones. You can put 0:0 hip scored dogs together and get it. You can put dogs with higher hips scores together and not produce it.

If this is the neighbour's second litter, see if they know where offspring from the first litter is? Do they have photos or anything of those pups as adults? it may give you an idea on what you could expect. I would be looking at older offspring of pedigree dogs to see what they produce, so the same would go for a person looking at a BYB litter.

I don't agree what the two neighbours have done. I cannot condone it. I may kind of understand a first time accident, but not a second. It would seem they have no inclination of desexing the breed and while everyone here may not agree with what has happened, do you wish to possibly start neighboughood conflict by trying to force them to desex the bitch??

You know your neighbours better than us, so may have a good idea if that is good road to take. I have a woman up the back from me with whole amstaff boy. I would love for him to be two stone lighter.. But I would never dream of going over there and offering to pay to telling her to get the boy desexed. She would probably shoot me.

If you have doubts on whether you want something from this breed mix, then I would definately wait. You said you were more keen on a Weim or boxer. If that is your feelings, I would probably pass this over and continue looking at what your're more set one. The right pup/adult will come along. The neighbours litter is VERY convenient, but is it something you REALLY want?

[Paganman]

Are these people sure the dog over the roads the father coz unless they saw the dogs mating the father could be any unneutered dog in the neighborhood and then you wouldnt know what your getting