Designer Dogs

The Victoria Advocate Designer dogs
JESSIE MILLIGAN Fort Worth Star-Telegram Sunday, February 26, 2006
FORT WORTH - It's a sunny afternoon at Chia's Pet Kingdom, an apt name for the rural Texas home of a couple who own 20 dogs. Little shorkie dogs scamper about the living room of the house that is their kingdom. Two chiweenie puppies are curled up on the kingdom's leather sofa.
Chiweenies, a blend of Chihuahua and Dachshund, and shorkies, a Shih-Tzu -Yorkshire Terrier combo, are designer dogs, the latest trend with legs.
Designer dogs - a combination of two purebreds - are reaching a startling height of popularity that is jolting even the American Canine Hybrid Club. The club is registering about 500 litters of designer dogs a month, more than double the number of litters it was registering just more than a year ago. Those numbers are just the tip of the tail as home breeders and professional breeders across the nation are turning purebreds into mutts with panache.
At Chia's Pet Kingdom in Krum, Glenna and Jeff Heraly are seeking to breed out the common back problems of the dachshund by combining it with the less lengthy Chihuahua. They are looking to tone down the yappiness of the Yorkshire Terrier by slipping in a little of the Shih-Tzu.
The Heralys know that some of their designer pups will inherit the best qualities of their parents. They know it's possible some of their littermates may inherit the worst.
"It's like raising kids," Glenna Heraly says. "Some kids grow up to be killers. Some grow up to be priests and presidents."
It's not just DNA.
"You have to have a good environment," say the Heralys, whose breeding stock is a pack of well-loved purebred pet dogs who live in the Heraly's three-bedroom home. The dogs have their own bedroom with a full-size bed. Most of their dogs are priests and presidents.
All of them are part of a fascinating and controversial trend.
Source: Askedweb information portal