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There are different types of irresponsible breeders. Some love their dog and want "one" just like him/her. They think other people deserve a puppy just like their wonderful "Spike". They aren't in it for the money. They're not trying to rip anyone off. Their dogs are well cared for and usually well-loved members of their family.
BUT, they lack knowledge. They don't know what is behind their dog in the pedigree. They don't know/understand their standard. They don't know about the potential health problems in their breed, let alone in their pedigree. They don't know their own dog's faults or strengths.
Other irresponsible breeders are intentionally shady. They might know about a health or temperament problem and either ignore it or attempt to hide it from buyers. They lie and misrepresent themselves and their dogs, unknown to the buyer until after the sale. They don't care about who they hurt. It's usually about money.
Most people seem to think that it's OK to purchase from that first type because the breeder has good intentions at heart. The thing is, ignorance is not much better than greed when it comes to traits in your future breeder.
To share my story, my first purebred dog was a Dalmatian. Her breeder was a very nice woman. I couldn't meet the dam because she was "too protective". I believe the breeder didn't know it's bad when people can't even meet your dog. She also didn't realize that the dam's horrid temperament would be passed down to the puppies. I was totally clueless. The breeder lived in a clean house, loved her dogs and took good care of them. I thought that was enough. We had to euthanize our Dal girl after several biting incidents.
Apathy, greed, ignorance...all bad qualities in a breeder. While they might have different motivations, the end result can be the same. Why not stack the odds of good health and stable temperaments in your favor?
Why is showing important to the pet buyer?
Popular opinion seems to be that showing is not important to the average pet buyer. Showing is somewhat misunderstood. It is not a "beauty pagent"
Conformation showing is how a dog conforms to their breed standard. This is important, even if you want "just a pet".
Before the importance of showing can be appreciated, showing needs to be appreciated for what it is.
Showing allows unbiased and educated evaluations of dogs. Heard of "kennel blindness"? It's when a breeder is blind to their dogs' faults.
Showing provides an excellent way for breeders and fanciers to connect. When folks get closed off in their own little corners of the world, they loose perspective. They don't know what is going on with the breed as a whole.
It's easy to start seeing your own dogs' faults as the way things should be.
The other breeders and exhibitors all have something to offer. Maybe we can learn from their mistakes. Maybe we can learn from their successes. On our own, we have to experience a majority of these things for ourselves, reinventing wheels.
The connection also helps enable a breeder to find the most suitable stud. Knowing what is out there at least gives the breeder perspective enough so they can make informed breeding decisions.
Showing provides an excellent place for breeder/fanciers to learn. Sit ringside with a mentor and talk about the competing dogs' virtues and faults. One can learn more in one afternoon than a year's worth of reading! Having someone point out to you living examples of aspects of the standard is one of the best ways to really learn and understand structure..
Most clubs (all-breed or breed) offer educational meetings/seminars that keep fanciers abreast of important information on health, training, rearing puppies and more.
Now, just because someone shows it doesn't mean they are responsible. If only it were that easy! There is no magic dust sprinkled on exhibitors the first moment they step into a show ring. There is no class or test one has to pass before becoming an exhibitor.
Some people show for appearances only (we show! we're great breeders!) or maybe it's the ONLY thing that is important to them, so they sacrifice health and temperament to get a great looking dog.
There is no one individual item that makes a breeder responsible.
What can a pedigree tell a buyer? What is a good pedigree?
We've all heard it. "My dog has a pedigree." or "My dog has a great pedigree!"
ALL dogs have pedigrees. See beyond a bunch of names on paper. Think "ancestors" instead of pedigree. If the dog is AKC registered, AKC has tracked the dog's pedigree on paper. This is no indication of quality.
A breeder has to know ancestors and their true quality, no matter if they were champions or not. Showing and health testing are merely tools. They aren't meant to replace ethics, knowledge or common sense when it comes to breeding decisions.
While breeding might be a crap shoot, how to produce quality puppies isn't a complete mystery.
Not only is the quality of the dogs involved important, but also their shared faults and strengths. A line of dogs can go downhill very rapidly in the hands of the ignorant or apathetic. If the breeder doesn't breed compatible partners, it's easy to emphasize faults and weaken strengths. Which is why a champion a few generations back is not all that impressive.
Some ignorant breeders might get lucky a time or two and end up with puppies nicer than the parents, but luck alone doesn't make a solid breeding program.
There are the obvious reasons and maybe some reasons you hadn't yet considered.
- Health. There are health screenings a breeder can complete on a dog, prior to making the decision to breed him/her. This best insure healthy puppies. These tests go beyond a "vet check", when the vet simply determines if the dog is healthy on that day. The risks with that is that the dog could be symptom free but start exhibiting issues down the road.
The necessary health tests vary somewhat from breed to breed. Visit your breed's "parent club" to see what sort of issues typically afflict the breed to determine what kinds of tests you should expect to see on the parents. Note: puppies can not be health tested as these kinds of tests are done on grown dogs to determine if they should be bred.
It's also possible that the dog is a carrier of a problem, so s/he may never exhibit symptoms. That is why it is so critical to choose a knowledgeable breeder. It is important for a breeder to know and understand their dogs' pedigrees, so they can make wise breeding decisions, including breeder carriers to dogs that carry the same problem.
- Temperament. Both environment and genes play a role in your dog's temperament. A dog with a temperament issue - maybe aggressive or problematically shy - should not be used in a breeding program.
Something else that most people don't realize is that the first few months of a pup's life play such a huge role in the future temperament and trainability. A pup raised in filth will be much harder to house break compared to one raised in clean environment. A pup with poor early socialization may be timid and have a hard time bonding with his new owners.
It is important for a puppy to stay with its mom and littermates to at least 8 weeks of age. Some states even have puppy laws that mandate a puppy must be at least 7 weeks of age before it can be sold to its new home. Puppies are weaned much before that time, but they learn important social skills from mom and littermates that help make a better behaved and adjusted dog down the road.
- Breeder support. Your breeder should be a wealth of valuable information about your breed. If they are not, how could they have possibly made educated breeding decisions?
They can help you survive puppyhood with any questions that arise, from simple advice to more complex issues. They are there for the entire life of the dog, making your life with the dog as smooth as possible.
Breeder support also means if the dog does, per chance, develop a problem, they will stand behind the dog. A written contract between buyer and breeder is encouraged, however, a contract is only as good as the breeder. If they offer to replace a sick pup, do you really want another pup from the same breeder if it's likely to have the same issues? Obviously, there is no real replacement for a member of your family anyway, but if the worst does happen and you loose your pet and want another, a replacement from the right breeder is a huge benefit.
- Supporting the right "team". Whenever someone purchases a dog from an irresponsible or ignorant breeder, that breeder is encouraged to repeat their actions. It's not until people stop purchasing from these breeders - who overburden our animal shelters and drag our breeds downhill with sickly or poor tempered dogs - that they will go out of business. Please, if you want to rescue a dog from a bad situation, go to your local animal shelter or breed rescue group. That way you can support a worthy cause while rescuing the animal and not perpetuate the cycle.
Good breeders will take your time, bad breeders will take your money. It's worth it to do your research and be patient.
OK, so you know you want to purchase from a responsible breeder. Now what? Read How to Find a Responsible Breeder.
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