Morkie

Hi there, despite what all the grumpy "reputable" breeders say, I bought a Morkie for my wife. I took him to the vet and had him checked out, he was in perfect health. I've had him about 6 months now, I find him to a very loyal and loving dog, great characteristics and very cute. My wife absolutely loves him.

Because small mixed breeds have become so popular, alot of the old fashion breeders are upset that they are losing money. They come up with reasons why this is less of a dog then a pure bread and why you should not buy this dog. Some arguments I've heard are high prices ($600-$800) and medical health problems. These arguments are ridiculous as many dogs have medical problems, like every living creature on earth, it's always a gamble buying one. As far as high prices are concerned, pure breads often are much more expensive. My veterinarian owns two "toy" morkies and she agrees that these "health" problems are made up.

I noticed there is a sticky which insults mixed breeds like this at the top of this board. I find this disgusting as you are presenting your opinion as a fact. People come to this website in search of true facts, not your uneducated opinions.

I challenge any member of this board to present to me an argument which proves that the Morkie is a bad decision when looking at buying a dog. Please note, any medical facts posted will be examine by my father (a veterinarian). If no argument provided is valid, then I demand you stop being so bitter towards owners of this breed, and suck it up. Markets change, the world constantly evolves, when people don't evolve with it, they become bitter and negative.

Wow. Really? You are going to DEMAND that I stop trying to educate people and suck up YOUR decision to pay top dollar for a mutt? Interesting concept.

Facts -

Let's start with the simple ones:

A) Your morkie is a mutt. I am sure he is adorable and wonderful, but he is a mutt.

B) There are currently 676 maltese and maltese mixes listed on Petfinder. There are currently 1,039 yorkie and yorkie mixes listed on Petfinder. There is no number for morkies because, well, they are mutts and fall into the above catagories.

C) Conservative estimates of dogs euthanized in shelters across the U.S. and Canada stand at 1,000,000. That is a million. And those numbers are very imcomplete - many shelters don't report the number of dogs they destroy. These are dogs that are destroyed simply because they have no home.

Now onto the more technical (as verified by MY vet).

Genetic issues. There is not a single breed of dog that is not susceptible to some genetic issues. An ethical breeder works diligently to do everything humanly possible to eliminate them from their lines. This means testing for them and removing any dog that has them from their breeding program.

Genetic issues in the maltese:

These disorders are relatively common in this breed, and where possible, efforts are being made to eradicate them. Ask your breeder about these conditions in his or her dogs. These disorders seriously affect the health of your pet and may require medical or surgical intervention.

Patent ductus arteriosus

Other disorders which have an increased incidence in this breed

These disorders occur less commonly or are less devastating than those mentioned above.

Cryptorchidism

Extrahepatic portosystemic shunt

Hydrocephalus

Shaker dog syndrome

Other disorders which may be inherited in this breed

These disorders have been reported sporadically, and may be inherited in this breed.

Deafness

Glaucoma

Mitral valve disease

Progressive retinal atrophy

Retinal dysplasia

Sebaceous adenitis

And these are found in Yorkies:

Most important
These disorders are relatively common in this breed, and where possible, efforts are being made to eradicate them. Ask your breeder about these conditions in his or her dogs. These disorders seriously affect the health of your pet and may require medical or surgical intervention.

Patellar luxation

Portosystemic shunt

Retinal dysplasia

Tracheal collapse

Other disorders which have an increased incidence in this breed

These disorders occur less commonly or are less devastating than those mentioned above.

Cataracts

Colour dilution alopecia

Cryptorchidism

Entropion

Hydrocephalus

Hyperadrenocorticism

Hypotrichosis

Keratoconjunctivitis sicca

Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease

Patent ductus arteriosus

Progressive retinal atrophy

Shaker dog disease

Urolithiasis



Hybrid vigor is a myth. If you breed a dog with a serious genetic defect, your chances of getting puppies with that defect increase astronomically. Many of the more serious defects don't show up in young dogs (which is why genetic testing is done at age 2) and your family vet can't diagnose some of them as they rarely have the more sensitive cardiac/opmalogical equipment in their office.

As for your assumption that ethical breeders disapprove of "designer" breeds because of a loss of income.....get over yourself. An ethical breeder has a list a mile long of people waiting for their puppies and turn away more people then they sell puppies to.

I personally don't think there is anything "wrong" with mixed breeds, but they're a dime a dozen, meaning there is an overpopulation problem as it is, so why would anyone in good conscience deliberately breed mutts ??
and why would anyone pay big money for a mutt, When you can get them free, or for a minimal adoption fee??

And yes there is an overpupulation problem of many breeds and in my opinion those breeders should stop breeding as well.

But really you bought, and paid alot of money for a mutt :shrug:

I think it's wrong for people to breed mutts, give them a cutsie name, and sell them for big money IMO

Wow. Really? You are going to DEMAND that I stop trying to educate people and suck up YOUR decision to pay top dollar for a mutt? Interesting concept.

Facts -

Let's start with the simple ones:

A) Your morkie is a mutt. I am sure he is adorable and wonderful, but he is a mutt.

B) There are currently 676 maltese and maltese mixes listed on Petfinder. There are currently 1,039 yorkie and yorkie mixes listed on Petfinder. There is no number for morkies because, well, they are mutts and fall into the above catagories.

C) Conservative estimates of dogs euthanized in shelters across the U.S. and Canada stand at 1,000,000. That is a million. And those numbers are very imcomplete - many shelters don't report the number of dogs they destroy. These are dogs that are destroyed simply because they have no home.

Now onto the more technical (as verified by MY vet).

Genetic issues. There is not a single breed of dog that is not susceptible to some genetic issues. An ethical breeder works diligently to do everything humanly possible to eliminate them from their lines. This means testing for them and removing any dog that has them from their breeding program.

Genetic issues in the maltese:

These disorders are relatively common in this breed, and where possible, efforts are being made to eradicate them. Ask your breeder about these conditions in his or her dogs. These disorders seriously affect the health of your pet and may require medical or surgical intervention.

Patent ductus arteriosus

Other disorders which have an increased incidence in this breed

These disorders occur less commonly or are less devastating than those mentioned above.

Cryptorchidism

Extrahepatic portosystemic shunt

Hydrocephalus

Shaker dog syndrome

Other disorders which may be inherited in this breed

These disorders have been reported sporadically, and may be inherited in this breed.

Deafness

Glaucoma

Mitral valve disease

Progressive retinal atrophy

Retinal dysplasia

Sebaceous adenitis

And these are found in Yorkies:

Most important
These disorders are relatively common in this breed, and where possible, efforts are being made to eradicate them. Ask your breeder about these conditions in his or her dogs. These disorders seriously affect the health of your pet and may require medical or surgical intervention.

Patellar luxation

Portosystemic shunt

Retinal dysplasia

Tracheal collapse

Other disorders which have an increased incidence in this breed

These disorders occur less commonly or are less devastating than those mentioned above.

Cataracts

Colour dilution alopecia

Cryptorchidism

Entropion

Hydrocephalus

Hyperadrenocorticism

Hypotrichosis

Keratoconjunctivitis sicca

Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease

Patent ductus arteriosus

Progressive retinal atrophy

Shaker dog disease

Urolithiasis



Hybrid vigor is a myth. If you breed a dog with a serious genetic defect, your chances of getting puppies with that defect increase astronomically. Many of the more serious defects don't show up in young dogs (which is why genetic testing is done at age 2) and your family vet can't diagnose some of them as they rarely have the more sensitive cardiac/opmalogical equipment in their office.

As for your assumption that ethical breeders disapprove of "designer" breeds because of a loss of income.....get over yourself. An ethical breeder has a list a mile long of people waiting for their puppies and turn away more people then they sell puppies to.


excellent post!! :thumbs up

@ LavenderRott: Oh, SNAP!!! :D

@ Fur: a mutt is a mutt is a mutt. Deal. The problem isn't reputable breeders, the problem is people who refuse to acknowledge their contributions to pet overpopulation, lousy breeding practices, and the suffering of animals AND petowners that result from both. My dog Jaida is the perfect example of why 95% of people SHOULD NOT BREED and 95% of dogs SHOULD NOT BE BRED. And don't bother with the "oh, you're all anti-mutt" nonsense here...I've got three. Mutt owners FAR outnumber purebred owners on this board. Thanks for playing. Get over it, and take your fight somewhere else. :rolleyes:

I LOVE MUTTS!!! Most of the dogs I have had in my long lifetime have been mutts. Can't say I remember paying anything near $800+ for one though. Shelter fees are much less than that and you can find the exact same dog there without looking too hard. As LavenderRott says all you have to do is look at Petfinder. The dogs that your "breeder" or people like your breeder sells are usually the ones that end up on Petfinder. I am not going to get into genetics. I will leave that up to LR and others who are much more knowledgeable than I am in those matters.
When you went on your search for your Morkie did you go to your breeder's facility? Did you see the father and mother and peruse the medical records of both? Did you note how clean the facility was? Or did you buy your dog from a pet store?
Since you like challenges I will present you with one as well. Please see if you can find a Morkie on the list of recognized breeds with the AKC. That should be a challenge. I find Yorkshire Terriers and Maltese. Mmmm, adds up to Morkie which adds up to a most lovable mutt.
http://www.akc.org/breeds/complete_breed_list.cfm

All we ask of you now is that you enjoy your dog. It doesn't matter if he is a purebred or a mutt. He is a living breathing entity who loves you to death. I pray you do the same for him.

Well said LavenderRott. These mixed breeds are selling for too much money....That is because the public wants it. I personally would stick to a pure breed dog or a rescue/shelter mixed breed. This is purely fashion breeding and I hope it stops soon.

My goodness, These people with mix breed dogs, are getting more than I was for my purebred registered dogs. I have a huge issue, with those selling the mixed breeds for whatever they can get, and people being so gullable


It was a few years ago, and although my dogs were CKC registered, as was my kennel, when I sold a dog for pet, it was spayed or neutered, and everyone was thoroughly checked out, before the puppy left my home. The only time I sold a pup unaltered, was to another registered breeder.

When I was grooming, had one lady tell me her dog was a purebred, and when she brought it in, it was a Cockapoo. When I commented on it, she said she had the papers to prove it. Well, I asked her to bring in the registration paper. When she came to get the dog, bringing the paper with her, whoever had sold her the dog, had told her, this was the registration, and all it was , was the bill of sale. I had to pop her balloon, and explained that it was only the bill of sale, and that the dog could not be CKC registered, as it was a mix breed, and, that she paid way too much for the dog. The lady was a bit upset, but said, it didn't matter, they loved the dog.

By the way, the dog was one of my easiest cocker/and mixes to work with, and I often used her in demonstrations. I demonstrated grooming of dogs to various groups, children and adults, showing them the proper way of keeping their dogs brushed, etc.

Thanks for letting me have my say.

take care
binky

We often get accused of attacking new posters, but I'm sorry this one came here with boxing gloves on, looking for a fight!

IMO the members here have done a great job answering and not flaming ! :thumbs up And the OP is no where to be found :rolleyes:

Dude, how far did you bend over?.

I think people who pay that much money for these "designer dogs" need to stop fooling themselves. Really, you can walk into any rescue and find the same kind of dog, "morkie" for a nominal rescue fee. Designer breeders? Sounds like a puppy mill to me.

A troll by any other name is still a troll.

http://pics.bikerag.com/Uploads/data/500/258Troll_spray.jpg

We often get accused of attacking new posters, but I'm sorry this one came here with boxing gloves on, looking for a fight!

You get no argument from me this time :D...this is a very provocative first post for a newbie looking for a fight.

FUR - A better way to post your first post would have been "Hi there my name is.... I'm new to the board but I noticed a sticky that said .....and I disagree...." Instead you come busting into a new community with clenched fists. This is not the way to make friends or have a proper conversation.

Dear members! I applaud the restraint here. :thumbs up

FUR - This thread will now be closed. If you wish to respond and play nice, it will be my pleasure to reopen it. Please email me in this case.

Thx - Marko