i'm just gonna play devils advocate here and be a voice of dissent on this.
just take into consideration that unlike show breeders, mixed breed breeders are not breeding for "the perfect breed standard". breeders who breed mixes are breeding for "the perfect pet", with qualities people want in a pet, not a show dog. it can be a business. it can be for profit. if it's done with care to the animals, i don't see anything wrong with people wanting to be properly compensated for the work they've put into the breeding process. afterall whelping isn't easier with a mixed litter than it is with a purebred litter. the cost and investment isn't less for the breeder if they are breeding designer mutts vs. purebreds.
designer mixes can fetch a premium because the breeder can take as much care in breeding the mix as they would with purebred pups. the parents are purebreds, registered, health tested, possess breed standard appearances, etc etc. the only difference is that the litters are not registerable because they are mixed. the quality of these mixes may actually be better than that of purebred results of an oops breeding or breeding of purebreds that shouldn't be bred (like BYB's and breeding of pets on limited registration).
hence, i think a maltese/yorkie mix from a purebred maltese and a purebred yorkie is very different from a maltese/yorkie mix from two maltese/yorkie mixes. if i didn't care about the origin (parents) and breeding of the mixed puppy, i'd just adopt from a shelter. but some people want a specific type of mix because of temperament, shedding, coloring, look, reduction of breed specific defects, etc etc. and those qualities may not come out of an "oops" mixed breeding.
i personally wouldn't pay more for a purebred without papers or a purebred of questionable origin than a mixed pup with documented origins and breeding. but sometimes mixes are not just "mutts". just throwing my two cents out there. |