Anyone knowledgeable about mixed breed dogs?

[lostnfound]

I had a fantastic dog who was a Bichon and wheaten terrier mix.

He was the perfect dog for our family.
The Bichon side was so happy and loving, just joyful and affectionate.
The Wheaton side meant that he was a little larger —25 pounds — and athletic, a good dog for the young man in the family for being not a little tiny thing but a “real” dog.

He died 5 months ago and I’m finally getting ready to get a new puppy.
I’m so disappointed that this mix doesn’t seem to be available anywhere.

I guess we are leaning toward a cavachon — maybe two of them, to sort of balance out the dynamics with our springerdoodle. But it would make me happiest to have another bichon-wheaten.

And I’m wondering, why has this mix not become popular or common? There are not many bichon mixes that are medium sized dogs.. only tiny ones, expected to be under 15 pounds. Is that because they are hard to breed? Or are there health problems?

Appreciate any knowledge you can share.

[elleng]

1. 2 not particularly popular/common breeds.

I'd like one.

Good luck.

[lostnfound]

9. Pictures of my sweetest companion

This was my beautiful sweet boy, when I first got him, then a few months later, then about 3 years old out in a walk in the fall. Partner called him the ‘beige bullet’ sometimes because he was SO fast, running laps around our fenced yard behind the arborvitae trees. Watching him hop through the snow for the first time was one of the most adorable moments I’ve ever witnessed. We believe he could have tested chew toys for a living, because he could get the squeaker out from even the toughest toys in seconds or a minute or two.

He loved to cuddle, but also to run fast. Looked as cute as a teddy bear after a haircut. Could jump so high my partner also called him ‘springs’. He was 25 pounds of love — at least toward family.

[PlutosHeart]

2. I am very familiar with both breeds

* Why a "designer dog"?
There are many animals that meet their deaths daily in shelters. You might be surprised at finding a wonderful mixed breed that maybe even looks similar (online) to similar mix. I have seen SCW mixes at online adoption sites.

Having said that I have owned TWO purebred SCW rescues. One from out of State as well. When they came to American breeders from Ireland, the lack of care and greedy urgency to make money caused the breed to have a devastating fatal Blood blood disease. This is the fault of US breeders. Sadly, a majority of Wheatens bred now in the US have this in their genes. Not lying. So the pushing of breeding them has hurt the breed and also altered their sweet temperament making them hyper and sometimes aggressive. The standard of a true Wheaten is sweet, not over bouncy and never aggressive. They are also not like other terriers. There are some breeds in non-terrier groups that do possess similar temperaments though. And even looks.

It would be truly devastating to see this breed crossed now just to get a designer dog when the breed suffers. THIS is why you never see them get Best In Show also in major Shows. They are being protected as much as possible while they try to repair the damage. Many don't care though and the dogs die. I have only met ONE breeder in the whole State that I live in that can guarantee "health" from the disease.

I currently have a BichonX. DNA is Bichon, Poodle, Schippekie, Clumber, Duck tolling Retriever. Looks like a small Wheatie. Ha! They are not always sweet and they can be biters. Not always but they can be. My other is a GSX (Blue Heeler, Great Pyre) rescue.

What I sense is that you are attracted to a medium to smallish size blond/wheaten shaggy type pup.

I hope you will look online at shelter and rescue adoption sites and bide your time. He/she will come. Put in Wheaten and some mixes should come up. Also Bichon and other mixes should come up. You might also open yourself to sheepdogX, WestieX, HavaneseX. The temperaments might just surprise you.

I have had around 12 dogs in my life. All have been loved as if my own blood.

[lostnfound]

4. Thank you so much. What does the 'X' refer to-- does that mean a mix?

I am fine with getting a rescue but I don’t want a big dog and probably not a tiny one. My sister loves Goldies, and she can always find goldies that need to be rescued. It hurts to discover only now that he us gone, that he was uncommon. I’ve only had one dog and I guess there will never be another one much like him. I don’t particularly want a purebred anything. I thought a mix was less likely to have strange health problems.

What is the ‘blood blood’ disease you mention that has become common in wheaten? Did you mean a blood cancer? Hemangiosarcoma?

My little guy was always sweet to me but not so much to strangers coming to the house. We don’t have people come very much so it was okay.

[TygrBright]

3. The *perfect* dog is waiting for you at a nearby shelter. Go look. n/t

[lostnfound]

5. Good advice of course.

May do that if my partner is willing. He has been reluctant and he is the more experienced dog person. I wanted to understand about the reason why the wheaten/bichon mix seems uncommon. I have also been looking at the rescue sites.

[emulatorloo]

6. Petfinder.com is where I found the latest canine love of my life.

[TygrBright]

7. Breed distinction is generally more consistent with physiology than temperament...

...no matter what breeders or the AKA tout.

Physiological characteristics like a particular texture and/or color of coat, body morphology (size, conformation), eye color, etc. are easily verifiable and become a 'breed standard' because they involve very plastic expressions in the genome - they are comparatively 'simple'.

Behavioral predispositions are to some extent breed-consistent in terms of things like herding, guarding, types of prey-seek (gazehound vs scenthound, etc.) but they have been selected for much, much longer than breed registry organizations and standards have been around. If an Anatolian tribe member who bred dogs for their extended family's herd a thousand years ago noticed the offspring of a particular dog and/or bitch were really good at herding, that dog and/or bitch would definitely be bred again, regardless of whether the offpring's tails had the proper curl. If a breeder of Anatolian Shepherd Dogs today found pups in a litter without the proper tail curl, they'd be neutered and sold as pets (by a 'responsible' breeder.)

"Temperament" is the least consistent and reliable of all claimed breed characteristics, and the most influenced by early conditioning and experience of the individual dog.

If what you like about Bichons or Wheatens is the size or the coat type, ask some of the larger shelters to notify you when dogs surrendered or brought in have similar types of coat/size.

But if what interests you is the individual personality of the dog, you may find it in a dog that looks nothing like either a Wheaten or a Bichon. You might find it in a rare, one-of-a-kind dog that is absolutely unique in lineage, morphology and behavior, and totally committed to being YOUR best and most loyal and loving friend.

Whichever you choose, best of luck in making the connection, and thank you for providing a forever home for a representative of one of the best species on earth!

thoughtfully,
Bright

[lostnfound]

8. Thank you so much for this advice

I can’t tell you how grateful I am. It’s quite emotional for me .
It’s been a really hard year. I miss my dear companion so much. I wasn’t able to think about getting another dog until now, but now I am waiting for the time to find one and also the time to acclimate him and bond with him without work and other constraints. I work from home though, and partner is quasi-retired, so at least one of us is home about 98% of the time so that helps a lot.

Your kindness is so greatly appreciated.

[TygrBright]

10. I can empathize - when we lost our previous companion it was hard to think about another.

I told myself how important it was to "wait until we're ready" and defined that in a lot of ways that related to work and time to acclimate a new pet, etc., but it was more related to me not being over the grieving process and not ready to make another emotional investment at that level.

Then one day it was 'right'. Nothing at all to do with the home situation, work, available time, etcetera. I just looked at the Spousal Unit and said "Do you want to visit the shelter today?"

And we came home with the Feline Overlord-to-be, and all was Right.

It will happen, when you're ready.

appreciatively,
Bright

[lostnfound]

11. I posted pictures of him in the thread above..

The extended family loved him very much...he had such spunk.