Take this stellar example. Not only do they breed very out of standard dogs, in all sorts of 'designer colours' Cocker Spaniels should not come in. (really colour should not be a primary reason you pick a dog) They also sell, suprise suprise, crossbred dogs.
"We also breed Cocker mixes, and you may see pictures of our Bologco pups, which are a mix of one part Bichon Bolognese and one part small Cocker Spaniel, at our Bologco website." Great, breeding their funky Cockers to to likely equally funky Bichons.
They no longer do dews and tails (which is fine, its obvious none of these dogs will EVER enter the show ring or field) but its their reasoning that scares me.
"And please note that all of the puppies in these litters will come with their tails and dewclaws fully intact, as we no longer have these surgical procedures done on our day old puppies due to losses to MSRA staph infections from these surgeries--all done in a vet's office--in the past."
My breed has dews and tails done. What kind of vet does them on day old pups (standard is 3 days) and what kind of after care are these pups receiving?
You can see what is important with this breeder. This is the entire paragraph descriping one of the dogs:
"Our other merle litter will be from our beautiful little blue merle tri girl named SunCatcher's ZuZarra (call name Zarra), shown above as a young girl, to better show off her fabulous merle tri markings, and our handsome red and white male named Beau, and we do expect all sorts of colors and markings from this litter, including blacks, chocolates, reds, silvers, sables and merles--in both partis and tris."
There is no comment about health, temperament, structure, type etc-just colour.
They even admit they are breeding dogs with no hunting drive:
"We do not object to hunting at all--or to hunting with field strains of Cockers who retain hunting instincts. But we are not producing dogs for hunting, but only adorable companion pets."
Wow. So this breeder doesn't like the look of cocker spaniels (needs to make them come in new designer colours) and doesn't like the correct temperament of the Cocker Spaniel. They adamantly don't want their dogs to do anything other than sit on a couch and look 'interesting'. Wow again. They are not allowed to do anything not suitable for the breed.
To give this breeder credit they do require puppy buyers to sign s/n contracts. And also states that they are not to sell or rehome the puppy without contact the breeder. At least in this respect they are ethical.
An example of a breeder with no ethical responsibility towards the pups they produce. (this was passed along to me) WOW is all I have to say. The person who forwarded this to me said it better than I:
Quote:
| My objective as a breeder is to provide the best possible quality puppies that are well-cared for and well-socialized without obligation to spay or neuter. I leave the decision to breed to new owners - the responsibility of determining whether a puppy is of breeding quality will be theirs. |
Quote:
| I own three Corgis -- they are all beloved family pets...first and foremost...and they are the only dogs I own. I have never entered my dogs in a conformation show or had them evaluated for "show" potential. They are AKC registered. |
Quote:
| Scout (AKA Ditto's Lil Miss Scout About) is our newest family member. She is my 12 year old son's dog. Her complete care, feeding, and grooming is handled by him. When I retired Sunny from breeding two years ago, the kids begged and begged me not to. They just LOVED having the puppies around. I stood fast -- saying that Sunny & I were both tired. Then, when my son approached me about him becoming a breeder...I reconsidered. I am his mentor and provide all the guidance and experience. He gets the work part. He worked at several business ventures (selling farm fresh eggs & vending machine snacks) to acquire the funds to purchase Scout and finance this endeavor. She joined our family last fall. |
now a few comments of my own..
They even say that champion dogs are very distant in the pedigree. Now I am not a fan of conformation shows as being the sole way of determining merit when it comes to breeding. But any dog that is being bred should have SOMETHING extraordinary about them. There are countless great dogs in shelters, why produce more dogs, unless you are doing it for the betterment of your chosen breed. These dogs have done nothing, and there is nothing recent in their pedigrees to merit reproducing. Simply looking on petfinder any one can see that there are lots of corgis in need of homes.
22 comments:
Good to see someone stepping in with a FDotD blog. :) Good for you, I wish I had the time to do it too.
I have LIVED in Suwannee County, FL (i'm assuming that's where they are) and i wouldn't trust most of the people there to sell me anything live.
Eek. That's bad. The worse part is that, that's not the worse I have seen.
OMG - those cockers left me speechless.
Not quite. COLOR? Um ... ever hear of color causing I don't know ... lethal gene combinations? Deafness? Blindness? Death? Anyone?
Taking credit for someone ELSE putting a Ch. on the dogs in your pedigree is a cop out. Show your dog, prove it's worth, health test, then breed it if you must. And for gawd's sake CHECK the health and record of the dog you're breeding to.
The color thing really riles me tho - those dogs are so ugly they are a disgrace to Cockers.
I will say that the cocker breeder is on the canine-genetics yahoo list. She has lots of input, and while I don't agree with quite a lot of what she's doing, she's at least posting questions and trying to learn, although to be honest I CAN'T see that she's put any of that into practice... The corgi people, otoh, are just numbnuts.
Another sad thing I saw once was in my son's FFA magazine. The cover story was about a girl who made her Weimaraner bitch her project. She sold puppies for money, just like livestock. No mention of any kind of health screening, either. You can bet I wrote to the national organization about THAT one! What was even more interesting to me is that my son was just as disgusted as I was, so he's learning!
Kim
http://www.barkingatwindmills.blogspot.com
Morons obviously know next to nothing of the other sporting dog breeds. The drawings used to "justify" leaving the tails long are just ridiculous. The tricolor looks like an old type English Setter. Even if the red and white drawing is a "spaniel" of old that does not justify breaking breed standard now because you feel like it. At least have the decency to stop calling these AKC dogs if you're going to go off and breed for everything BUT the breed standard.
Of course, given the horrendous conformation of their Cockers, I suppose it's a good thing they aren't showing pictures of Beagles or Collies, as they seem very confused about what breed they're producing.
We've bred some non-breed standard colors (English Setters with red and white coats) but we were breeding for hunting ability, not color. We honestly didn't intend to end up with non-standard colors (they look like Britney markings for anyone who knows bird dogs). This color seems to be tied to the CH. See Johnny Run bloodline, though, so more and more field setters are popping up as red and whites.
Thank heavens someone finally came up with a blog to discuss wannabe dog "breeders" (better known as BYBs). These people suck. I live in PA and we are loaded with puppymills and BYBs. Our state is now known as the Puppymill Capitol of the East. Apparently some of dorks who live here think that is a compliment.
eighthoundz - Come see missouri. There's SO many puppy mills there - I actually saw an ad for "USDA Certified Dog breeder kennels" on the kansas city craigslist. (With the note that "I won't sell to puppymillers" - yeah, competition is bad for their business)
The shelter I work at is FULL of dogs that are cross bred, cute, fluffy things - and mostly, the labs and lab mixes that were really cool as puppies, but are now six/10/20 months old, and big *dogs*! Imagine that! I think we have a book of waiting lists for shih tzus. And then, when we don't have shih tzus on demand, there probably are people who go buy a byb'd shih tzu, or other small, fluffy dog of indiscriminate origin.
Oh I am glad to see a new doggie blog!!
oh my gosh you HAVE to delve into the awfulness that is www.cjmshouseofpoms.com PLEASE !!! I show and breed poms on a small scale myself and this place just turns my stomach.
OTT - Service dogs need donations. I found this organization through a CL posting. If anyone feels this is not a legit organization, please let me know. Thanks.
http://www.oslf.org/petsneed.htm
"We do not object to hunting at all--or to hunting with field strains of Cockers who retain hunting instincts. But we are not producing dogs for hunting, but only adorable companion pets."
Because it also makes sense to breed Corgis without herding instinct.
This really gets me -- if you're so blatantly breeding puppies that you aren't even considering the original purpose, drive and the reason for conformational standards, you just shouldn't be doing.
It's a shame, most of these breeders actually make money - it encourages them, and they'll never know if you actually breed correctly, you'll be lucky to break even.
Ugh. Just. ugh
Unfortunately, for every breeder out there who health tests, temperament tests, breeds to the standard, interviews (drills) prospective adoptive families and places pups with a strict contract, there are 100 who breed anything with a uterus or testicles, not caring if it is of poor quality or temperament.
Until the public educates themselves and stops impulse buying at pet stores (shudder) and looking for the cheapest thing they can find ("I don't want to show, so ANY dog will do; who cares about bloodlines?!") these puppymill morons will continue to spit out their crappy dogs.
A nice website to pass along to people wishing to breed their pets:
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/breeding/breeder2.html
If this doesn't convince them not to breed, then nothing will!
For everyone thinking they can make a quick buck on "rare" breeds- two Irish Setter pups up for adoption in Iowa. 10 weeks old, according to my math, dumped by the breeder. http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=10550643
Meet Hogan and Clive, two purebred Irish Setter pups!
Date a birth (whelped): January 15, 2008 (estimated)
These pups were surrendered when the breeder was unable to sell them.
Crate training and leash training ahs been started.
The adoption fee for these dogs is set at $125 each, which includes: $100 placement fee, and a $25 rebate upon successful completion of basic obedience training.
Kerri, your famous!
Have a good day:)
"We are not generally for the socialisic, animal-rights, European way of raising dogs"
I live in the UK. I was not aware that I live in a "socialisic" country.
Mixed feelings on breeding dogs with a strong working drive - is it better to have working and show/pet strains or increased chances for that dog to be abused/neglected/abandoned or the breed even dying out? There aren't too many family homes out there which can cope with dogs with strong working drives.
Humans have always selectively bred dogs for their purpose - maybe all we're seeing is people selectively breeding for companion qualities.
Then there's also the question of education - I'm amazed at how many people want a placid family pet and get a springer or border collie.
Nice blog, I'll be interested in seeing what other issues you tackle.
GREAT JOB...
Where at least you can tell most of these dogs are cocker spaniels...they are in NO WAY nice ones.
And the MIXES...UGH...
I seriously hope that with her color "education" she learns ethics and maybe even a little about how dog breeding SHOULD work...
Honestly , just sick
Sarah
www.vintageboxers.com
I have to vehemently disagree that there is a place for creating your own breed. Until the shelters are empty and breeders have waiting lists for their puppies, I just don't see the need for new breeds. Especially since the majority of new breeds are created strictly as companions. Just my opinion.
"I have to vehemently disagree that there is a place for creating your own breed. Until the shelters are empty and breeders have waiting lists for their puppies, I just don't see the need for new breeds. Especially since the majority of new breeds are created strictly as companions. Just my opinion."
To me the issue is numbers of individuals (dogs) and responsibility, not number of breeds. If all breeders were responsible for the animals they brought into for life-then the shelters would be empty as would rescues.
I still stand by my if you have a purpose in mind, the finances and support of others, and the knowledge to do so, I have no issue if you ethically create a new breed. I do have an issue when you slap two dogs together cause you can, just to sell the pup at the local flea market.
I own a Corgi who should not have been conceived. She is a blue merle SPAYED female, named Moccah. She is spoiled rotten and is my baby.
Her dam was a multiple DQ red merle that was still registered (what the papers said, I don't know). Anyways, on her first litter, this bitch produced three normal tri pups, and Moccah. Moccah is half deaf and was recommended to be drown upong birth because of her DQ of having too much white!!!! Thankfully, the breeder didn't do this and now I have the sweetest Corgi, although half deaf and half retarded. :D
Anyways, I agree, there are way too many dogs in the shelter to breed any more, unless you show or have something to GIVE to the breed.
Luckily, my dog, who was the product of irresponsible breeding, has an awesome personality. So many likewise don't have that going for them.
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