*** Beware of folks who are too eager to
help you get what you want--who is then "minding the store,"
i.e.watching out for the breed, if they, folks, are
all about pleasing you, the "consumer with the cash" hm?***
THEY OPEN UP WITH THEIR "PHILOSOPHY" or "Mission Statement"
& usually then tell you HOW LONG they have been in the breed, what
their
kids look like, how cute and loving their dogs are, why they "luv" the
breed SO MUCH,
add in some history of the breed (usually romantic)--all this
to "hook" you as a buyer ("gee this person seems nice & so sincere")
and then they go on to:
1) Have lots of claims that are not/cannot be substantiated.
2) Have lots of guarantees but no health or other OBJECTIVE
certifications--again, this is all to reassure the buyer, NOT to make
sure the dogs
they are using are really breedworthy!
3) Advertise & sell their dogs by the pound.
4) TALK right away about pricing, shipping & how you
can buy one of their "wunnerful" puppies.
5) Sell everything in the litter & SELL YOUNG.
6) Claim their dogs are 'champion bloodlines' but don't
think showing is necessary for them (or you) to breed dogs.
7) Spend a whole lotta time reassuring you they are reputable, but
have a whole lotta contradictions between what they SAY and what they
DO!!!
8) They misuse terminology & claim normal practices are somehow
"special." (Almost gotta be a doggie person-in-the-know to spot this
usually).
9) CREDIT CARDS WELCOME!! A dead give away it is a commercial site.
11) WE SELL WHITES, AND OTHER "EXOTIC" DANES.
12) Don't show their OWN dogs (but boast of champions in the line-
weirdly enough--think about this--how can Champions in the LINE be so
valuable if SHOWING is so BAD or so UNECESSARY? (What showing is, is, a
financial
outlay & a committment to the breed & the dog fancy...and it eats up
your
profits...
and fast!!! & that, dear friends, is why these people don't do it--it
ain't politics, it is making bills that cut into profits that stops them from
showing!!) But that doesn't make all
show breeders good or even ethical--just means people who don't show
their own
dogs are suspect in their skills & motives as breeders.
13) They don't belong to dog clubs or any other affiliated organization
of experts who could check up on us and call our bluff. In fact many
will
call the show/hobby breeders "snotty" or "snooty" while they hide away
where no one
can see & check up on their dogs & their claims. It would seem the best
defense
for what they often full well know are bad practices is an aggressive
OFFENSIVE MANNER.
Breeders & rescues and other real dog people have been condemning these
folks collectively and individually for years, and their retort is "you
are snots and we are in the money!!"
**HOBBY WEBSITES, as a result of their "internal" focus,
have some OBVIOUS SHARED CHARACTERISTICS:***
1) They are not talking to you--but to each other--so use a weird,
cryptic speak odd to most puppy buyers. "CH/CD producers" "Dual CH sire"
"White Factored" "BOB over Specials" etc. Cryptic-Dog-World Speak-it's a
good thang!
2) They are cautious and modest in their claims
(or would get talked about as boastful and arrogant) so the best are
often the ones who you overlook. The best never boast. It IS a rule.
They state their accomplishments. Period. (And most people won't
outright criticize others, but let longggg silences where they don't
compliment
another speak their opinion without words.) "I cannot recommend them."
should also mean red flashing lights go off in your head as a warning.
3) The dogs are the centerpiece of their sites
(not them, their families, their lifestyle choices or their religious
affiliation).
4) They present their credentials on the "about us" page
--they do not give you lonnng stories about their thoughts and feelings,
they have real data to offer you, not 'deep thoughts.' The dog's
abilities
speak for themselves & are a centerpiece of the site.
5) They back up EVERY claim they have
(or the word gets around about them, at least), so the site talks
about OFA & CH, as they are telling their PEERS who
they are, & telling potential puppy buyers how reputable they are
(in "dogworld speak" which is often not understood, unfortunately.)
6) They are coy about puppies & litters for sale.
They will show you the pedigree, the parents, maybe even photos
of the pups, but ask you to "inquire for further details" when it comes
to price & particulars.
7) They HAVE CHAMPION ( i.e. and/or titled) DOGS that they own and/or
bred & they are actively (ferverently
8) They belong to dogs clubs, usually hold offices, help out with
shows, etc. (But don't be too impressed by claims of offices held--they
mostly sound a lot more important than they are & often novices are the
ones holding them anyway, as that is part of "paying your dues" in the
dog world-& remember the "no boast" rule?)
9) They follow the Code of Ethics without fanfare (it's a basic
requirement, NOT something special, added or extra!!), they don't
confuse
Ethics Codes with color & other trivial issues, they offer "puppy
packets" complete with pedigree, papers, etc., as a matter of course,
and
promptly offer (& actually give you)
breeder & rescue referrals.
10) THEY ARE MODEST--again--they don't have a hard sales tactic,
as people are watching..and talking.
(PET means here a dog not graded as breeding quality, but any dog,
however inferior, simply chosen to breed more pet$ for pet buyer$, not
carefully selected to better the breed. This is a common term that is
the
short form of "pet-only pup, not suitable for breeding" that quality
breeders use to grade a litter-shortened to "pet", but no insult
intended. Pet or companion animals are what we ALL have--show as well
as
pet folks--they live in your house & are your friends. Pet-only is a
grading term & "pets" under this definition should never be bred-or bred
for. )
The large scale 'puppy mill' variety of a commercial breeder is also a
"pet" breeder,
just like the typical "back-yard-breeder," normally, just on a grander
scale & maybe someone who has an FDA liscence. The bottom line to both
is staying in the black. So the same rules really generally apply, the
bigger organizations just normally have more convenient ways for you to
pay, return & receive your "live merchandise," & are often just more
obvious about being commercial, as well as usually having a little
"fancier" pedigree to attract buyers who have done a little research &
are thinking about breeding and showing maybe. The small scale profit
kennel mostly produces pets for pet buyers, the larger kind is often
more
diverse in their "marketing strategy."
Being fixated on the sales end is significant & making sales easy is a
give away. Here's a hint--the AKC defines a commercial breeder as
someone who has a significant portion of their income from the sale of
dogs. This applies to what most call puppy millers, but includes some
"small" (backyard) breeders, who breed for "fun, ego and profit."
People who breed pets ARE the worst sort of breeder there is. For you
today as a buyer, but more significatly, for the breed itself, & for the
bulk of buyers in the future.
They dress up their sites in 'warm' words, cute pictures & talk about
"champion bloodlines" while they themselves don't show.
When something goes wrong, you cannot find them, or they
hang up on you, telling you it is YOUR problem. Nice is gone
once you got the dog.
Sure there are lots of lesser sorts, egomaniacs & nutcases
in the show dog world, but there ARE also nice folks like this to be
found;
Having a head & a heart--knowing, as well as
caring, about dogs.
BREED DOGS SHOULD BE in the PUBLIC EYE.
Because, if there were no irresponsible breeders, there would be no need for rescue organizations. Not only do you risk your family and your pocketbook by buying a puppy from a person who didn't breed responsibly, you encourage them (if indirectly)
to DO IT AGAIN. Even if YOUR dog does not end up in rescue, how many of it's littermates will, and even if your pet is spayed or neutered, how many of it's littermates will be used a breeding machines by "nice" people just like the ones outlined in this article?? (you see, it takes more than being a "nice" person, to be a responsible breeder sometimes).
("Wunnerful dogs, great family companions, healthy & clean,
live a long time"...oh yeah?...prove
They talk (TALK) about "quality"
alot--well?
"Show me the money" or "Where's the beef?" should be your immediate
reaction.
(No decent breeder would engage in this nonsense game
of "how big ARE my danes!?!" This listing weights on danes is
a sales tactic--an especially tacky one--pure & simple.)
Have EZ contracts & other
"buyer-friendly" deals & are usually a lot more willing as well to "do
business" with you that any of the "show" breeders you might talk to.
(After all these pet puppy peddlars have merchandise to move & are at no
hardship to reduce the price to sell,
as their profit is almost always near 100%--with gross sales equaling
net profit.)
Take "Reserves" on even unborn pups!!!! Another dead give away,
as reputable breeders are first breeding for themselves & only sell
what they decide (between 2-3 months, usually, not to keep.
The litter means way too much to them to auction them off at 2 weeks!!!
(Hm? THINK! about this?) They also don't show you pedigrees,
or if they do, the pedigrees lack OFA & CH in them.
As Shakespeare said "Me thinks thou protestest too much."
When you protest just how reputable you are (why do you gotta defend
yourself?), when you claim you are a Christian or a good mother (how IS
this even pertinent?), you sure must have a guilty conscience AND a lot
of really and truly reputable people are probably SCREAMING at you, plus
you must deal with some VERY slimy people on a regular basis? If not,
why
all this protest about being reputable?
(Ex.? ALL "purebreds" should have papers, are wormed & have shots, pedigrees,
contracts, etc., danes are SUPPOSED to be kind & loving, -all these not
selling points either, PLEASE!
Also they offer universal bloodlines as
if their own or somehow special (i.e. Meistersinger, Riverwood, BMW) &
baby pups are not show quality, just show potential, "BLOCKHEADS" are not
a good thing in danes, again, danes do not have a weight standard,
there
is nothing necessarily good (& potentially a whole lot wrong) with
"IMPORTS," & there is no such thing as "GERMAN TYPE.")
(Who could AFFORD this?? They must be selling a lot of pups, despite
protests, to make the FEE for having a credit card account AND must be
registered as a profit business even to HAVE access to this service.)
Also
a list of "thankful
buyers" a mile long means (often) WAY too many pups per year.
10) WE SHIP USA (WORLD) WIDE.
Reputable breeders, again, don't make EZ
Sleazy Puppy Deals, so they don't advertise TO YOU like this, even if
they DO ship.
(These pet breeder folks also often will tell you about
uncaring show people ship their dogs around every week like cargo?
Hm..another contradiction here if cheerfully ADVERTISING pups shipped off
to any odd stranger in the world, while claiming they "lovingly place"
each and every pup?)
Another dead give away
if
advertising "off" colors, especially as potential breeding animals. Also
anyone who sells pets "with full registration & full ownership" has just
violated the Breeder's Code of Ethics (which ain't about color, but your
kennel practices)!! You can sign off any site which doesn't stick to the
standard colors or tries to sell pets or any dog with a disqualifying
faults as 'breeders.' Just a note? Danes come in 6 standard colors,
with
3 usual families: fawn/brindle (and black which carries only fawn/brindle/black in the pedgree), black/blue, and harlequin/mantle. In harl
litters, merles are sold as non-breeding pets.(as are many harls
and
mantles that the breeder deemed not suitable for breeding/showing for reasons OTHER than color) even when breeding the very best dogs together, not all pups in the litter will be grow up to be show/breeding quality. All litters produce some "pets", regardless of color). White danes, that
is any danes more than 85% white, are likely deaf, maybe blind and often
otherwise sick. People who advertise them as exotic and sell whites, like
people selling "pets you can breed" ARE IN VIOLATION OF THE GDCA CODE OF ETHICS!
Puppy buyers, esp. first timers,
plus other like minded "greeders" keep them in business, sadly. Learn to
avoid these people who quite literally live off the back of our beloved
breeds by preying on the ignorant & inexperienced.
HOBBY BREEDERS
**GEAR THEIR WEBSITES TOWARD THEIR PEERS-other Hobby Breeders**
They are all looking over each others shoulders all the time. People
complain
constantly about "show" dogs & "show" people, but forget to notice that
this is an age old organization still functioning mostly by peer
pressure
& the grapevine.
There are no laws & no jails, just reputation & word
of
mouth.
(There used to be no contracts, just handshakes, but that is changing
these days.)
Breeders are a COMMUNITY. Their breeding dogs are in the public eye
& THAT is how it should be.
Breeders NEED to get together. Shows supply that need. This world has
no laws or policemen, no colleges and only a few voluntary creditation
processes.
Alot of it still runs on reputation & a handshake, and
is--as
an avocation, a passion and a consuming hobby--it's run on an odd
combination of ego, excitement, competition
& a true love of the sport of dogs, combined with a true dedication to
preserving and protecting purebred dogs.
You may not be a dog fanatic,
but you sure ought to want to buy your puppy from someone who is--who
else would dedicate themselves to producing the best pups they possible
can & learning 10,000 things about what many think is a totally trivial
activity (while mostly going broke
There are some truly weird people in show dogs, but it's about
the only place to get a decent purebred, so go fish
(This is partially from a real desire not to
appear hungry to sell pups & also as they usually, anyway, have long
waiting lists for their pups anyway.)
Good breeders mostly don't NEED buyers--so you will have to learn how to
appeal to them to adopt one of their darlings. (If you don't like that
then you have
no other choice but to buy puppy merchandise from a commercial puppy
seller.)
Titles ARE
meaningful. They mean dedication to showing, they mean successful dogs,
& they CAN often steer you toward better breeders...just not always, but
more likely than not.
(Nice breeders don't hold onto you for
months and years, asking for money & promising pups to come.)
"Hobby-like" breeders who
hang on to the edge of the "show world" by dabbling, winning a few
ribbons, and making a lot of what little they do, while bragging to
"outsiders"
are often ignored & usually shunned by their "betters." They slide
right
down into being quasi-commercial-back-yard breeders often & may
quit the show world after a few years(& bad mouth it** WHY PEOPLE WHO BREED for PETS ARE THE WORST OF ALL**
(If
ten
of your annual $30,000 comes from dogs, THAT is certainly a significant
portion, & that is only two Dane litters of 10 at $500 a pup profit.)
When these folks stop making a buck and having fun they abandon the
breed; "good of the breed" was always just a sales tactic. Think about this one- if producing pups is a large portion of your income, how then can you honestly make decisions with the dogs and the BREED"S best interest at heart?
!!!Pet breeders are the real culprit behind the decline in the quality
of
AKC dogs. People blame "puppy mills" & even "show" breeders for the
problems of dogs, & certainly there is enough blame to go around, but
the
real damage is done on a LARGE scale, & neither of these groups produce
enough dogs to really matter in the equation.
(Only 10% of AKC dogs
every registered "show" & even less than that (6%) pass thru FDA
commercial breeders these days-that leaves 84% of over a million AKC
pups
registered each year. So guess where they come from, hm? A million or
so
a year?)
MOST AKC pups are "back-yard" bred by people, maybe kind, but usually
ignorant
(if not simply unethical) & who, despite all their protests, do it as
they are certain of making a profit on every litter, are having fun, and
breeding without any restraint.
Most dangerously for the buyer, they do it without really any knowledge
of the breed,
so are simply incompetant, if in the black & happy with what they are
producing.
You don't catch them easily when you are a beginner as you don't usually
know enough to know they "sound wrong" & since they seem nice & eager
to
sell......
They try to be
appealing to other pet owners and often succeed. They often have
"imports," offer you other exotic & non pertinent and/or un-checkable
"credentials".
They may have very few dogs, talk alot about "luving"
them; taking walks with them, taking photos with the grandkids, etc.
They usually have a lonnnng "policy" letter & a lonnnng "philosophy"
which talks about how long they have been in the breed, how satisfied
their buyers are, how wunnerful the breed is, how loving and caring they
are & blah, blah blah.
It is all hot air, as NO REAL SUBSTANCE IS
THERE--they hope you'll bathe in the warm and fuzzy glow & you'll be as
ignorant about the breed as they are, so won't know enough
to catch them out.
They live off first time purebred dog buyers.
Outwit them.
AND even though profit rules these folks staying in dogs,
IT AIN'T ALL about money!! Impressing novices is also part of the
motivation,
(which helps sad little egos, as well as sales)-- -so they have learned
what lights up the eyes & warms the hearts (& opens the pocket books)
of
puppy buyers.
(They avoid ANY association with anyone knowledgeable who
could
expose them of course-again having peers, not just breeding pals, is a
necessary credential to be a reliable breeder.)
They undercut 'show'
breeders just enough
to get you to buy, talk slyly about how 'snobby' are the people who
are just honestly saying "no" to breeding sub-standard dogs (the
"speciatitate of the house" of your average pet breeder!).
As one breeder put it they are basically just selling overpriced
rescues....
What they produce is the curse of vet clinics,
keeps purebred rescues in business & keeps good dogs
in the minority & some breeds on the verge of extinction
as decent pets. In a word--they are irresponsible.
and it is the only real knowledgeable group when it comes to
breeding dogs, for all its many flawed & failed, flailing members.
Hobbies are NOT supposed to be profitable,
& actitivities involving companion animals
should not have a "bottom line!"
So What _IS_ Important in Breeding Dogs?
Being knowledgeable about
the breed's history, future, its standard & its current need
IS a prerequisite for having a litter.
So it is important
to see the breeder putting the breed
itself before their own personal dogs, & part of that is that:
They __are__a form of public property in a way your
pet never is--they are the parents of the future of the breed.
We __ALL__have the right to check them out.
Good breeders make this easy for you to do.
What they make hard
(For that you have to "screen & be screened.")
Sort websites accordingly, & buy your dogs from those
fanatics
You may not be a dog crazy person
-but-- you surely want to buy your
dogs from someone who is!
Why, you ask is a RESCUE organization so concerned that you buy a puppy from a reputable breeder???
A big thanks to JT (and Cindy!)
for the graphics used on this site!
