I’m in the process of socialising my puppy. We’ve attended various places and am asked a number of questions. But the question I dread is, “When did you get her?”
My reply is, “I actually bred her litter.”
I’ve seen a number of faces go hard and critical when I make this declaration. You can see their brains turning… They think about RSPCA ads about puppy factories, they think about shelter ads telling them animals are dying in pounds, they think about how irresponsible I am to own entire dogs.
When did dog breeding become such a sin?
The media attention on puppy farms (as bad) and shelter systems (perpetuating “adopt or we’ll kill them” ideas) has seen dog breeders, responsible and otherwise, get a bad wrap.
Unfortunately, I haven’t found a socially acceptable response to the stern faces I encounter when socialising Myrtle. Ocassionally I blurt out something about showing my dogs, or that I am a registered breeder, but it’s never quite what I want to say…
I want to say: Yes, I bred this, and I’m proud of it! She’s hopefully my next champion!
I want to say:
Yes, I’m a dog breeder. And by dog breeder I mean ethical and responsible dog breeder, concerned about the health of my breeding animals and the long term welfare of my puppies.
No, I am not a puppy farmer. Puppy farmers are concerned about profits, and so far I’m very much in the red.
No, my dogs do not contribute to the shelter dog problem. Border terriers don’t generally enter pounds and, if they did, I’d be the first to bust them out.
No, I don’t think testicles and ovaries define responsible pet ownership. Responsible pet owners keep their animals contained to their property, ethically treat all medical problems, and only breed healthy dogs that are good representatives of their breed.
I want to say the entire spill from John Yates on defending dog breeders.
Perhaps I am missing out on a huge educational opportunity, but I feel that I can’t rationally address the concern on their faces. I am very much aware of irresponsible breeding (including puppy farms) and dogs being destroyed in pounds, but how I can convey that despite this I still breed, I don’t know.
This reminds me of those classy “don’t breed or buy while shelter pets die” bumper stickers that are popular in my neck of the woods. No breeders + spaying & neutering all dogs = no pet dogs for anyone.
I actually looked at that phrase in a post before, too, Katherine: http://leemakennels.com/blog/rescue/dont-breed-or-buy-while-shelter-dogs-die/
I’ve also seen shirts that say “Save a dog, euthanise a breeder”… It’s a pretty hostile climate, eh?
On the contrary. There are plenty of Border Terriers and other delightful breeds in rescue, and being bred in puppy farms. They are the ones you will see advertised in papers alongside a list of other breeds in a single listing. This is what happens when a breed, for all the right reasons, becomes popular. Not your fault you say?
No, but on the other hand, if private individuals didn’t think it their right to breed ‘just that one litter’ there would be very few dogs in rescue. A responsible breeder has the room, resources and commitment to take EVERY and ANY dog they have EVER bred back at a moments notice and find it another home No acceptions. If not, when the buyers circumstances change, a puppy which they thought had a permanent home is at very real risk of being passed from pillar to post or worse, on to the unscrupulous: badger baiting, pitbull training, and puppy farming are the fates of many ‘free to a good home dogs, including locally a lovely Golden Retriever found ripped apart with her muzzle taped up shortly after being ‘rehomed’ via the local paper to ‘a nice couple with children’. Alternatively, they become part of the life or death lottery at the local pound. These scenarios are far more common than you might like to think. So, to deliberately produce dogs may not be a sin, but every time you do, it is true somewhere another in shelter dies. This includes many, many pedigree dogs with great temperaments (my own two death row dogs have been Labs one working, one from show lines). Of course, it’s up to you how that sits with you. But with just one breed (no prizes for guessing which) in the UK euthanised at a rate of 2000 per week, to assume you are not part of the problem is naive to the point of willful ignorance. Why not help rescue and rehome as part of your breed’s rescue organisation thus offsetting the balance? The Kennel Club holds all the details. At the very least, please think twice before breeding and give those of us who are involved in mopping up the fallout from ‘just the one litter’, a break please. I’ll get down off my soapbox now. Someone somewhere probably needs the wood. For another rescue kennel.
Hi Lucy. Thank-you for your comment.
It seems that you are in the UK (?), where the border terrier breed is in the the top 10 breeds. It is a very different case here in Australia, and border terriers are a rare breed. I often go to dog shows and am the only border terrier there! Once, my border terrier boy won a BIS at a border terrier club show – but there was only 18 dogs entered all in all! The biggest entry of border terriers, at any show, that we’ve ever had, in Australia was something like 78 dogs. We do not see border terriers commonly in Australian pounds, but I have flown border-terrier-like rescue dogs into my state when they have appeared in non-local pounds.
I think you must be new to my blog, because I do rescue and rehome. I have never had a border terrier rescue into my care, but I have had a number of crossbreeds. If you’re interested, these are some of the dogs I have listed on my blog.
http://leemakennels.com/blog/rescue/the-boys/
http://leemakennels.com/blog/rescue/introducing-dulcie/
http://leemakennels.com/blog/rescue/someones-about-to-get-lucky/
and my current foster: http://leemakennels.com/blog/rescue/wanted-a-place-for-bella-to-call-her-own/
I also run my rescue website from http://leemakennels.com/rescue
I hope that answers most of your questions. The context here in Australia is vastly different that the UK. Our shelter kill rates are sickening, and I am involved extensively in trying to fix this where I can – through private rescue, but also through larger movements.
I actually thought hard about this when I wrote my post yesterday, A is for Adopt. I really wanted to write about adopting because my dog Kelly is a rescue dog, and especially to promote adopting over buying from a pet shop. Yet, when I wrote the post I thought, how will this make those who share their lives with dogs from breeders? I don’t want them to feel bad or guilty at all. Two of my dogs came from breeders and they were wonderful, much loved pets. So, even though I wrote about adoption, I also said that getting your dog from a responsible breeder is also wonderful. I know that maybe isn’t enough, but I do want to say that I understand, and I think your response here in your post is very good. I think you are right, people need to understand about responsible breeders too.
Hi Peggy. Thank-you for your thoughts. It’s nice to know you at least thought of us. 😉 I think responsible breeders and adoption are viable options for a lot of people – but rarely are the two acknowledge together. And rarely do the two support one another…
When I get border terrier enquiries, I do say, “I do dog rescue – would you be interested in a little wirey dog that isn’t a border terrier?” and then, sometimes rescues contact me looking for a very specific type of puppy, in which case I say, “I think you perhaps should consider some purebred puppies – you are very specific about what you want in a dog, it’s doubtful a puppy will come through rescue suitable to your needs”.
However, I very much doubt that there are other breeders who make such directions to rescue, and I doubt that there are rescues that are happy to redirect to breeders, too… A sad situation.
My friend wanted a cairn terrier and first went to a rescue group, but they turned her down because this was her first dog and she didn’t have a vet recommendation, because she’d never had a vet before. She then got a sweet cairn terrier from a reputable breeder, but felt guilty about it. I told her there is no reason she should feel guilty. Current attitudes do make her feel that way sometimes.
I think breeders AND rescues are guilty of being too harsh at times! I’m glad you friend managed to preserve and get a dog, but it’s very sad if the current climate meant she felt guilty about it. 🙁 Not cool!
I agree my daughters were both turned down for rescue puppies here in Canada. One because she worked all day. but at the same time they wanted to speak to he employer, to make sure she could provide top quality food. The other daughter was turned down because because she didn’t have a fence, (she lives on a three quarter sections of land. Also many rescue’s want to talk to your neighbors and ask questions like do you plan on having children. These questions can be invasive and illegal in many situations ie hiring and having children. So what to do go to a high priced breeder or to a pet store each with there own problems. They both ended up with dogs from good breeders Cats given to them, and a bird. And they are both wonderful pet owners and would have have been given several lucky pets a good home. So please stop demonizing all breeders, as bad…
You are so right here! People have to stop stereo-typing all breeders as “bad”. Unfortunately “bad” seems to get all the attention!
Ain’t that true! Warm fuzzy experiences aren’t all the rage, eh?
Wow – indeed. This is something we have come across as well (I am from a breeder). I think that we should focus far more on shutting down puppy mills and legally pursuing and punishing those that abuse animals, rather than walking around with a hate-on for breeders at large. It is far more complex an issue after all. I believe that we need to challenge breeders in those things that may not be good practices reguardign the breeds they foster – but never make blanket statements. Do I have issues with some breeders? yes. Breeding for a specific characteristic for winning championships versus a healthy dog drives me bonkers. Chihuahua’s noses are getting shorter and shorter bringing a new problem to the breed (as an example) that did not exist before. That is not good. This is what the focus should be versus Adopt versus Breed IMHO.
It gets complex when trying to separate responsible from unethical breeders. Though it’s clear that breeders who have ‘pets’ that they show, breed occassionally, register the puppies, and raise puppies in the home, are ‘good breeders’. And it’s also clear that people who have sheds full of numerous dogs, with various health issues, breeding them repeatedly, and selling to pet shops, is a ‘bad breeder’.
But there are breeders in the middle, and that’s where things get gray. What about a breeder who has healthy pets and breeds crossbreed puppies, with a lot of care and love, and screening of buyers? How about breeders who have 100+ dogs, but all are in healthy condition? Defining ethical, or ‘good’ and ‘bad’ gets complex, and that’s why laws regarding puppy farms are hard to implement as well.
Couldn’t agree more! I come from a breeder that is very ethical but many question the number of dogs they have. Yet – we stayed on the ranch and saw with our own eyes how all the dogs were healthy, happy and loved. It is tough … but we still feel that this should be where the focus is. Instead of making ALL breeders evil.
Nice post. I have pets that I’ve adopted and pets from breeders so I support both. I’ve had friends try to adopt from breed rescue only to find the rescues weren’t very friendly or easy to work with so they ended up going to a breeder. there can be bad in both groups.
That pup is beautiful! She looks very well put together. Good luck with her.
Thanks for your compliments on Myrtle, Dawn. I’m looking forward to her showing debut in about a month’s time.
There’s baddies in rescue, and there baddies for breeders. I know some ‘rescues’ who have very questionable ethical standpoints, too. We really should be running an education campaigning on choosing a dog and seller rather than blanket statements about breeders, rescues, or pet shops.
Exactly! I think it is also up to people to do their homework. Responsibility lies also with the person doing the purchasing. We spent MONTHS looking for a breeder. After having rescued and adopted dogs our whole lives – just once – we wanted to cherry pick. Refuse to be made to feel guilty for that choice. Shouldn’t have to justify that choice. Great article. It is good to bring up the controversial from time to time.
It’s not a surprise that people will end up stereotyping dog breeders- like puppy mills.
Here in the Philippines, breeders are just breeders. They sell their puppies without further asking questions to the potential owner. And this is not a surprise because most owners wanting purebred dogs are the ones who could afford taking care of them. Even the middle class think twice of owning them because of the veterinary fees.
And due to the scarcity of purebreds, more breeders become lax in their procedures in an attempt to supply the demands and gain more profit.
The act of breeding isn’t a sin. Even Cesar Millan got one of his puppies to train from a reputable breeder. Of course, it’s always good to be able to rescue a dog from the pound, but shouldn’t people blame the ones who abandon them or let them go before shunning all breeders?
Huggies and Cheese,
Haopee
“shouldn’t people blame the ones who abandon them or let them go before shunning all breeders?” – I completely agree!
For every animal that, regretfully, dies in a shelter, there are at least three players:
1) A shelter committed to a kill model, instead of no-kill.
2) An owner that surrendered their animal, or otherwise failed to collect a stray dog
3) A breeder who did not choose an owner with care
I -do- think breeders have a role, but it’s a mutlifaceted problem, no way just breeder related.
At the risk of being booted off the island. The no-kill shelters are not a solution. They only take in the animals they know are adoptable and reject the rest. Where do you think those end up? We work hard with a rescue group called Hopeful Hearts that take in senior and animals with handicaps (like 3 legged dogs). These are never allowed in no-kill shelters because they don’t have the room for the long term. These dogs can take months if not years to place. We see this every single week. Please do not “idealize” the no-kill shelters. We have seen and witnessed some very unethical behaviour. Again – I am sure it isn’t all … but many.
Yes, I’ve seen some unethical “no-kills” too! To me, ‘no kill’ means finding homes for about 90% of the animals that come through your door – regardless of conditions of entry. From all I’ve read (bias sources, I admit), shelters that are open admission can achieve 90%. There will be about 10% of pets that are unhealthy or so aggressive they can’t be rehomed, which will ultimately be killed. Good no-kill shelters will also use foster programs so dogs with issues that may take a while are placed in homes, instead of ‘take up’ space in the shelter. I looked at kennelling dogs in a previous post (but keep in mind some of my ideas have changed since making the post): http://leemakennels.com/blog/rescue/kenneling-rescue-dogs/
Wow, I didn’t know “no-kill” shelters would have such requirements.
I’m a little surprised that they don’t take disabled dogs (e.g. tripeds) but I guess the problem with the likes of the ASPCA is they also kill millions each year and this is a terrible fact, just to keep their centers running.
And I know what you mean! Owners and owners-to-be should understand the responsibility of taking care of a dog. At the least they should be obligated that in the event that they couldn’t take care of him, they’d be the one to find good homes for this dog rather than just abandoning it in shelters.
Huggies and Cheese,
Haopee
Hi there, very interesting post! Here in the UK buying from a reputable breeder should be done through the kennel club really, but there are puppy farms which are despicable. There doesn’t seem to be the same angst from folk if you buy from a breeder rather than a rescue centre. I went originally to the RSPCA to get a dog, but there was nothing there that we could have, so ended up with our tuxie, Austin! It was serendipity 🙂
Thanks for coming over and leaving a comment 🙂
Thanks for stopping by here, too. 🙂 It’s good to hear that the distinction is clearer in the UK. In Australia, the term ‘registered’ normally means Australian National Kennel Club registered – but some cheekies use it to just mean registered with the local council. I think this has contributed to the blurring of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, ‘registered’ and ‘unregistered’ breeders. To complicate matters, there are plenty of registered (with ANKC) breeders who are pretty much puppy farmers, too. I can understand how it can be confusing for new puppy buyers.
It’s just another example of people getting confused about things, thinking all breeding=bad breeding, or something. I do get disappointed when people can’t seem to think for themselves and figure out what is responsible for pet owners and what is not.
I sort of put them in the same category as those who think anyone who ever eats meat (or feeds it to their dogs) blatantly supports animal cruelty and torture and factory farming. Just the black and white mentality of these things, and blindly accepting the propaganda.
A somewhat lighter example are the people who think people are being cruel to animals and horrible pet owners when they put a sweater on their dogs. I put them on mine because they’re short haired and they like to play in the snow. People confuse this with treating a dog as an accessory or a stuffed animal.
My dogs are adopted mutts and both neutered, but I recognize that GOOD breeders are trying to help the breeds, increase the ratio of happy/healthy dogs, etc.
Hi Augie. Thanks for your comment.
If everyone could think for themselves, then wouldn’t the world be a better place!
Another area of confusion is crates… I’ve been told how cruel I am for crating my dogs, and even that it’s cruel that I ask them do things (tricks, etc) for me to get their dinner!
Yes, I’ve gotten the same! My mom tells me I’m a horrible mean person for crate training my dogs. I also make them sit, stay, etc. which is apparently exploitation. ^_^
Some people are just weird, eh?
It always seem that the responsible people have to suffer because irresponsible self-centered idiots ruin it for everyone. I think that if someone is responsible and genuinely cares about their dog and litters then they shouldn’t be criticized as a breeder. After all, getting a dog from a breeder is the responsible thing to do, right?
I don’t see people telling parents shame on them for not adopting orphans instead of having their own child when there are oh so many in orphanages.
But I guess it is best if the responsible people put up with a few un-knowing fingers than the whole irresponsible population deciding to become backyard breeders, as it seemingly is a problem. Personally, I feel that the biggest problem are people that abandon their dogs at shelters because they can’t be bothered to potty-train their dog or seek out a behaviorist.
I like your children analogy. 🙂 Genuinely, I don’t think the anti-breeder rhetoric really puts irresponsible people off – I haven’t met too many people who are ‘kinda’ wanting to be breeders, most have already made up their mind.
Owner responsibility is also a huge issue – not just breeder matters!
Love this entry. My wife and I rescue and have pups from reputable breeders. I cringe as well awaiting the reaction when they ask where Gopher came from.
It’s nice to see that I’m not alone in this – that other people see rescue and responsible breeders as both being legitimate sources for puppies (and dogs). Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Chad.
I understand every point made in this blog, but as a person that has regularly rescued for over 30 years we see breeders as people that could be rescuing only. Just think if every pet you bought or bred was actually a rescue, You would be helping the problem that much more.
and the children analogy was also a good point. That is the very reason I have never had any. 7 billion is enough
Hey there! I understand this is kind of off-topic however I needed to ask.
Does running a well-established blog like yours take
a large amount of work? I am brand new to operating a blog but I do
write in my journal everyday. I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my experience and feelings online. Please let me know if you have any kind of suggestions or tips for brand new aspiring bloggers. Appreciate it!
It depends! It’s up to you to establish your own blogging schedule, and that could bra lot of work, or not. I know some people that blog daily, or multiple times a day, and that would be a lot if work! I blog about every second day, and that works well for me – but I don’t feel bad if it ends up being every third day or longer. Some blog once a week, and that’s cool too. I guess blogging is about establishing achievable schedules that work for you.
I totally agree with you, not all breeding is bad! I think it’s just another way for the obsessive rescue people to down on responsible breeders. I’m in the USA and there are so many puppy mills an backyard breeders, it’s awful but there are some reputable breeders out there. We have groups like PETA and HSUS who are more concerned with ‘banning’ reputable breeders than they are with shutting down puppy mills! It’s a weird world we live in…I’m getting a Doberman pinscher puppy in June, and I’ll be doing schutzhund training with her and only if she proves herself proficient at it, I’ll breed her (at the appropriate time of course) to a male that excels in the sport too.
People have to realize that not everyone wants a mutt or shelter dog.
Hi Sarah. Of course, I agree with you, too. All the best with your new Doberman puppy – sounds like your pup will be having a lot of fun with you. 🙂
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