dog breeding

[rooster0209]

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[scbatz33]

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I know what you mean. It's amazing how "human trafficking" or "selling" is ok on Craig's List but don't even try to re-home your dog!!!

I also find it interesting which posts get deleted. I am going to be taking in a Great Dane who's current owner posted on CL to find her a new home. Yet this very morning I saw a posting for "free puppy". It was a mutt of some sort. Like wise there are at least a dozen "free kittens" ads on right now.

I guess the P*TA folks only care if the dog/cat is pure bred. Go figure!

 

[LoupGarou]

Hobby breeders who breed their dogs to improve the breed are not responsible for the influx of purebred dogs into shelters. The biggest problem that I see today is that people want to pay big money for designer dogs with foolish-sounding names, forgetting that many of these same mixes are available without "pedigrees" in their local shelters. I think that if any legislation is passed at all, it should not target purebred dogs, but that it should be made illegal to sell mixed breed dogs at a profit. In addition, we should make an effort to fund and enforce *current* animal welfare laws. Mandatory spay/neuter, in the vast majority of cases, is merely a propagation of the animal rights agenda, which essentially seeks to eliminate all domestic animals.

Full disclosure: I occasionally breed my purebred, titled, and health-tested Toy Fox Terriers for pets, conformation competitions, and performance events. All of them live in my home with me and not in impersonal concrete and wire kennel runs.

 

[georgialee]

I agree that it's hard to get dogs/cats from shelters. There are not many people that will have a medium to large sized dog inside full time... esp. families with young children. I have to admit (with some embarassment) that I bought our current dog from a breeder b/c I specifially wanted an Irish Wolfhound. I have to say though that we drove to the breeders house and were able to see that she truly loved her dogs and that they were part of her family. We now have a very loving (and HUGE!) 1 year old puppy.

However, I have bought many cats from rescues.

I wish that people would look at pets as a life-long commitment to that animal. After all, they rely on us for everything.

 

[scbatz33]

Oh, and FYI, all of my dogs were rescues (3), one of our cats was homeless and the other a "take it or I kill it" at 5 weeks. Also our Horse was a give away too.

In fact, outside of my chickens (and I have rescued a couple of those too) and my daughter's guinea pig, I have not "purchased" any animal I own. The one dog is a purebred and the horse is a TB - registered, pedigreed and raced.

Irrisponsible breeding is everywhere - it matters not if the animal is "purebred" or a mix. There are tons of unwanted animals in this world. You can't regulate or legislate people to be moral and do the right thing. Further legislation will only force those who obey the laws currently to have to circumvent them. The folks doing things illegally or immorally will continue to do so.

Oh, and I agree, there are rescue groups out there who go over board with the "rules" for adoption. My husband's former employer wanted to adopt a couple cats for her barn. She was not allowed because they would be inside/outside animals. Apperently there are some resuce groups who don't believe cats should be employed to catch mice or bew allowed to go outside to climb a tree or chase butterflies.

Heaven forbid we allow animals the "right" to be animals.

 

[LoupGarou]

Why should we be embarrassed to admit when we buy pets from breeders? Mixed breed animals are not for everyone and we should not be embarrassed by admitting that we have preferences in possessing animals that display particular, relatively predictable characteristics. We as a society need to get away from the AR-induced shame at *buying* a pet that meets our needs and of *knowing* the people, place, and parents from which our pets come. PeTA and organization don't care about the mixed breeds anymore than they care about the purebreds; their goal is simply to stop breeding from occurring.

In sum: Buy if you want to buy; adopt if you want to adopt. What does it matter as long as a pet gets a good home and you will be happy with the pet you get?

 

[scbatz33]

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well said!

 

[DuckyBoys]

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How about rescues loosen their requirements just a tad?

I would have loved to adopt from a breed rescue. I would have taken half Pyr/half some other livestock-working dog, too. I tried several rescues, but their bottom line was that if the dog was not going to be a 100% indoor pet with absolutely nothing to do, not even training to collect working titles, not even to pull a cart in a parade, then no way were they going to allow me to adopt one.

I realize that they get many crackpots, loonies and people who are simply not ready for the breed requirements, but...come ON. Do I absolutely need to have a fence right up against the house if I'm going to walk the dog out to a fully-fenced orchard to run off-leash three times daily, plus two on-leash walks early morning and late at night? That's what disqualified me in the eyes of the local GSD rescue. The local Saint Bernard rescue forbids that any of their dogs get carting titles, even if they have AKC papers that qualify them for carting trials. The local Great Pyrenees rescue took so long to return my phone calls and respond to my emails that I thought they had disqualified me for some other reason--two months after dropping application after application into an apparent black hole of doom, long after I had given up and found a breeder with puppies available, the rescue lady called me to ask when she could do a home visit to see if I was qualified. She couldn't at least email me back with the reason for the delay? I would have understood, and waited.

In marked contrast, I have had none of these issues with the local cat rescue, not even the no-kill crazy cat lady type. I put in the application, they call my vet, vet tells them I'm cool, I visit with them, one week later I'm a proud new cat-parent. Just like that. And the lady who runs the local cat rescue has a busy day job as a nurse and teaches piano on weekends--yet somehow she gets it all done. So, I believe it CAN be done. I just wish people would get their acts together and do it.

I agree with you 100% that it would be ever so nice if people would adopt pets, considering that there are far, far more critters than have homes, many of them poorly bred with awful genetic problems. Hey, it would be great if more people would consider adopting humans, as well--there's plenty of kids without homes. But there are huge logistical and emotional issues to overcome in both cases. Weirdly, they tend to be real similar...

I completely agree with you. many rescue people are over the top with requirements, invasive even.

Anyway - when I went to the local donkey rescue 2 years ago to adopt my girls I was expecting the same treatment - but this lady was AWESOME! She was interested in people who were interested in having donkeys and she didn't require a background check to be qualified. WHY? Because her policy was that her rescue will BUY back the animal you adpot if for whatever reason you cannot keep it. 100% refund of your donation money. She even delivered the girls to our house.

She wasn't in it for the "glory" and she wasn't in it for the money. Her purpose was to save and place as many donkeys as she could, while offering an "out" for each adoption forever.

 

[purr]

Years ago DH was working out of state and I wanted a large dog to give me company and bark if anyone came around. I went to a shelter and they told me I needed my husband's "permission" to adopt a dog. I had a fenced in yard no small children and I used to work at my vets so he gave me a glowing recomendation. And they still would't let me adopt a dog. So I leased a quarterhorse and he neighed every time someone came around.

The sweetie in my Avatar is a pureblood Lhasa Apso. I got him at the mall pet store. He probably came from a puppy mill and that's a shame but I will never regret buying him. He is 14 and is my staunchest ally.
Fyi for those of you who think all cats/dogs should be spayed/neutered that would end in extinction.

 

[rooster0209]

My first doxie is now 14, she came from a very responsible and loving backyard breeder, as a birthday gift. This family cared alot about the dachshunds and their genetics. He even answered alot of my questions when I called him later on (before spaying) about breeding doxie questions. I still think all dogs/cats should be spayed/neutered....unless responsible breeding is done by responsible owners.

My 2nd doxie and Freddie (lab/bc) were adopted from the AAHuS. I wish all Humane Soc were ran like this one. They have cats that are specifically mentioned as "barn cats" because they lack socialization and are adults. There are dogs mentioned as requiring a large fenced yard because they are runners, or dogs mentioned as always being outside and may not respond to house training.