This topic contains 41 replies, has 0 voices, and was last updated by 
-
Posts
-
I volunteered at a shelter here in Houston (which I also donate to), have helped my aunt with some horrifying rescues, and was the weekend care-taker at a vet’s office. No, I have not euthanized any animals (other than being present at my own pets’ death), but that does not mean that I don’t grasp the horror of the situation. My point isn’t that shelters aren’t so bad, or anything like that. It’s that, sadly, there are people who won’t adopt dogs from shelters, and for those people, responsible breeding of pets is FINE, whether they are purebred or not.
And I don’t think I made it clear why this point is important to me — it’s that I don’t think blaming responsible breeders is productive. Yes, spaying/neutering pets is a good answer, so that you don’t have IRRESPONSIBLE breeding. But on top of that, instead of blaming people who are supplying good pets for a very real demand, why don’t we change the demand by educating people about dogs in shelters? I can’t tell you how many people have told me that they would never adopt from the SPCA because "those dogs are crazy" or "you never know with those dogs." People need to know how much rehabilitation goes on with rescues, and how their temperament is tested long before they are put up for adoption, etc. But I also think that wanting to know your pet’s family history is an acceptable desire, and those people still won’t adopt from shelters. So why is it wrong to breed dogs to be companions for those people?
Oh I absolutely agree with you that we have done a lousy job of "selling" shelter pets. There is a lot of room for improvement there. I think our biggest difference is our standards for what consittutes a "responsible" breeder. Please understand that I have absolutely NO problem with mixed breed dogs. Have 2 of them here with me now. If you don’t acknowledge a certain standard for a breeder to adhere to, then you could say they are ALL reputable/responsible. So there are requirememts that a person is expected to meet in order to be considered as such. When I rattle off what those qualifications are, trust me that is not something I dreamed up. These are the commonly accepted all over the country by breeders, Kennel Club people (not AKC) show people, shelter people all sorts of dog people. I am going to post a couple links that I hope you will read so you can see what is commonly considered a reputable breeder. http://www.learntobreed.com/questions.html and this one http://members.tripod.com/GWDalmatianClub/Dalinfo/repbreeder.htm
The one thing that I will tell you that is wrong in here is that RB’s do not sell puppies before 12 weeks. Let me ask you – out of the hundreds of people who have come on here needing info because their dog is ready to pop & they have no idea what to do – do you think were actually RB’s?Oh, god, absolutely not! But I didn’t think that’s what we were discussing in this thread, either. Yes, we do have a difference in what we believe is responsible, but not so much as you think — for example, the Dalmation Club page you posted: I agree whole-heartedly with everything EXCEPT that I think if a breeder does 3 – 7, 2 doesn’t matter and only some of 1. And not to harp on the part about shelter/breeder competition, but someone just put my argument in clearer terms for me: "A person who will pay $600 for a labradoodle is not going consider a dog from a shelter just because the puppy market is suddenly scarce — instead, they will just pay $1200 for a labradoodle."
not a single one or they would have known what to do & would have a mentor to work with them. I really don’t see anyone on here giving a reputable breeder a hard time. They are just very few & far between. We have had people come on here that found a pregnant dog & got all the help they needed short of one of us going to their house! There have been other situations such as the OP of this thread who have not been ostrisized because this was really not her fault. She was told the dog was spayed. I really don’t think you will find many of the "breeders" who are intentionally breeding mixed breeds doing any health testing. Without a pedigree, how would you go about researching a dogs health history? You would have no way of knowing what sort of conditions or ailments could be lurking in his background
It occurs to me that maybe this is a cultural/"country" thing, because I know people who have dogs whose parents and grandparents were also their dogs, and who knew or owned the parents of THOSE dogs, but the dogs aren’t pedigreed. (For example, in my neighborhood, everybody has Chihuahuas who are related… they are all healthy, friendly dogs with no genetic problems as far back as at least 4 generations.) But it occurs to me, maybe that’s not as common as it seems to me. But that still doesn’t invalidate the point that if (and, yes, only if) you do it right, it isn’t wrong to breed dogs just to produce good pets, not only for better examples of a breed, because there is a demand for them that doesn’t really affect shelter adoptions. (If any of that was unclear, I apologize — I’m a little brainfried today.)
Just to clarifiy a little here and I know the question was not directed at me, but I attended 3 euths in 2 years . And before I started doing my own rescue work I worked with RR (don’t want to mention names here) and in all the time that rescue has been in business the dog from them that I had to euth was #6 and they are considered a "no kill" organization, but even that organization has it’s limits and they do try everything before taking that last step. The dog I have that is pregnant has been seen by a vet and has had a ultra sound and is scheduled for an x-ray on April 4th. She’s also on puppy food and sdomething called puppy gold suppliment to she doen’t get to depleted. I am dooing everything I can to get these puppies born healthy . and do I think this was wrong? YES>>>I WANTED THE DOG SPAYED!!! but the owners refused so since I didn”t thuink the owners would take care of her the right way I am and they signed a contract stating that they are recieving nothing from this breeding.
witch, this has nothing to do with your predicament. I had mentioned earlier that people who came here with dogs that were preg. but not from an intentional or preventable breeding got a lot of help & even mentioned your situation.
I was just tryinmg to clarify for everyone else who is reading this and may have missed other posts on the subject. I still don’t get why peole are purposefully breeding mixed dogs! When I started this thread I was looking for reason why people were doing this and I have yet to find a valid one.
thats because there aren’t any! Just money & selfishness – oh & want the kids to see the miracle of birth. I will exclude the very few reputable, responsible breeders as I have no problem with them breeding, especially since there are so few. I was talking to my vet from up there today. She wanted a standard poodle & has been actively searching for a breeder who tested for EVERYTHING. She finally got one in AL – it is 5 months old – HB, crate trained, rides well in the car, leash trained & very smart. The search took over 2 years
Check out the lastest mix I ran into the linkis below
i’ve watched that video so many times today (i got shown it last night on antoher forum – thats what made me join this forum to try to convince people against breeding their pets) i find it so sad that so many people are still breeding. soem shelters put down 50-100 animals EVERYDAY because so many are coming in.
imagine contributign to that. disgusting.
before a coupld of years ago i was none the wiser either.
i will never buy from another BYB or pet shop. i will; never support a mill.
nearly all my dogs will be shelter dogs unless i decided to breed REPUTEBLY one day. that will mean a dog with titles in herding, obediance, agility and flyball. it willmean health tests. it will mean a good representation of the breed and it will mean CAREFULLY selected homes that i know will give the puppy a long happy life. it means that i will keep an eye on those puppies for their whole lives. it means 1 litter a year. it means not making profit. it means stable represtations of the breed being born.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
