I know alot of breeders that are far from reputable but can certainly make themselves seem responsible. People have to remember that unless you know the person, the person's dogs, the dog's lines, and the dogs they've produced -- they know nothing. Health testing and working/showing is only part of the picture.
A dog in itself is a dog -- what the dog PRODUCES on the other hand, is of more importance. I've seen healthy dogs produce bad health, I've seen well-tempered dogs produce poor temperaments, I've seen beautiful dogs produce poorly conformed dogs....Often times, the dog's references don't mean a heck of alot. Give me a groenendael pedigree and I can point out to you which dogs produced epilepsy, which dogs produced hip dysplasia, which dogs produced cataracts, and were all healthy themselves. I didn't realise, until I got into breeding, that a dog's pedigree is more than just a list of achievements and titles behind your dog. It needs to be researched. Now I can look back in my pedigree and tell you which dogs had health problems, which dogs produced health problems, which dogs were not perfect temperamentally, and which dogs were not perfect conformationally -- THERE IS NO SUCH THING as a perfect pedigree. Every line has something in it's background. And if someone asks me what health problems lie behind my dogs' pedigrees, I will tell them. The goal is to produce something better.
As far as size, my friend has been breeding shelties for show her entire life. Sometimes big shelties happen. She had once bred a male out of a 14 inch female and a 13 inch male -- the pup turned into a whopping 20 inch sheltie. Her last litter was out of a 14 inch male and a female just over 14 -- Out of five pups (now 10 months old) she has one 13 inch male, 2 females just under 14, male just over 15, and a male that is now at 16 inches and will go oversize. My co-breeder's dog, Jasper, is 27.5 inches, out of Jake, a 25.5 inch male, and Annie, a 24 inch female, both out of average sized lines. The other pups were all average sized. A badly conformed dog is not the sign of a bad breeder -- Visa is one beautiful girl and has produced one beautiful pup, but I imagine she will have some poor looking pups in the future -- her siblings were not nearly as nice as she. Just the way things work.
Not only that, but sometiems there are pretty dogs that shouldn't be bred, and "ugly" dogs that should. Jag is not perfect conformationally by any means, but she will likely still be bred for temperament reasons. She is square and she has a typey head. Bred to a dog that can strengthen her conformation weaknesses, she can still have beautiful pups that have a good temperament to match.
Things are not always what they seem -- don't just jump at the opportunity to get a dog from a breeder who health certifies, works, and shows. It isn't that simple, though it should be. There are plenty of other things that determine a good breeder, and you need to ask other breeders and people who know the breeder in order to really know what the breeder is all about. Meeting past offspring is also a big help. I never ever trust the breeder first.
Just my two cents..
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