Oprah to investigate abuse at puppy mills REAIR May 29

[buttercup132]

Well here's what happens when there are no good breeders.
I found this on another forum I'm on but it can be used for any purebred.
Without good breeders there would be no keeping the good lines no keeping up with the breed standard.

Just a Pet by Jenny Peacocke

This is for those of you who think that breeders such as myself are too difficult, too elitist', too hard and expensive to get a puppy from because all you want is JUST A PET!

Why do you turn JUST A PET into a negative? Why do you think that JUST A PET is less than a show dog or [an obedience dog or agility dog] Why do you think that you are settling for second (or third or worse) best?

And those people reading this who have decided that they want a [Crested as] JUST A PET! Why do you want a [Crested]? Because of it's temperament? Because of it's looks? Because of it's energy? It's joy in life? Or one or some of many other wonderful [Crested] traits?

How do you think we keep these things in our breed? Simple! It's by careful, selective, planned breeding to always try and produce the best possible so that any JUST A PET we put in homes can give those characteristics that are so much a [Crested]. It costs a caring breeder just as much to produce JUST A PET as to produce a show or [therapy dog]. They a re usually the same litter and usually could be the same pup!!

I would never breed a litter to simply produce pets for the pet market. This is puppy milling. This is also MUCH cheaper. You do not need to work hard at proving your dogs abilities. You do not need to check on health and temperament. You do not need to match up the BEST stud for the bitch you have. The first male [Crested] you find will do (easier if he lives at your place ... and cheaper).

The fact that I would never breed a litter to simply produce pets for the pet market does not mean that I would not happily sell a whole litter to JUST A PET homes. It does mean that they would be getting the quality [Crested} they deserve as their JUST A PET!

If this is not what you want from your puppy there are plenty of 91breeders' out there who mate (or 91accidentally' allow the mating of) their male ( or their friends male) to their bitch and will happily sell you a puppy. Probably even proudly announce that they are registered with whatever controlling kennel club is in your country..... well so can any purebred dog born of purebred parents be. Doesn't mean a thing about health, quality, temperament, ability, etc.

It is up to you to decide whether your JUST A PET should be considered by you and others as THE BEST' or whether you go out with the idea that y our dog is second best to the competing' ones.

To me JUST A PET is the most special dog there is!

[Powerlounger]

So, if I go to a 'reputable' breeder, will that save the life of an innocent at the pound???

Hmmm. let me think now...hold on, that might be a difficult one. Let's try and wrap our minds around that, shall we??

[Ginger's Mom]

You know, I really don't care what other people think at this point. These are the facts: Go to a breeder or go to a pet store. That very act sentences another animal to death. Do you people recognize that that IS A FACT?
If you don't like that fact, well isn't that just too bad.

If you saw all those poor innocents being euthanized on Oprah and still want to go to a breeder for a dog, reputable or not, I have nothing to say to you.

Flame away.

Whoa, little girl, take a deep breath. People buying dogs from breeders that are interested in the health and development of their favored breeds of dog are NOT responsible for pet over population. Irresponsible pet owners who don't get their dogs altered, backyard breeders, and puppy mills are. Even if everyone on here were to get a dog from a shelter every single year, it wouldn't make a dent compared to the dogs that are being irresponsibly bred, either intentionally or unintentionally. Now, I believe your intentions are good, but telling people who are responsible pet owners that they are killing dogs by buying from a reputable breeder is not going to have the effect you want. You need to change your tactics to get people involved in more active regulation of all animal breeders.

[lizbud]

Whoa, little girl, take a deep breath. People buying dogs from breeders that are interested in the health and development of their favored breeds of dog are NOT responsible for pet over population. Irresponsible pet owners who don't get their dogs altered, backyard breeders, and puppy mills are. Even if everyone on here were to get a dog from a shelter every single year, it wouldn't make a dent compared to the dogs that are being irresponsibly bred, either intentionally or unintentionally. Now, I believe your intentions are good, but telling people who are responsible pet owners that they are killing dogs by buying from a reputable breeder is not going to have the effect you want. You need to change your tactics to get people involved in more active regulation of all animal breeders.

Amen to that.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I watched Oprah's show last night and I thought that it was very well done.It sure gave me LES though. I thought that puppymills had to pass certain inspection codes or they would be put out of business. The one's that I've seen on Animal Planet were always shut down due to their horrible conditions. I sure wish that they'd all become illegal.

Hopefully with Oprah's large following, she'll be able to reach a lot people and change their minds about where they go to adopt their future dogs. I know that in the area where I live, there are no pet stores that sell dogs. There are a few petstores that hold dog rescue adoptions though which is much different. The same goes for cats.

When I was much younger I remember going to the mall and going to the petstore and looking at all of the cute puppies. Little did I know that they came from puppymills. I didn't even know what a puppymill was back then. I hope that children can be educated about this so we can hopefully change things for the better.

I was also glad that Oprah said that buying puppies off of the internet is very bad too. My brother and SIL bought their puppy off of the internet. Even though the breeder was listed as being local, he flew the puppies in from another state. They adopted a Puggle and she became very sick after just a few days with severe kennel cough. My brother tried to talk to the breeder and he didn't even care and he hung up on my brother. He was able to stop payment on the check but they still lost their down payment and had to spend a lot of money on vet bills. Even their vet was horrifed to know that they bought their puppy off of the internet. He said that she most likely came from a puppymill. She recovered and is now doing well. I sure hope that they learned there lesson and that they'll adopt from a shelter or rescue group in the future. The sad thing is that most of their neighbors have also bought their dogs through the internet and even my SIL's sister did this.

[Powerlounger]

Whoa, little girl, take a deep breath.

Firstly, I am stating a simple fact. Breeders provide dogs. So do shelters. People want dogs. And they have that choice as to where to go to get a dog. Go to that breeder, a dog in a shelter dies. But some breeder has a fatter wallet. Deal with it.

Yup, taking that deep breath now, big mama.

[Pam]

Firstly, I am stating a simple fact. Breeders provide dogs. So do shelters. People want dogs. And they have that choice as to where to go to get a dog. Go to that breeder, a dog in a shelter dies. But some breeder has a fatter wallet. Deal with it.

Yup, taking that deep breath now, big mama.

You need to go re-read ParNone's remarks and you also need to rein in the attitude.

I am a poodle person. I do not apologize for that. This is a breed that I have owned since 1970. I am also a person who is not happy with what has happened to this breed by mixing it with numerous others and then adding a *poo* on the end. This is being done intentionally by breeders of *designer dogs* and irresponsible people who do not neuter or spay and wind up with these mixtures. Whatever the reason, I do not want to see the day come when there will not be GOOD poodle breeders in the world.

Before Ripley all of my dogs came from breeders, some better than others, as I have come to realize. Ripley is my only rescue. He is a poodle for sure (I don't see anything else in him) and I love him just as much as any of my dogs. I was lucky to find him in a shelter but I would not hesitate to go through a breed rescue should I want to add another poodle to my life.

The goal here is a person's freedom to choose or not. Good breeders are not the problem. How can you not see that?

[Ginger's Mom]

Firstly, I am stating a simple fact. Breeders provide dogs. So do shelters. People want dogs. And they have that choice as to where to go to get a dog. Go to that breeder, a dog in a shelter dies. But some breeder has a fatter wallet. Deal with it.

Yup, taking that deep breath now, big mama.

You should take a deep breath before you "speak" not after. You may find it helps you to think better.

You misunderstand the difference between people who love animals and people who own animals. People who love animals will go to a reputable breeder to obtain an animal that is bred for certain characteristics and abilities. That is not true of most of the dogs found at shelters (if a reputable breeder had bred the dog, he/she would have taken the dog back). They are looking for a dog that can do certain things without causing stress or possible injury to the dog (agility, hunting, frisbee, and many other activities). They get a dog that can perform that function. In addition to that dog, animal lovers may or may not have dogs/animals from the shelter. Whether they do or do not doesn't matter, what does matter is that they are not going to get a dog from a shelter for this particular purpose. So no shelter dog will be saved. Please note that we are at all times talking about reputable breeders, which has a much higher standard than someone who has two purebred dogs that do not have any known health problems. People who own animals are not the ones going to reputable breeders, people who love animals are.

Unfortunately, in your scenario, no one would be spending the time and money to develop dogs whose bodies and organs can actually perform the activities they were bred to do and that we enjoy doing with them. So rather than contributing money to the local animal welfare agencies we are spending money on knee surgeries, or glucosamine, or heart medicines for our poorly bred dogs.

[Jaycee]

Firstly, I am stating a simple fact. Breeders provide dogs. So do shelters. People want dogs. And they have that choice as to where to go to get a dog. Go to that breeder, a dog in a shelter dies. But some breeder has a fatter wallet. Deal with it.

Yup, taking that deep breath now, big mama.

Listen Powerlounger......
I've just come from a whole weekend at the Red Deer Annual Spring Dog Show where I have spent so much time talking with dedicated and highly "reputable" breeders of 3 possible breeds that I have in mind (#1 is the Boston Terrier, #2 the Boxer and #3 the Hungarian Vizsla). Each and every one of them all say they do not profit much from breeding their dogs. They all said they would take their pup back in a heartbeat if things didn't work out in their new home, and that to me, assures me they care only about the pup rather than the money. None of these breeders allow their pups to be released to their prospective owners until at least 10 weeks old - unlike BYB/puppy mills who ship them off to pet stores at 5 weeks. You need to seriously listen to what the majority of people on this thread are telling you - you cannot tar those who choose to buy a purebred with the same brush as those who buy their dogs from ads in papers or over the internet as they are the irresponsible ones. They are the ones who turn a blind eye to what the mama dog has to go through time after time. I would adopt from a shelter and I do check the animal shelter websites, but I would probably adopt from a Boston/Boxer Rescue shelter as they are "my preferred" breed of dog.