Where are the reputable breeders

I was talking with my mom about reputable breeders yesterday after watching crufts. It seems to me that it is getting so much harder to sort reputable breeders out from the crappy but publicly appealing show breeders. For instance, a certain airedale in my area is a show breeder but in no means what I consider reputable, but could pass without proper research.
She only has 2-3 three adults at a time which can be good. The female she bred for the last 3 years (or at least the one I know) has never been shown or proven in anything. The dogs are in kennels all day or outside in a fully cemented 10x10 run, they don't get to to touch grass, ever.I just hate that kennels can be considered reputable just by the fact that they have some champion titles. If a dog spends it entire life in a kennel, its not a reputable kennel to me.
My mom also brought up that the cocker rescue has a lot of "retired show dogs" and "retired breeders". This may be a reason I hate rescues. It seems all the rescues around here will take retired puppy mill dogs and call them "breeders" and not care a lick that they came from puppy mills. They support the puppy mills by taking the old dogs off their hands and letting them get more young dogs in the kennels and then pretending the mill doesn't exist. these "retired breeders" aren't socialized and aren't used to people. They need homes that are willing to put in hours of training and hosebreaking. Even the retired dogs that come from actual cocker breeders need so much work to get them to adapt to people.
I just needed to vent about breeders and how when people on here post websites asking about what we think of the breeder, we don't get the whole picture. There is so much more behind the scenes we don't see on the website. We might see the dogs having titles and health tests, but that's just a piece of the picture.

I think the first piece of being a reputable breeder is care of the dogs. If any of their dogs are living like prisoners and/or breeding machines, heck no they aren't responsible! I agree, that is why it irritates me to no end when people "order a puppy". Unless you personally know and trust some one who knows the breeder and has visited the breeder's home, they have no idea what this breeder is about, besides the pretty picture a website can portray. If these people don't care for their dogs enough to treat them like a loved companion and welcome them into their home, they truly are not breeding to better anything but their wallet.

Besides that, it really is important that the breeder is ensuring that the puppies are of the best quality possible. Health tests, showing, and working in the dogs particular sport, is soooo important. But, even if the breeder has titles on some of their dogs, if they aren't providing a great life for all of their dogs and providing a great start for their puppies, titles don't even matter... they're as bad as any BYB. One of my biggest pet peeves is people who just pay to use a champion stud for their totally un-proven bitch. Both parents should be titled. I had a really hard time finding any reputable Cardigan breeders, hence why we were going to drive to Washington from California! I didn't have a problem with that, but it would be nice to have a nice community of local breeders. I only had the chance to speak to 2 reputable Cardi breeder in all of CA! There are more, of course, but most are inactive/not breeding.

I agree with you both. Even though they are show dogs, doesn't mean they are reputable! Heck, some bybs are better then what you've explained. It just doesn't make sense... how can people treat dogs like puppy making machines?!? It really bothers me. :(

i agree with all of you! :D one of my siberian husky breeder friends has her dogs in kennel runs, but lets them all out every day for a few hours to get their excersize.

It is really weird to me how people can keep their dogs in cages their whole lives!!!!!! A few years ago we needed to board Marta for a few days and I was looking for a good kennel. Well, I looked at 2 places that boarded, and they also happened to breed dogs.

One woman breeds schnauzers and shows them, they do ok in the show ring, but most of them were locked up. :( Also, she advised me to use a mouse trap to help with Marta's house training!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, we didn't take Marta there.

We looked at another place which looked ok until she said she bred Papillions, and she showed us them- there must have been 30 of them all stuck in kennels!!!!!!!!! We asked if she ever let them out, she said something like, "Are you kidding?? Do you know what 20 of them are like?" I couldn't believe it and of course we didn't take Marta there either! (In the end we got lucky as it was the opening weekend of a dog daycare, Marta was their 1st client and we got 1/2 off plus she had a ton of fun instead of being locked up).

Well, sorry to ramble, I'm just saying I agree and it is hard to tell. The woman who breeds schnauzers is well known around here but I think she is a horrible woman and I feel for her dogs.

Yeah I hate that some people are just in it for the shows and when they aren't in shows the dogs are in "storage" basically. I don't care if the dogs are all champions and have health checks I'd want somebody who's in it for the dogs first and shows second.

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Originally Posted by IRescue452

I'd want somebody who's in it for the dogs first and shows second.

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i hear ya! :D

The definition of "reputable breeder" differs from person to person. For me, showing is a small part of it, but the main thing I look for is if the dogs are able to do what they were bred to do. I'd rather go to a breeder who breeds German Shepherds that are able to herd and work, rather than win shows with a crippled hip. I'd pick a non-show quality Border Collie with superb herding abilities, over a Barbie Collie any day. Of course, dogs should still resemble the breed but working ability should be at the top of the list, not prettiness.

When I look at a website and am trying to "rate" a breeder, I am skeptical when I see only show titles. I don't want to know that a dog is just pretty, I also want to know that it is healthy and has working ability and a good temperment. That is why it is important for me to put as many titles on my dogs as possible. I want people to know that their puppies are coming from good lines.

As for keeping dogs in cages, if they are kennel runs, I don't really mind it, depending on the situation of course. I know a border collie breeder who keeps her dogs in large outdoor kennels with proper doghouses and such because she lives in a trailer and can't have a bunch of crazy border collies in the house. However, she also lives on an acreage and owns sheep and works her dogs everyday, so they still recieve a good amount of exercise and attention. Her dogs are herding titled and I know several pups that came from her that have gone on to be great agility dogs. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but when I think of a bunch of herding dogs or hounds in kennel runs, it doesn't bother me as much, because either way they will recieve ten times as much stimulation as most dogs get. It's breeders that keep their dogs in kennels 24/7 without any attention that really get to me. Personally, I like to keep housedogs. Visa may get alot of physical and mental stimulation daily, but it's nowhere near what that breeder's border collies get working the sheep.

After experiencing certain things, I am very skeptical about breeders. In all honesty, if you want a real opinion, you have to ask the people that know the breeders best. Talk to other breeders in the area or of the same breed -- often they will know whether or not this person is reputable. I know a toller breeder who appears to be very reputable on her website. Her dogs are all shown and worked, they have show and working titles, they do several sports, they look great in their pics. The breeder feeds RAW and practises limited vaccinations. You would never know by looking at this site that this breeder starved four of her puppies that could not nurse, or that her dogs are only show titled because she pins them up against eachother, or that her dogs have horrible temperments. I know a collie breeder who also looks awesome from her website. Her dogs are champions, they are titled in herding, obedience, agility, the works. The breeder is a professional handler. You would never know by looking at this site that she was recently disqualified from a show for kicking a dog (not even her dog) down a hill. Visa was fine at shows until she went off with this person; we don't know what she did to her. I know a rottweiler breeder whose dogs are all show and working titled as well. This same breeder tried to have a dog returned to a home that she knew was neglecting it (this dog was severely in need of medical care). It goes to show that you really need to talk to people who know of the breeders.

I agree. Sometimes I wonder if we got Snuggles from a reputable breeder. I really don't know. But I do remember that we were going to get a different puppy but they said we couldn't because they thought something was wrong with its breathing. So I don't think they were out to get money but other people aren't like that. I'm pretty sure the dogs got to run around in the grass. In the end they got that one checked out and it was okay but still.... :)