What's in a name...
What is the advantage of buying a purebred, pedigreed dog? Ideally, if attention is paid to lines and the breeder works hard at his/her craft, the breed has been molded in the image of the standard written for the breed, breeding for sound conformation, temperament, and instinct to do the job they were bred for (if it's a working/herding/hound/sporting type dog). Buying a purebred dog gives the new owner some reassurance that the dog will be of a certain type, with certain traits, certain personality tendencies, etc. The pedigree shows a record of ancestors so you can see over time the quality of dogs that went into the line. Have they shown and achieved titles, are they the type of dog you want with the qualities you are looking for? Pedigrees don't mean much to me if I don't know the animals in the background. It's just as easy to register a poor specimen as a good one, and it's just as easy to keep breeding generations of poor puppies from those lines.
Bottom line of it is ywith a purebred, you are looking to get a type of dog with certain characteristics and some reassurance it'll end up that way.
Based on that, I fail to see why it's wrong for people to want to buy a puggle (beagle x pug), cockapoo, labradoodle, yorkipoo, etc. "Hybrids" (yes, I agree, technically it's a species x different species cross, but the name also has use in crossing certain pure strains, such as seed corn for instance) have the advantage over mutt x mutt crosses of producing a fairly reliable outcome. The puggles I've seen walk through the door all look like puggles within as narrow (or wide) range of looks as I see in pure breeds. Stands to reason that they would, considering that they are all getting a fairly standardized DNA pug strand and a fairly standardized DNA beagle strand. The "hybrid" comes out with a fairly consistant look and personality.
Now if you go to breed an F1 puggle to an F1 puggle, all bets are off, but to the new owner who just wants a good family pet with "puggle" looks and disposition...who am I to criticize their choice of dog or look down on them for wanting a blending of characteristics in their pet? Their choice is no poorer than my choice to own/show/breed my Aussies. Their dog is no poorer a specimen just for its genetics.
Yes, I know the "mutt"/"purebred" wars go on outside the reptile arena, too. :eatpointe
Now, on the issue of cost... Overpriced is in the eye of the beholder. Something is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. If puggles are selling like hotcakes for $500, then the demand is obviously there and I fail to see how they are overpriced. If they ARE overpriced at $500, then they won't sell. If someone doesn't do their homework and/or simply chooses to pay a (what you consider to be) overpriced fee for their new pet and they are happy with their dog and it's worth $500 to them...where's the harm?
Prices vary nearly as much as quality does. I could buy an Aussie pup for a couple hundred dollars, purebred, papered, etc. Would I? No. I have expectations from the animals I take in, which include showing them. I want an animal from lines I like, conformation standards and performance ability I like, with a look I like, from a responsible breeder I like, who has taken the time and spent the money to CERF and OFA their dogs along with putting the effort into titling the animals. For that, I'd gladly pay $1500+ for a puppy, but you couldn't pay me to take a $150 dollar pup. No one could afford to sell pups at $150 doing the minimum of what ""I"" want to have been done to ensure I'm getting the quality of pup I want. That's my personal situation. Am I buying overpriced dogs? That may be your opinion, but in my mind I've gotten a bargain.
On the issue of health, ideally both parents of the pups would have had their hips radiographed for hip dysplasia evaluation and their knees palpated for luxating patellas. One would hope both animals are generally healthy animals, free from the common ailments for each breed. This is for the buyer to question the breeder on. It's always a gamble, but without evaluations of the heart, eyes, elbows, stifles, hips, upper respiratory system of the pug, etc., it's more of a crap shoot than if the homework has been done.
Just a couple cents from an Aussie mom.
And a token shot of Riley, my girl, just because.
