Pretend pedigrees

On a weekly basis my wife peruses the local newspaper. In the back – after listings of fêtes, court cases and charity baked bean baths – there are the classifieds, which are often an awful lot more interesting.

In recent years there has been a trend to name crossbreeds as though they are purebreds or pedigrees. It can be entertaining trying to figure out what someone has been crossing when they want £600 for a puppy, and not all are as obvious as a “Yorkiepoo” or a “Cavachon”.

I must now declare some disquiet. This is obviously a marketing ploy. No need to have pedigree certificates and pay a premium for “good stock” for the parents; cross two breeds, give it a cute name, and then the value of the crossbreed pup is doubled or quadrupled.

I just feel like people who buy these pups are being duped into paying pedigree-like prices for pups we would describe as “crossbreed”. They are just as lovable, just as loving as any crossbreed, but as a rule they do not have the predictable characteristics of “purebred” or “pedigree” dogs and giving them a fancy name creates this impression in the mind of the buying public.

The common reason for not giving a rescue dog or puppy a home is that “you don’t know what you’re getting”, and this could be said of the pretend pedigrees as well. It’s just sad that every pretend pedigree crossbred puppy sold has deprived a rescue dog of a new home.