h&Gfamily
Posted : 9/26/2007 3:11:49 PM
I know I am new here so my opinion amounts to little, but I still wanted to add my 2 cents in. All my life I have had numerous rescue dogs. Even when we were overseas we had a house full of rescued dogs and cats. I have loved them all dearly and all were wonderful in their own special ways. We had a weimereiner mutt who was beautiful and sweet and gentle, she wouldn't hurt a fly, but lacked in the intelligence department we still adored her, we had an aussie shephard mutt who was brilliant (house broke her self in 30 minutes after never being indoors before), and countless others that my mom and I would bring home. I loved giving these dogs a fresh start and working with them finding out their enjoyments and capabilities. Every animal has a special gift to give their owners if we allow them to have the safety and love to discover these gifts. I despise the fact that there are so many operations that are willing to breed animals solely on profit and show no concern for the wellbeing of the puppies or dogs in their breeding program. However that does not mean that pure breds should be "done away with". For the first time in my life I have a pure bred dog, a shih tzu, I researched the breeder in depth even talking to other people who purchased from them. I was even able to look at the bloodlines of their dogs and since I was unable to tour the home that they bred in (I was 7 months pregnant and it was a 4 hour drive) she was kind enough to indulge me with a live web cam tour of where the dogs were kept, the yard they played in, their kitchen with their dinner bowls, as well as any other room that was pertinent to the dogs. I feel that there are wonderful breeders who are responsible and want to ensure the quality of their breed as well as the well being of their dogs. I am buying a new shih tzu puppy from another breeder who is local and I again have researched. I have also spoken with a couple of breeders whom upon research showed to be less responsible. I have noticed a few things that differentiate responsible breeders from the ones in it solely for the income
Responsible breeders tend to:
1 encourage a potential buyer to do all the research they can about that breed including potential health problems and necessities
2 Allow potential buyers to meet at the very least the mother of the pups, and when possible the father as well, to get an idea for personality and conformation of the pups (of course not an exact science but an aggressive mother likely won't have laid back pups
3. Be willing to show atleas tin pictures the premises and conditions the dogs are kept in from the "nest" they spend their first weeks to to a play room and where they are weaned.
4. require to speak with the owners prior to promising any puppy to them regardless of a deposit. This way they can guage what the potential buyer is looking for if they have dogs that meet their needs, as well as offer help in researching how to take care of a new puppy so they grow into healthy happy dogs.
Irresponsible breeders tend not to care about any of the above things they are more concerned with getting their money than the actual welfare of the puppies. These are the breeders that tend to foster situations of abandoned or neglected dogs. Breeders are not bad at all, when they are responsible, in fact responsible breeders are often the first ones to notice a decline in any area of their breed be it conformation, health, or personality and seek to find the best pairings to offer the best their breed has to show.
I would not trade my pure bred for any of my mutts, nor would I trade any of my mutts for my pure bred. I love them all for differeing reasons. When looking for a dog the personality and needs of both owner and dog should be mor eimportant than where it came from, what breed it is, and especially how much it cost. Just because someone spend 1K on a dog doesn't mean that it is perfect, nor does getting a dog from a shelter mean that it is a trouble dog. I would advise anyone looking for a new dog, and often do, to look into various breeds through the AKC site to get an idea what they are looking for in terms of personality, activeness and size. Then goto a shelter and see some dogs there. If you find something you are looking for perfect or not love knows no bounds, then talk with the people at the shelter about the dogs personality day to day how it has been handled. Has there been any work done as far as training goes, how do they play with the dogs, how often do they feed, handle, groom.etc. Get every bit of information possible and if it's the dog for you then by all means enjoy your new companion. The same goes while looking at breeders, ask lots of questions, so many that you feel like you are being "obnoxious" and ask even more. The more information you have the better you are and the more responsible the breeder the more they will appreciate your curiosity and desire to learn. Then enjoy your purebred. There is no reason to feel guilty for not choosing a kennel dog if you don't find "the one" for you, but it's worth a look with out a doubt. :)
~Beth