Designer Dogs

Hello from Susan Marlowe CPA. I am going to blog about the "designer dog" today. What is a designer dog? Well, lately it has become a fad for people to cross two or more different breeds of dogs together to create a new breed. Dogs that were once labeled mutts are now selling for hundreds of dollars. The upside is that it shows people are more accepting of mixed breed dogs. The downside is that some backyard breeders and puppy mill operators have found a new source of income and that more dogs are being bred than ever.

Before you are seduced into buying a labradoodle or a boxita or a cavalon, please check out your local shelter or rescue. There are numerous chihuahua, poodle and labrador mixes just waiting for you to adopt them. They may not have the trendy names but they are wonderful, sweet dogs. I hope that you will take my advice and embrace the joy of owning a mutt.

Here are some advantages of owning just a good old-fashioned mutt:

• They are often healthier
• They are cheap, sometimes free
• They often live longer
• They make great conversation pieces! (Yes, my dog is half Collie, half Airedale, half Pekinese, half St. Bernard with just a pinch of Spitz.)
• They are populist. What could be more American than a dog with twelve different breeds from three different continents. It's downright patriotic to own a mutt!