Shih-poo breeders/owners...I have ????

[roliepolieoliefan]

Of course the pet shop pointed you towards the very expensive Mutt!

A shih-poo is not a breed, which is why you aren't having any luck googling it.

It is a mutt, plain and simple. It is a cross between a shih-tzu and a poodle.

You cannot google info about the dog because you cannot know what you are going to get. There are no standards for a shih-poo. It is no different than your neighbor's dog who got out and had puppies. Just because somebody decided to give it a fancy name, does not make it a "breed" or anything more desirable.

The dog might have traits of the poodle, it might have traits of the shih-tzu. It could have the best of both breeds, it could have the worst. It is the same gamble you take as you do with any mutt.

A 'breeder' does not purposefully breed mutts. At least not a responsible one. All you have to do is look at petfinder.com to see how many mutts are available. A responsible breeder would NEVER add to that population.

However, if you are still determined to throw lots of cash at someone for a mixed-breed dog instead of getting one from a shelter or from petfinders, please find a "breeder" that home raises their dogs. Preferably they do all the genetic tests that are required for each of the parent's respective breeds. And visit the home. Make sure they are not out in crates in the backyard. A home-raised and socialized puppy is the best. A PP mentioned their 'breeder' that seemed to care about their puppies. A good clue to a responsible breeder is one who wants to keep in touch. And will guarantee you that they will take the puppy/dog back if you ever have to get rid of it during ANY time of the dog's life.

Buying from a petshop just means you are getting a mutt, crossed from two probably very genetically unsound puppy mill dogs. Stay Away.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[Makua]

We have what we call a "Pooshie". I had her in St Augustine a few weeks back and a lady asked me if she was a Shihpoo I said we call her a pooshie and she got all bent out of shape, said if you're going to pay that much for a dog you should at least know it's proper name. Started to tell me she had one and that it was a designer dog so I had to ask how much she paid....$3000! I know it was wrong but I had the biggest grin on my face when I told her we got her at the shelter. We really lucked out, she is the sweetest dog. Very calm and loving, doesn't bark unless the doorbell rings. Of course the best part was she was already house trained!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We have what we call a "Pooshie". I had her in St Augustine a few weeks back and a lady asked me if she was a Shihpoo I said we call her a pooshie and she got all bent out of shape, said if you're going to pay that much for a dog you should at least know it's proper name. Started to tell me she had one and that it was a designer dog so I had to ask how much she paid....$3000! I know it was wrong but I had the biggest grin on my face when I told her we got her at the shelter. We really lucked out, she is the sweetest dog. Very calm and loving, doesn't bark unless the doorbell rings. Of course the best part was she was already house trained!

$3,000.00 for a dog!

What an idiot!

 

[LadyJeanPirateQueen]

Some people will pay anything for a 'designer' dog.

Ladyjean

 

[Iott Family]

Well, I feel totally put in my place! And im not sure I was even heading anywhere that was so unpolitically correct. So I apologize for offending the masses of animal rights activist.

Just so I can settle the nerves I have so unintenitionally scraped we have no problems adopting from a shelter and even opened our home to a kitty who was so emaciated and anemic from fleas and starvation that he looked like a kitten. He spent a week in the vets for a week getting treated and IV care. He was neutered while in their care and we brought him home and the kids named him Harry Potter. Too bad he isnt bringing in those royalty checks the actual HP is raking in!

I dont think I ever said anything about supporting puppy mills or paying high dollar for a "designer" doggy. I was just wondering about others experiences with this mixed breed and any pointers on health and such I need to be aware of. If I was an irresponsible pet owner do you think I would care or ask a couple thousand of my fellow Diser's?

Anyways, I understand about "mutts" and how the gender pool works. If you think about it most of us are mutts in the human population. How many of us are breed from pure lineage? But if this particular mix of dog has notorious bevavior or health concerns Id like to know before I adopt.

We have 4 children from 19months to 12years. We have plenty of home space(3800sq.ft.) and a nice back yard. As soon as it is fenced this coming spring and our youngest is 2 we would like to add another pet member. Id like it to be small, affectionate and intelligent. I loved the little furr ball that the ****zu is but know they have a history of health issues. Respiratory and visual, so thats why the lady at the pet store recommended we look into adopting a mixed breed and she stated that most smaller breeds are commonly cross bred with the poodle. While I realize there is no gurantee with the mix of two breeds you have the chance of getting the best of both. If I was overly concerned about mixing "breeds" i would not have had 4 children because we are essentially mixing "breeds" when we procreate and the gene pool is mixed differently each conception. I must say though that we have always mixed just right because we have healthy, intelligent and beautiful babies

To the pp who shared her picture of her little boy Barkley, thank you! He looks adorable and his eyes are so bright and alert. Seems you won the lottery on that gene pool mix of breeds!

Have a Disney Day!
Cari

 

[Iott Family]

We have a shih tzu and she is the best dog we have ever had.. she is great with the kids and very smart!

Aww! Such a pretty girl with a bow in her hair! Thank you for sharing!

Cari

 

[Makua]

To the OP, I hope I didn't contribute to making you feel that way. I just wanted to tell you what great dogs they are. Don't let the PCs bring you down!

 

[Iott Family]

To the OP, I hope I didn't contribute to making you feel that way. I just wanted to tell you what great dogs they are. Don't let the PCs bring you down!

No, you did not! I am so glad you have such a great fur baby! Thank you for sharing. From all I have gathered in my questioning and searching this particular breed mix of a mutt is very personable and a great addition to a family. I have also heard that they travel well which would be excellent as we are always on the go!

Thank you

Cari

 

[Makua]

They do travel well. She loves to get in her little bag and see the world! I'd buy her a stroller but my DH has drawn the line at that I'm just trying to save her short little legs! She does very well in the car. One thing she doesn't like is getting wet. If it's time to go out and it's raining she'll just turn around and come back in! She can hold it for a very long time when she wants to!

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

I just have to tell you, friends just rescued a little shi t poo and they named him crappy Perfect name and he is so cute.

 

[ZachnElli]

Since both your dogs share the poodle in their makeup, they probably favor their poodle side. The dog in the picture certainly looks more like his poodle side than he does his shih-tzu side. I am guessing that your cockapoo is more genetically similar to the poodle too, which is why they probably look alike.

Yes, the face of my dog is more like a poodle, but her body is that of a shihtzu. I've never claimed my dog was a breed, I always knew she was a mutt. When we got her we were looking for a shihtzu and never heard of shih-poos or designer dogs. In fact the kennel we bought her from didn't call her a shih-poo, I don't think that term and been coined yet. So please don't assume everyone who has one went out and spent $3000 dollars on a designer dog. We did go to our local humane society first, but we had small children and found it nearly impossible to adopt a dog from them. In fact, I have found it easier to adopt an actual child than a dog!

 

[louey]

Well, I feel totally put in my place! And im not sure I was even heading anywhere that was so unpolitically correct. So I apologize for offending the masses of animal rights activist.

Just so I can settle the nerves I have so unintenitionally scraped we have no problems adopting from a shelter and even opened our home to a kitty who was so emaciated and anemic from fleas and starvation that he looked like a kitten. He spent a week in the vets for a week getting treated and IV care. He was neutered while in their care and we brought him home and the kids named him Harry Potter. Too bad he isnt bringing in those royalty checks the actual HP is raking in!

I dont think I ever said anything about supporting puppy mills or paying high dollar for a "designer" doggy. I was just wondering about others experiences with this mixed breed and any pointers on health and such I need to be aware of. If I was an irresponsible pet owner do you think I would care or ask a couple thousand of my fellow Diser's?

Anyways, I understand about "mutts" and how the gender pool works. If you think about it most of us are mutts in the human population. How many of us are breed from pure lineage? But if this particular mix of dog has notorious bevavior or health concerns Id like to know before I adopt.

We have 4 children from 19months to 12years. We have plenty of home space(3800sq.ft.) and a nice back yard. As soon as it is fenced this coming spring and our youngest is 2 we would like to add another pet member. Id like it to be small, affectionate and intelligent. I loved the little furr ball that the ****zu is but know they have a history of health issues. Respiratory and visual, so thats why the lady at the pet store recommended we look into adopting a mixed breed and she stated that most smaller breeds are commonly cross bred with the poodle. While I realize there is no gurantee with the mix of two breeds you have the chance of getting the best of both. If I was overly concerned about mixing "breeds" i would not have had 4 children because we are essentially mixing "breeds" when we procreate and the gene pool is mixed differently each conception. I must say though that we have always mixed just right because we have healthy, intelligent and beautiful babies

To the pp who shared her picture of her little boy Barkley, thank you! He looks adorable and his eyes are so bright and alert. Seems you won the lottery on that gene pool mix of breeds!

Have a Disney Day!
Cari

Hi Cari,
I went back to reread your OP and you did ask for advice, and I guess when you mentioned you were in a pet store IMO maybe some people thought you didn't know about Petfinder... Rescue . I did post a shihpoo that is in a rescue only to point out that there are some really great dogs out there waiting for their forever homes Truly it is just about getting the word out thats all, not to put anyone down or make them feel bad. If people are looking for a specific breed especially when you have small children I totally understand. If you go the breeder route make sure you check them out good. Adopting from some rescues when you have very small children can be difficult, some won't even adopt to families with small children. I volunteer with a rescue and they can be a little crazy sometimes . Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[daisax]

I too didn't mean to offend -- just want to point out to people that the '-poo" mixes are really, truly a marketing tool for selling mixed breed dogs. There's nothing wrong with mixed breed dogs - the world is full of them and they can be fantastic pets. However, there's something wrong with misrepresenting them to the public as a breed when they can get the exact same thing at any shelter at a fraction of the price (a breed of dog will breed true -- a Rottweiler looks like a Rottweiler and not a boxer, a poodle looks like a poodle and not a shih-tzu). A mix can and will be ANY conceivable combination of either parent breed in looks, temperament, behavior, etc., making generalizations about their health or temperament or any other trait useless except for the broadest possible terms that both parent breeds share.

The value of a pedigree isn't that it makes the dog BETTER than a dog without papers, but that the pedigree IDENTIFIES the ancestors of the dog. To those people who are active within the breed, the names on that piece of paper MEAN something -- they are the names of living, breathing dogs we've known, met, seen and admired from afar, or read about. We know their family tendencies. We know that this line can tend to produce difficult temperaments so that they have to be watched carefully and only bred with more solidly tempered dogs. We know that Kennel X typically has fantastic dispositions but they're lax on health testing for specific conditions that are rampant in the breed, so you won't know what you might be getting into if you breed to one of their dogs.

Just taking two dogs of the opposite sex doesn't make someone a conscientious breeder. It takes knowing dogs of your breed around the country and even in some cases around the world, as well as dogs that are long gone but still having a strong impact on today's breed years later as their ancestors intermix. It takes a general knowledge of genetics and a dedication to testing your dogs for every typical problem in the breed so as to weed out as many genetic problems as possible. You hope that every litter will contain a champion or two, but you KNOW that every litter will contain multiple pet puppies that will go on to share their lives with a loving family. That family deserves nothing less than a dog with the absolute best possible chance of living to a happy old age with as few health issues as possible.

Putting two dogs together intentionally with the intention of selling their offspring without doing your utmost to make sure that the resulting puppies will be sound physically, emotionally, temperamentally and genetically is a rotten thing to do in my opinion. People here on this board have told of their beloved pets with medical conditions that could have been avoided had the breeders of the animal known or cared enough to prevent them. But they don't care -- they cash the check and the dog is now somebody else's problem.

And for what it's worth, the "breeders" of the mixes always come back to the same tired "mixes are healthier" argument. Any old poodle bred to any old shih-tzu is NOT going to be healthier than a well bred poodle or shih-tzu. In fact, it could come down with any condition associated with either breed, and if they share some, like luxating patellas, double up on them. The breeder isn't likely to have a family medical history going back generations. The breeder typically isn't likely to even have known the parents of the dogs he's breeding -- were they shy? Were they fierce? Does the breeder know what concoction he can be creating by mixing shy and fierce temperaments?
It doesn't matter how sweet the parents of the puppy were if the grandparents had issues.

So yes, many of us are passionate about producing healthy dogs. Taking a dog into your life automatically means signing up for the heartbreak of losing them in 10-15 years... people SHOULD be outraged when the loss comes that much sooner because somebody wanted to make a quick buck. And they should be offended when somebody bilks them out of thousands more than it would take to save an equally well/poorly bred dog from a shelter/rescue organization.