Help with this breeder please

    • Gold Top Dog

    Help with this breeder please

    So my sister has already put a deposit down on a American Bulldog without my imput. She was afraid I would be to discrimintory but she forwarded me the link to the kennel so could you dog fanciers please take a moment to check it out and point out any good or bad aspects of the kennel? Thanks so much in advance for your time, I know I can count on you guys! Here is the link....
    [linkhttp://www.rootsbulldogs.com/]http://www.rootsbulldogs.com/[/link]
    • Gold Top Dog
    First red light without reading the rest was that they advertise puppies ready for christmas! Most good breeder will avoide the holidays the best they can to ensure the pups go to a good home that is not an inpulse buy. I'll read more but just wanted to point that out before I go on.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Well at least they Penn Hip/OFA and show, tho they don't say what venue. 3 Litters on the ground at the same time does seem a bit high...
    • Gold Top Dog
    They seem alright, but that's doesn't say anything by just looks alone. You really find out the truth when you ask the questions. 3 litters at one time is a little high but some breeder prefer to have littlers closer together to make it easyer on them. Just from the pics alone it look like a guy who just loves his big and tuff toys and loves to show them off. They sure seem to look like they know their stuff.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Thanks Xebby. I wasnt sure how to inrepret the 3 litters at once. The impression I got as well was that he bred for ther love of the breed, not neccessarily the repservation but thankfully not just for money either.
     
    • Gold Top Dog
    Were there 3 at once? I only saw the one available now and then 2 more planned up thru 2007?
     
    I had 2 litters at once last year [;)]
    • Gold Top Dog
    The breeder looks okay to me. It's kind of hard to judge since, if I'm not mistaken, American Bulldogs aren't recognized by the AKC yet... so he can't prove his dogs in that arena. He does say that he breeds "for the center of the bell curve, with the extreme bully type on one end and the very standard type on the other " ...not being familiar with the breed I can't say whether that sounds like a good or bad thing. However, he's doing the health testing and there's nothing about the site that screams BYB to me. If it were me I'd just call him and feel him out over the phone, then play it from there.
     
    It seems to me that he has one litter for Jan, one for late December, and one "now" but not sure when the site was last updated, could have been last month or even earlier?
    • Gold Top Dog
    The only thing that pops up at me is the "puppies ready for christmas" and then he said: "Root's Bulldogs kicked ass in Vegas 2005" Seems a bit unprofessional, but thats just me. Not a big deal I guess.

    annndd...
    [linkhttp://www.rootsbulldogs.com/Available%20Litters.htm]http://www.rootsbulldogs.com/Available%20Litters.htm[/link]
    The puppies live outside? See them by the dirty laundry basket with a blanket on grass? And in a little pen outside with a dog house.. :S
    • Gold Top Dog
    I've never bought from a breeder before, so I'm hardly an expert. I was slightly ooked out by the website, but I'm a bit ooked out by a lot of websites for breeders of "tough" breeds that really go overboard with the "LOOK AT MY BIG TOUGH DOGS GRRRRRR SCARY!!!" business. For the breeds that are already so misunderstood and purchased by the wrong sorts of people for the wrong reasons, I don't like to see breeders pandering to that mentality.
     
    I saw a picture of a dog tied to a tree, which I'm a little weirded out by. It's not like I've never in my life tied my dogs to a tree for a second in order to do something, but if there was a picture of that I certainly wouldn't be putting it on my website.
     
    I only counted two litters on the ground, one ready now, another ready in a few weeks? Maybe I missed one.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I don't like the fact that none of his females that I've looked at don't have any "awards."  There also isn't anything that I found saying what titles his dogs have.  That and the fact that the pups are advertised for Christmas, I don't think he's too bad.  The dogs look good, and it seems like the family really likes them.  Look at the "fun" pictures, if you don't see what I mean.
    And I don't like the last part of this:
    "My  dogs have outgoing, people friendly dispositions and at the same time are VERY territorial and guarding of their turf."
    Personally, I wouldn't want to breed dogs that are very territorial, not sure if it's something that's wanted in the breed or what though.
    • Gold Top Dog
    The guy definitely needs some PR help, lol.

    I bought two pups (on seperate occaions) from someone who raised pups outside. I look for a clean, safe environment, with needs attended to, and some attention to enrichment (some toys, different surfaces to explore, a view of the world outside and the ability to interact safely with passersby). My pups' breeder had chronic leukemia which required regular reduction of his white blood cell count, and his house had to stay sterile. So out they went once mama stopped cleaning up after them. They didn't care - "Dad" was outside more than in, anyway. I was having a discussion with someone once about how breeders she knows, raises pups in the barn. How awful! You have to eyeball the situation yourself before you pass judgement, if all other things are equal. The breeders I respect most spend most of THEIR time in the barn!

    Now back to this guy. I have to admire what he's doing. Conservation breeding is a respectable goal - they look like really neat dogs and he seems to care deeply about the breed and have put a lot of thought into his specific goals.

    I sure would have felt better with some details about the history of his program, and how his dogs all work into the program other than "wow, look at all these ribbons and how big and muscley they are and oh by the way I've got two litters ready for Christmas and one ready for New Year!"

    I don't know whether he's talking a good game on what he wants people to think he's doing, and just cranking out tuff boy toys in reality - or whether he's having trouble communicating the current details of his work with the breed.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I was looking at the website and I think I have a concern about the litter available "now".  Looks like "Zoe" and "Bruce" are 1/2 siblings by their father.  Am I reading that correctly?

    Also, one dog was shown NKC, National Kennel Club?  I think that was one of the females that was having a litter ready later.
    • Gold Top Dog
    My first impression isn't great with the combination of flames, American flag, cartoon bulldogs wearing spike collars.... I really don't like their slogan- "Bully dogs that get it on".

    Other than that, I don't know anything about American Bulldogs, so I couldn't say anything about the quality of the dogs. But, they look clean and like they're in good condition. And I like this part:

    "I strive to produce agile, muscular, healthy American Bulldogs with excellent structure. All breedings are with OFA or PennHip certified dogs with complimentary structure and proper temperament."

    Overall, looks like a decent breeder to me!
    • Gold Top Dog
    Looks like "Zoe" and "Bruce" are 1/2 siblings by their father.

     
    i am no expert but i believe a fair amount of purebreds are inbred.
     
    no comments on website since i know absolutly nothing about breeding or breeders, although i must say, in contrast to most sites that have been brought up, the dogs and pups on this one appear healthy and well cared for.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Actually a fair amount of dogs are "line" bred not inbred.  Line breeding is done when dogs with common ancesters are bred.  When done properly (with considerable knowledge about all the skeletons in the breeding closet) it sets type and other characteristics desired by the breeder.  If those characteristics are what you want as well, then it may be a good choice.

    Even a planned or error inbreeding of father daughter etc, may be healthy and sound.  It all depends on knowledge and luck.

    Many of the randomly bred BYB litters are pure outcrosses.  Those litters too can range from the Cinderella puppy to the medical nightmare.