Which Breed is best?

hello.... i was just wondering why u never considered a yorkiepoo. i got one a bout a year ago and he is the love of my life. he gets along with other dogs... barely sheds if at all. he is high spirited and very loving... he weighs a little over 5 lbs. i just thought that maybe u should look into yorkiepoos as well... they do vary in appearance depending on parents... but i would have to saay he is a hit at the park.... he is even able to keep up with me and my whippet/boxer mix for my 7 mile walk this fall. he also loves attention and will stay by ure side wondering what is going on next and hes sweet kisses never allowed me to be late to classes or work... just thought i would put in my input

 

Shitzu mixes, Newbie questions.

G'day all,

I retired to Thailand 5 yrs ago and have a few q's before buying a Shih cross.

Please bear with a few dumb q's :lol:

I like the Shih's as I'm told they don't moult and I've had toys previously.

If buying from a breeder should the breeder's bitch be the Shih or not?

I need a white dog, as there are many ticks in Thailand.

How much did you pay for your cross? (in Aus $) A$400+?

What have been your probs with Shih crosses, vet's bills etc.?

I leave again for Thailand in late March so I have 8 weeks to find a dog.

My previous dog was a Cavalier PB in the UK, which I gave to my daughter on emigrating to the LoS..

There are no probs taking a dog to Thailand, he/she will be on my lap for 9 hours.

Thanks in advance for your patience & replies :wink:

 

Hmm, 8 days and no replies.

I'm underwelmed :lol:

Am I posting in the wrong forum?

 

They are adorable so now your decision is getting harder, isn't it. I was lucky. I went where there were 10 different breads and watched thenm for a couple of days and decided on the personality, etc. But no matter what breed you get, you know you will be in love once again, it may be different then former pup, but it is always LOVE!!!!

 

Just try looking at the pound or humane society or one of the places online that do rescues, meet the dog, see how your alergies are after rubbing your nose to the dog, tug (not like hard) on its hair and if it falls out easy, it will be a shedder, but you say you don't want much grooming and the dogs you want mostly don't shed, but that means, you HAve to brush them or they get nasty dreads! If you get a shedding dog the hair can still dread but it falls out so it is less likely to dread. Maybe get something like a short haired chi?
As for the person going to Thailand, I have a solid white dog, he is an American Eskimo Spitz, but he has long hair, but maybe if you shave him?
Good Luck!

 

As a breeder, vet tech, and dog groomer, I gotta jump in here.

First of all, if you're looking for a dog that requires minimal grooming, you're barking up the wrong tree. All of the mixes you've suggested require a great deal of at home grooming and a 4-6 week regular visit to a professional groomer if you don't want your dog to end up overgrown, matted to the skin, and miserable. And if that happens, don't ask the groomer to demat your dog, either. It's cruel and painfull. Let the groomer shave 'em down and start over. It's hair, it'll grow back.

If you think a mixed breed is going to have fewer genetic problems, you're also barking up the wrong tree, unless both parents are free from said genetic defects, which probably isn't the case. Very few genetic defects are breed specific, and most are inherited in the same way. A poodle with bad knees, bad skin, and bad eyes bred to a cocker with bad knees, bad skin, and bad eyes is going to produce puppies with bad knees, bad skin and bad eyes.

Hybrid vigor only happens when you cross related species, like a horse bred to a donkey producing a mule. Mules have more vigor than either horse or donkey because they're true hybrids, but they are also sterile; unable to reproduce.

Mixed breed dogs are not hybrids, they're still dogs. They're perfectly capable of reproducing, and do it way too often.

People who are in the business of producing cross bred dogs are usually doing so for one reason only. Money. They rarely, if ever, health and temperment test their dogs. Their breeding stock is rarely, if ever, high quality stock worthy of being bred at all. And they charge WAY TO MUCH for their puppies. When I see ads for Shih Tzu/poodle puppies priced at $600 or more, it makes me want to hurl things across the room. And when I see ads where they price the males a $500 and females at $750, I get so mad I could rip their heads off and spit down their necks! They're ENCOURAGING people who don't have a clue to go into the backyard breeding business.

For the same amount of money, or probably less, you can find a responsible breeder of purebred dogs, a breeder who health tests, a breeder with outstanding bloodstock, a breeder who stands behind their puppies 100%, a breeder who will be there for you should problems develop, a breeder who will hold your hand and cry with you when the inevitable happens and your beloved pet crosses the rainbow bridge, hopefully at a ripe old age.

Try this; ask that mixed breed dog breeder what happens if you have an accident and can no longer care for your dog 6 years from now? Will they take it back? A responsible breeder will INSIST the dog comes back to them! As a breeder, I was responsible for the puppies I produce from birth to death. These are my babies. If the new owners can't keep them for any reason, they come back to ME!

If you want a mixed breed dog, get one at the pound or from rescue. Don't encourage the people who produce 'designer dogs' for the sole purpose of monetary gain. There are far too many mixed breed puppies resulting from unintentional matings without those people who do it on purpose because the general public is too guilible to realize they're paying premium prices for pups that are not bred from premium dogs. Why perpetuate the backyard breeding problem? And NEVER pay more than $100 for a mixed breed puppy.

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh. I don't intend to be harsh. But I'm passionate about dogs and their welfare. I've seen too much, done too many rescues, and held too many young dogs and puppies with devestating genetic disorders as the vet releases them from their suffering, not to mention the innumerable healthy ones put down simply because no one wanted them.

 

Shineillusion,

I took some time before responding to your post....

In some instances I do tend to agree with a lot of what you say, although this forum is supposedly dedicated to poo crosses, and most of us on here do own a cross of some kind. We should be able to post about our mixed breed babies without critisisim. I found this site by searching for a shihpoo!Please understand that the mutts are our babies, and we cherish them as much as any pure bred dog would be cherished by their owners. When I started looking for my dog, I thought I needed a poodle or poodle mix due to my allergies. I started searching on line and in the news papers etc. Finally after much searching, I found Abbey through a so called breeder, and she is apprently full shih tzu, no poo mix, but not registered, and I am not allergic to her at all. The so called breeder, and I say that because, my dog is not registerd, called my everyday for the first week, to check on Abbey. She also sat on the phone with me through my housetraining dilema's and she did not let me down ever. So maybe not all breeders of mixes are terrible, maybe un educated about breeding, but not bad people...

Now, if I were to get another dog, it would be a rescue dog. I have been wathcing all my local resuces for a small dog, that fits my lifestyle. That is only because I now know about all the dogs out there that are loveless....

 

hey, I don't want to start anything, but I think the point was that there are so many rescue mixes that are shihtzus poodles whatever mixed, but they don't have the fancy designer dog name, and there are people out there breeding dogs and making people pay for them, implying that a shihpoo or poogle or labradoodle are really breeds of dogs, when they aren't. I personally believe no one should breed dogs when we have such an excess of them in pounds and not being cared for properly (not just the ones in the pounds, but some with homes). So I would not think that that breeder was a good one (even thouh I am sure abbey is wondeful dog). People need to first deal with the problem of too many dogs, before they go making new ones.

 

My criticism is not aimed at mixed breed dogs, or people who own mixed breed dogs. Like I said, I've owned them myself. My criticism is aimed at the people who produce mixed breed puppies and purposely mislead the public with claims of hybrid vigor, nonshedding, easy to groom, and future reccognition by the AKC, with the sole intent of making a lot of money.

The problem of 'designer dogs' is horrendous. And the prices people ask for these designer dogs is outrageous. I know people who have paid $5,000 or more for Labradoodles, thinking they're a new breed, they don't shed, and need minimal grooming.

Shih-poos, Yorkie-poos, Malti-poos, Lhasa-poos and Schnoodles are all delightfull little dogs (usually), as are many of the other small and not so small mixed breeds. But no one should be paying $500 and up for them.

Anyone who pays that much money for a puppy should be getting an animal who's parents have been Cerf tested, examined by a vet for genetic disorders like luxating patella and Legg-Calve-Pethes disease, and OFA certified if the parents come from a breed where orthopedic problems are prevelant.

My sole purpose in posting this is to educate potential puppy buyers that they're being ripped off if they pay a high price for a puppy that may not warrent the fee. And that goes double for purebred puppies.

Let me give you an example. I paid $300 for a purebred longhaired standard dachshund. He comes with a health guarantee, his parents are both champions, multiple group winners, and have been temperment tested as well as health tested. His ancestory is reasonably clear of the genetic disorders that plague dachshunds, such as intervertebral disc disease. The breeder did a great deal of research in developing her lines. She refuses to breed dogs who show signs of hypothyroidism, allergic and autoimmune disorders, epilepsy, and orthopedic problems. He was sold as a pet because he has a couple of extra teeth, and his nose is 1/4 inch too short, which in her opinion makes him unsuitable for breeding.

Now, why should someone ask more than that for a puppy unless they've put at least that much time, research and forethought into producing their puppies? I don't think they should. And I don't think anyone should be paying that much for a mixed breed OR purebred puppy unless the breeder did that much work to produce the puppies.

I'm all for adopting mixed breed or purebred dogs or puppies. Every day, hundreds of them are killed simply because there aren't enough homes for them. Too many of them come from the so-called breeders who mass produce puppies, more puppies than they have buyers for at times, and they either kill them or surrender them to shelters, where many of them are killed due to lack of homes. Then they go home and breed some more. The cycle goes on, and will never end, until people make it unprofitable.

All I'm trying to say is "Please don't support this kind of exploitation". If you have a mixed breed dog, love it, enjoy it, brag about how wonderful it is. Get another one if you're so inclined. But if you're looking for a pet, please PLEASE adopt one from rescue or a shelter or purchase from a responsible breeder.