BCKrazy, why must the dog be AKC registered. The AKC registers puppy mills. My cocker is registered and we picked her up at the puppy mill where she was bred. I'd never look for a quality dog just by the fact that they are akc registered. In fact, I'd like to find breeders that don't bother handing out registrations left and right as their puppies go to god knows who. Then the new owners are less likely to breed their pets because the breeder didn't give them a registration. As for cockers, having a 14 years old puppy mill cocker and seeing many many other cockers from both breeders and mills, I'd never buy one from a reputable breeder. I'm not saying I'd flat out support bybs but I'd find one in a shelter or rescue that I knew came from a puppy mill or byb. For cockers, the conformation breeders seem to produce the poor quality dogs in health and temperment, they need to get their heads screwed on right and stop breeding for conformation because they are the ones ruining the breed.
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