A COMPARISON
OF: |
Traits of
Responsible Breeders |
Traits of Backyard
Breeders |
"Into" Dogs (shows,
training, clubs, etc.) |
Not "into" dogs (has "pets"
around the house) |
Belongs to dog clubs and
organizations |
Is not involved in the "dog
world" |
Proves quality of dogs and
suitability for breeding by competing for titles and certificates in
conformation, obedience, agility, field trialing, Schutzhund, herding, tracking, earthdog trials, etc. |
Quality of dogs is almost
always substandard, however, he does not test his dogs in shows or trials (Dogs
are just pets or "breeding machines") |
Pups' pedigrees are filled
with dogs who have obtained show titles/working certificates; never breeds dogs
without "papers" |
Pedigrees mostly a list of
pets bred by backyard breeders; pups may not even have "papers"; may be mongrels
(Cockapoos, etc.) |
Supports rescue groups;
knows his actions inevitably play some part in pet overpopulation and euthanasia
(one of every four dogs in shelters is purebred). Even with all his efforts to
stem over- population, he knows "cracks" will lead to canine deaths
|
Honestly believes that
because he places/sells all his pups, he does not contribute in any way to the
needless slaughter of millions of dogs per year in shelters (Does not see his
role in his pups making pups and them making more pups and so
on) |
Knowledgeable in every
facet of breed, including that of health issues/defects; researches genetics
when choosing mates |
Not particularly educated
about breed, often not aware of his own breed's genetic defects; does not
consider mate's genetics |
Knowledgeable about house
breaking, training, socializing, breeding, health; constantly reads dog-related
materials |
Has own ideas which may not
coincide with professionals' opinions; won't bother to read any of the hundreds
of dog books available |
Can and will help and
educate puppy buyers re these issues |
Says "Goodbye" and "Good
luck" |
Willing to give you his
references |
Has no
references |
Knows his puppies' ancestry
|
Knows nothing about the
other dogs on puppies' pedigrees |
Follows up on puppies'
well-being; collects health information affecting his dogs
|
Does not concern himself
with the puppies' well-being or how puppies' health affects his breeding
"plan" |
Breeds to improve his own
dogs, his bloodlines and the breed |
Breeds just to breed or
make money or see his "great dog" procreate |
Rarely breeds as he does
not use dog breeding as a business and strives for quality, not quantity
|
Breeds regularly if for
money or if puppy mill; if for ego, breeds once in awhile, or "just once" before
neutering or spaying |
Rarely repeats a breeding
|
Often repeats breedings, mainly those that are cheap and convenient.
|
Breeds only dogs which meet
breed standard |
Dogs used for breeding
rarely meet breed standard |
Breeds only dogs with
stable temperaments |
Breeds shy/aggressive dogs
with poor temperaments |
Breeds only dogs over 2
years old, and a limited number of times |
Breeds dogs at almost any
age, and any number of times |
Mate choice could be
anywhere in the country (almost never breeds his own males to his own females)
|
Mate choice is that which
is convenient, cheap, local (very often owns both sire and
dam) |
Does all genetic testing
and will provide proof; does not breed animals with genetic defects or which are
carriers of defects |
Does no genetic testing;
ignorantly breeds defective animals or those which are carriers, thus,
perpetuating disease in breed |
Puppies are sold from
waiting list created before breeding even takes place
|
Puppies are sold after
birth in the local newspaper, first-come,
first-served |
Pet-quality pups generally
cost $500-600+ (show-quality costs more) |
All pups are pet-quality
and are relatively cheap, usually $200-$400 |
Puppies are sold with
health guarantees |
Puppies are sold with no
guarantee |
Puppies are sold with
contracts |
No contracts; does not care
what you do with puppies |
Requires pups back if new
homes don't work out |
Says "Find them good
homes" |
Dogs on property are
friendly, socialized, trained |
Dogs on property may be
aggressive or shy, and untrained |
Does not own more dogs than
he has room, time or money for; Dogs are groomed, exercised, healthy, happy
|
Puppy mills are overloaded,
"warehoused" dogs are not groomed or exercised, don't look healthy or
happy |
Will show you pups' parents
if available, or if not, will have pictures |
Might have to "lock up"
pups' aggressive or shy parents (dogs that should never have been
bred) |
Raises puppies indoors
|
Raises puppies
outdoors |
Stays home to care for
puppies |
Dam and pups are alone for
long hours |
Feeds only premium dog food
|
Feeds cheap, grocery store
dog food (containing 4D meat/chemicals) |
Visitors remove shoes and
wash hands to prevent spread of parvovirus |
Has no understanding and
takes no precautions to prevent puppy-killer
disease |
Keeps pups with mom and
litter a minimum of 49 days to ensure sibling socialization and important
lessons from pups' mother |
Doesn't know leaving litter
earlier can cause lifelong temperament problems or staying too long can hurt
bonding with humans |
Socializes pups by
systematically handling them and exposing them to various noises, children and
other animals before sending them to new homes |
Does not understand or want
to be troubled with any kind of training; just tries to keep puppies quiet and
contained until sold |
Tests pups to match their
temperaments and drives with buyers' personalities and lifestyles
|
Knows nothing about
puppy-testing or matching puppies with buyers; allows buyers to pick the
"cutest" one |
Can honestly evaluate pups'
quality |
Says all pups are high
quality |
Never sells to "impulse"
buyers |
Is not concerned about
buyers being prepared for pups |
Never sells two pups at the
same time to a novice |
Would consider this killing
two birds with one sale |
Interviews prospective
buyers, checks home and references, refuses to sell to substandard homes
|
Sells first-come,
first-served to whomever has the cash; does not find out which homes are
substandard |
Wants to meet whole family;
won't sell if children are abusive |
Does not consider anything
past obtaining the funds |
Sells only to buyers with
disposable income (AKC reports it costs $1327 per year to properly care for a
dog) |
Is not concerned whether or
not buyers can afford to properly care for pups |
Waits for buyers who offer
lifelong homes (Knows that only 30 percent of all dogs stay in one home
throughout their lives) |
Does not reject high-risk
buyers: (renters, young people, those with poor track records, low income, other
pets, dogs kept outdoors) |
Understands dogs are "pack"
animals; sells pets only to buyers wanting to make pup an indoor dog and part of
the family |
Doesn't care if pups live
as outdoor dogs or chained dogs, being unhappy or anxious being isolated and
separated from "packs" |
Sells only to buyers who
make pup's safety a priority |
Does not consider pups'
best interests |
Encourages or requires
buyers to spay/neuter pet-quality pups |
Encourages buyers to breed,
regardless of quality |
Encourages buyers to train
pups; refers to good trainer |
Shows no concern for pups
after sale; knows no trainers |
Makes sure buyers
understand pup's considerable need for time, attention, exercise and training
|
Does not provide even his
own dogs with enough time, attention, exercise or
training |
|
|
Responsible Breeders Improve the
Breed |
Backyard Breeders Damage the
Breed |
USE THIS GUIDE TO
OBTAIN A QUALITY PUPPY FROM A RESPONSIBLE BREEDER
And be aware that dogs are
not "things." They are living creatures who, by no choice of their own, are
totally dependent upon us - and are at our mercy - for their very survival, not
to mention quality of life. As pack animals, their mental health is dependent
upon being with their pack. That may be other animals, or it may be us. It is
very cruel to leave a dog alone all day. Dogs need a lot of attention. They need
regular, systematic aerobic exercise for at least 20-30 minutes, at least 3-4
times a week, just to be healthy. Few dogs get the exercise they need for good
physical and mental health. Lack of exercise is the number one reason, (then
lack of training), that dogs become mischievous and burdensome, and are then
blamed, then dumped, and too often, killed. ("A tired dog is a good dog.")
Having a yard is not sufficient. Dogs do not exercise themselves unless chasing
something along the fence line, and that, in and of itself, is a problem. To
make good pets, they need training. And most importantly, to be safe pets, they
need early socialization. Lack of socialization the first 4-6 months of a dog's
life creates shy dogs, which too-often become fear-biters, which, along with
those who were simply born with poor temperaments, are responsible for the
majority of the 4.7 million dog bites annually. (Sixty percent of victims are
children; Half of all kids 12 and under have been bitten by a dog; Every day
more than 900 people are hospitalized with dog bites; Every year 25 people are
killed by dogs.)
If you can not be a
responsible dog owner, please wait until you can be.
And please don't breed out
of greed or ego or for any reason other than to improve the breed (i.e., to make
the puppies better than their parents). Most purebred dogs, and of course, all
mixed-breed dogs, should not be bred. The majority of dogs have some defect (in
structure, temperament, health) that should not be perpetuated. Dogs used for
breeding should be free of all defects - that's the definition of quality.
("Papers" mean nothing; They are simply, and nothing more than, birth
certificates. Plenty of dogs have "papers," but are so poorly bred they actually
look like mutts.) And no human should ever breed any dog without
veterinary/laboratory testing and pedigree research to be sure that dog is free
of (and not a carrier of) genetic defects. FAILURE TO TEST/SEARCH FOR
INHERITABLE HEALTH PROBLEMS IS THE NUMBER ONE MARK OF A BACKYARD BREEDER. IT IS
ALSO THE MOST DAMAGING TO CANINES, AND THE MOST HEARTBREAKING TO PUPPY-BUYERS,
WHO END UP WITH YET ANOTHER GENERATION OF POOR-QUALITY DOGS WHO TOO OFTEN
DEVELOP EXPENSIVE, EARLY HEALTH PROBLEMS AND OFTEN DIE PREMATURELY.
We have a severe
pet-overpopulation crisis in the US; We slaughter thousands of
beautiful, vital, healthy dogs every single day. (Twenty-five percent of shelter
dogs are purebred.) Every puppy produced by a backyard breeder and placed in a
home takes the place of one killed in a shelter because no one adopted it. And
every puppy produced by a backyard breeder can make more puppies, and those
puppies can make more puppies and so on. (And of course, backyard breeders,
through their encouragement and the dispersal of misinformation, have a knack
for turning uneducated buyers into yet more backyard breeders.) There just are
not enough homes (not to mention "good" homes) available for all these puppies.
No matter how hard one tries, only 30 percent of all dogs (and their pups and
their pups and so on) live their entire lives in the home to which they went
after weaning. Seventy percent will be given away or abandoned or dumped along
the way for one reason or another. (Common excuses are, "We didn't have time for
him," "He was too much trouble," "He kept jumping on us," "He bit my child," "We
couldn't afford him," "We had to move." None of these were good homes to begin
with. The buyers failed to socialize or train, or they lacked time, money or
commitment. Again, there just are not enough "good" homes for all the puppies
born.) Why not leave breeding dogs to those with the ability and desire and
quality animals to do so at a "professional" level?
If everyone bred only dogs
with excellent conformation, and stable, correct temperaments, working titles
and clean health, we would have top-quality dogs in this country. Get your dog
evaluated by judges and trainers. If he meets breed standard, and is healthy,
and has the correct temperament and drives, show him, work him, and get him
titled. If you feel you have what it takes to be a "professional" breeder,
educate yourself, and with enough experience in dogs, maybe you, too, could make
a positive contribution to your breed. But if your dog's only credentials are
that it is a great pet, then love it, socialize it, train it, exercise it, give
it the best in feed, comfort and veterinary care, but for it's own good
(including better health - ask your vet!), and for the sake of puppy-buyers,
society, and all canines, get it spayed or neutered.
Resist the Greed;
Don't Support Backyard Breeders, and Certainly Don't Become
One.
Copyright © 1999 Victoria Rose, PO
Box 4816, Auburn, CA 95604; ifind@foothill.net
Proud mom of the beautiful Dobermann Calidancer V Teraden, CD, OA, AD, OAC, OGC, NJC, RS-N, GS-N, JS-N,
CGC (As a pup she cost $900. She is trained in obedience, agility, personal
protection, wheelchair assistance and tricks...And she is spayed.)
Document may be reproduced in its
entirety (not in sections), as long as the author is credited.
|