Now posing question at you ( I already know my answer..) BUT- IF there is a person, with two shelties, both too big out of standard, but checked the hips, hearts, thyroids, - and breeds them- does this still fall under as a "backyard " breeder, or now 'upgraded' to a hobby breeder?
My opinion would be that neither one of them legitimately has the best interests of the breed at heart and neither one of them should be breeding at all! They're both unethical BYB!

The entire outlook on the ethical breeding of purebred dogs is changing. The majority of purebreds were originally developed for a purpose and were only sold or placed with those who would could appreciate all the effort, time, money and record keeping that went into developing that breed.

With the increasing demand for purebreds and the current attitude in breeding; if this keeps up it won't be much longer until it will be difficult to find a good example of many breeds anywhere.

One good example is the Maltese! Their popularity made them a prime money maker for puppy mills and pet shop sales and now the internet is overrun with ads for Maltese breeders.. The problems within this breed are horrendous! Proof of this disaster can be found by reading the Maltese Only forum that's literally filled with horror stories of beloved pets suffering from horrible inherited defects or turning out to be mixed breeds. Mixed breeds that were sold as purebreds for tremendous prices and represented to be purebred by supposedly "ethical" breeders.

I don't have the answer; but I am convinced that even with meticulous health testing; if a breeder isn't breeding according to standard and also to maintain the purpose that the breed was originally developed for; they have no business breeding, period!

The responsibility also lies with the purchasers of these puppies. They're not only encouraging unethical breeding practices; they're also contributing to the downfall of the breed. If there were no gullible buyers; there would be no careless or unethical breeders!