Pepper's Lhasa-Poo Page

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Mixed Breed Controversy

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Passion Arises in the Mixed-Breed Dog Controversy

While searching for a small companion dog suitable for apartment living, I remembered that as a teenager, growing up in the '70s, we had a "cockapoo" (a mixedbreed of Cocker Spaniel and Poodle ancestry.) She was small, well mannered, didn't shed and was a lot of fun. I was hoping to find a similar companion and began to search the internet. I found that there are people who specialize in breeding this mix. But what surprised me was the prices charged for these pups are the same and in some cases higher than pure-breds. In my search I often found the bulletin boards intended for Q&A of such breeders filled with hateful and/or angry tirades against their entrepreneurial spirit. These same dogs were once accidental breedings and considered mutts to be given away or sold at a steep discount. Now, a lot of money is to be had for the "Designer Dog Breeders" and a lot of anxiety is being expressed on the part of purebreeders. Wow! ! You would never guess the issue to be so inflamatory.

More information could be found at National Geographic and Canismajor.com.

Pepper is a mixed breed. Her Sire was a Toy Poodle. Her Dam was a Toy Poodle x Lhasa Apso. My expectation was that she would grow to about 10 lbs and look like Lhasa Apso with curly poodle hair. So far, she seems to have the low-slung body type and long, wavy hair and intense devotion of of Lhasa Apso with the longer nose and high intelligence of Poodle. She seems to be developing to a smaller size than expected and might max out at 7 or 8lbs. I'm not disappointed in her in any way, but it does support one of the Cons about mixes. You might not truly know what your getting. And if the big deal on the Pros side is the low or no-shed hair, poodle breeders will tell you that poodle hair type can't be accurately determined until the pup is 9 - 11 months old!