In memory of the "Brown Mongrel Dog"

[El Presidente]

Remember the "Brown Mongrel Dog".......WHERE HAVE THEY GONE!!!!

Seriously...they use to be on every corner. Cuba may well be the last bastion of these because for the love of God there are none left in Brisbane or Sydney!

Pugs, Maltipoo, Shi Tzu, Cockapoo......everyone appears to have a designer dog and I am struggling to remember the last time that I have seen a loveable "mutt"

Now for those that do own one of these ...good on you and your pet. I am sure he/she is great and much loved.

But has anyone seen this guy lately?

Ahhh the days of picking one up at the pound for $20 including vaccinations. Walking to the warehouse today I am sure I passed wallets on a leash to the GDP value of a medium sized African nation.

Is it the same in your neck of the woods?......have you noticed

[Ken Gargett]

Remember the "Brown Mongrel Dog".......WHERE HAVE THEY GONE!!!!

i thought you'd run over them all.

[NJP]

The Hollywood hounds are starting to pop up in my parts but we still have quite a few cranky crossbred hounds that upset the walkers.

[Fuzz AI]

There's a bunch of them up here in the Hills district. Whenever I walk my lab Hunter in the village green, the owners tend to pick up their little yapper as they go by. Seems they are just too precious to associate with a run of the mill labrador retriever.

One of those little designer yappers bit Hunter on the lip the other day. Broke free from a little girl's grip, charged up to Hunter from behind and bit him when he turned around. Took us both by surprise and I resisted the very strong urge to punt the little ****... Shih Tzu.

[Warren]

You know the definition of a Shih Tzu

It's a zoo where all the animals are dead.

[Ryan]

Plenty of them in Cuba as you say. Africa too, they're all over the place. My sister in law in Botswana has about 6 dogs that look just like that. They chase snakes away and keep down the scorpions.

We have plenty of mongrels here, I have one myself. Very few that look like that though. That style of mongrel looks to be more of a warm weather dog.

[Fuzz AI]

You know the definition of a Shih Tzu

It's a zoo where all the animals are dead.

I once went to an animal park that just had one dog in it. It was a Shih Tzu. <badum tish>

[madandana]

I remember as a kid, dogs and cats were free. You'd go to the flee market and there would be be a batch of freebies. Now you have to sell a kidney to raise the funds if you want a pooch.

[TCContender]

I remember as a kid, dogs and cats were free. You'd go to the flee market and there would be be a batch of freebies. Now you have to sell a kidney to raise the funds if you want a pooch.

No kidding, I remember the ads in the newspaper as well: "Free puppies, 1/2 purebred cocker spaniel, 1/2 sneaky neighbor dog."

[zeedubbya]

I look at credit reports all month long and I just love the ones where someone's credit is marginal and the bank is asking what's this strange financing of $3,000 which they've been late on a few times. We ask person and they say--our dog. We financed a dog. This is generally followed by 4-5 min of awkward silence. Always wondered if you don't make your dog payment do they repossess it?

[oliverdst]

Yes, in Brasil same thing, only gourmet dogs.

I have a Lhasa Apso and 3 addopted from the streets.

This is one of them:

[PigFish]

The Am-Staf I used to own, she lived 18 years was the last free dog I had. I refuse to pay for a designer dog from a puppy mill.

Like many of you I remember the days, where instead of the bum asking you for money in front of a five and dime store, there would be kids with cardboard boxes of puppies (for free). You would have to hazard a guess as to what they would look like in a year but it did not matter. He or she was a cute dog and that is what you wanted.

Those days people would ask me what kinda' dog I had and I would say a 'Savon.' They would say, "never heard of that dog!" and I would say neither have I but that is where she came from!

My last two dogs have been Maltese mixes and rejects. I like smaller dogs now, but I get them from the pound. You pay for the shots and the fixing and you get a nice dog. Not always the healthiest but a dogs love has no bounds.

I am glad that our local shelters are now 'no kill' and that reckless dog breeding is now minimal. The best part is that it is the result of people of conscience and not another damn stupid law!!! It would be nice if there was more a balance, but I suppose I am happy to forgo the trip to the drugstore to get a fee mutt knowing that people are neglecting their free animals and they are ending up in gas chambers.

Now I get my reject dog from the pound instead. I am okay with that... The fact that people of conscience have made a decision to control the dog and cat population via getting their animals fixed is better than government death camps for those that are unwanted...

The story of my new dog is kind of a cute one. His name is Cano. Yes, like the cigar!!! It was destiny I think. He was a surrender to the shelter and he came with the name!!! Thats right... I did not even have to name him!

Cheers! -Piggy

[ChanceSchmerr]

Plenty of them in rural Portugal - that's the reason my in-laws asked us to watch over their 2 Shelties when they moved from Toronto to Portugal. The mongrels running around in the local neighbourhood in Northern Portugal are friendly...but sadly very diseased as they are not cared for. Our 2 shelties wouldn't have had a chance.

[Rye]

Brown; ✔️

Mongrel; ✔️

Lovable; ✔️

Our best buddy Lance aka; Stinky

The current trend in these parts seems to be Burmese mountain dogs which nearly need to be mortgaged I'm sure, but happily I am seeing quite a few adopted/rescued greyhounds around the park.

My last pooch was a special needs rescued Great Dane and before that I had 22 huskies (yes, all at the same time)

[Orion21]

This is an interesting discussion.

In my neck of the woods USA gone are the puppy stores at the mall that used to sell puppy mill "pure breds" for $1k, $2k or $3K+. I think the trend has moved back towards rescuing dogs or buying expensive pure bred dogs directly from breeders. My next door neighbor just dropped a couple of grand on a Silver Lab. A couple down the street did the same to get a White Lab. Most likely these will pass of genetic defects within a few years. I just think it's silly.

But to answer Rob's question - no I have never seen one of those types of dogs. Must be an Aussie thing

[gojira]

There are still plenty of them to be seen in SE Asia. Some will even chase you for sport when you drive past them....

[kwsaw63]

Still a few around in the more out of the way places in Singapore; but their numbers are dwindling as Animal Welfare Groups have been carrying out sterilization campaigns. I have 2 dogs myself - a silky terrier and a maltese, both adopted from Animal Welfare Groups.

The maltese in particular has made me a fervent believer in never buying a puppy. The poor girl is an ex-breeding dog who was locked up in a small cage for 8 years and forced to churn out puppies. When we first got her she had horrendous skin problems which made her stink horribly and could barely walk. One year later and after multiple visits to the vet, she is an adorable fluff ball, whose idea of a good time is curl up on your lap and sleep.

[MIKA27]

I have NEVER seen the immense amount of stray mongrel dogs than I did when visiting Valparaiso in Chile back in 2010. Chile in general from where I ventured had dogs everywhere but Valparaiso took the cake.

[polarbear]

My ex-housemate and his missus just dropped a couple of grand on a pug

Its the ugliest dog I've ever seen and is as dumb as a stump.

Worst thing is it seems to really dislike people. Everytime I've been over the pug just sits in the corner and gets cranky if anyone comes near him

I keep reminding them that at least the pound lets you "try before you buy" and on some days you don't even need to pay for shots or registration if you adopt

[dicko]

There are still plenty of them to be seen in SE Asia. Some will even chase you for sport when you drive past them....

This. I saw a bunch in Hat Yai, Thailand just last week.

We "rescued" a staffy cross (pretty generic brown dog) from a local shelter. She's a great pup

[thecrowder]

Quite a few designer dogs running around the bay area, but, one of the more disturbing trends that I've noticed is the desire for dogs that are missing a leg or maybe an eye...

[David88]

Stray mongrels are everywhere in Mongolia but I rarely see any pet dogs around. Some of the locals will claim to own some of the dogs and will offer to sell them to westerners if they see you looking at them! The designer dog seems to be a very new thing here.

[Fuzz AI]

I hear in China all the rage is about getting a Tibetan Mastiff.

Looks like a Pokemon to me.