pet stores mixing 'em up..??

From what I know (I live in the UK where selling dogs and cats in pet stores is illegal), these mixes are being sold as "designer dogs".  WOW, Look!  You get ALL the great points of BOTH breeds, in ONE handy package! [:'(]  Or possibly not.
 
Pet store dogs in general are notorious for being in bad health, and these dogs are, quite simply, highly priced mutts.  Nothing wrong with mutts at all - but if a person wants one they'd do better to save a life at a shelter.
 
Kate

Most of us here have an problem with the ethics of selling puppies in a store, regardless of breed. They often come from puppy mills, or in the case of my dog, possibly a back yard breeder, a bubba with a box of pups. The dogs have no pedigree, you can't locate the breeder, and have no idea of the medical and temperment history of that line. The pups are pulled away from mom way too early, easily prone to infection and have not receive the proper socialization and training they get from momma dog. Not the mention the breeding conditions at most puppy mills, which are horrible, to say the least. So, most of us advise against buying from a puppy store and wondering about the advisability of these mixes is the least of the problems.
 

I would take a mutt home in a second over a pure breed. I would even buy one from an add in the paper because most times they will end up in a pet store or with some stupid person that will keep it until the novelty wares off.  But I will not pay $300 or more for a mutt. I do not get why people are dumb enough to pay that kind of money from a pet store or from local ads. I could see paying the money for a true breed but never a mutt.

Some (very, very few) breeders are attempting to create new breeds - labradoodles and cockapoos being the most notable and even there you'll have look very hard for breeders who truly are striving for a new breed.    However, these breeders do not sell to pet stores and most dogs are being crossed for the same reason puppy mills exist in the first place - to sell cute puppies through an extremely unethical and inhumane industry.

My "sister-in-law" has some mix dogs.  I don't remember what they are now, but they're small.  I always tell her that I'm just fine with my 110lb Rottrador, thank you very much!   

I appreciate everyones response but some got off subject regarding purchasing from the pet stores. I would never purchase from a pet store myself I was just getting turtle supplies and who can pass up looking at the cute puppies. We all know pet stores over price and most likely get there dogs from bad resources but my question was what people thought of mix breeding and if anyone knows of the outcomes there trying to get from mixing breeds.

I don't even buy supplies from a store that sells puppies. I can resist looking at the cute puppies, they make me cry and want to say nasty things to the employees who may or may not be simply ignorant.

I just watched a Nightline report on so-called designer breeds. Discussing the ethics of selling these pups in pet stores IS on topic, because without the pet stores it is highly unlikely these dogs would have caught on. The name "puggle" or "dorkie" without the cute little puppy faces under the label would be much less appealing, I believe.

The ethics of the puppymills that supply these stores IS relevant because vast majority of these poor deliberately mixed breed puppies ARE bred at the volume commercial breeders under inhumane and appalling circumstances.

This is my main problem with the mixed breed puppies at the pet stores. Now, regarding deliberate mixes in general, I have a problem with, because every dog should be bred subject to some external standard, for some particular reason, and the breeder's purpose should be to further the breed and strengthen it. Even if puggle breeders love beagles and normally breed great beagles, they are still detracting from the breed by diluting the gene pool with mixed breeds.

The outcome is that they are making money from people who think they are getting the latest rage....similar to an expensive pair of jeans with holes in them.