Dog and Cat Breeders Need to Change Their Way of Doing Business!

Hello Readers!
This is not my usual subject matter, but it has been on my mind so I decided to get it off my mind. The subject is breeding of cats and dogs. Feel free to comment whether you agree or diasgree – but definitely keep it polite and Christian.

Dog and Cat Breeders Need to Change Their Way of Doing Business!

Do you have a pet?
How many pets?
What kind of pets?
Do you love your pets?

Have you had a bad experience with a pet bought from a ‘reputable breeder’?
Here's something important to think about. Unethical dog and cat breeders may not be exactly who you think they are.

A family member recently lost a pet to a genetic problem. The pet was bought from a supposed ethical and experienced breeder. According to two veterinarians, the breeder may have been experience, but she was in no way ethical.

Here is my opinion on many breeders. They want to sell only ‘pet’ puppies or kittens. They presume all pt buyers are unethical or unable to understand animal husbandry or adhere to breed standards, or blah blah blah. The buyer might engage in ‘back yard breeding, or become affiliated with a puppy mill, or more blah blah blah.
However, what they really want is to keep the supply of specific pets small so the demand for the pets will keep the price up! Of course, if the buyer has enough money to purchase a ‘breeder quality’ puppy, they suddenly become qualified to breed puppies or kittens. Most people only want a pet anyway, and have no intentions of raising a litter of anything.

The end result is a shrinking gene pool in all registered dogs and cats, and probably other animals and livestock as well. Breed specific genetic defects and predisposition to certain diseases are becoming more and more common.

Breeders themselves will often say things like, ‘raised under foot with love in our homes’. Or, ‘we only raise one or two litters a year’. Yet, if a buyer wants to raise only one or two litters a year in their home, they are unqualified to raise puppies or kittens. The same breeder will call another breeder a ‘puppy mill’ if they raise more than one or two litters a year. Those who raise more than an occasional litter will call those who raise only one litter a year inexperienced.

We are seeing many designer breeds, or hybrid dogs now. Hybrid dogs are said to be much less likely to have the genetic predispositions to certain diseases than the purebred dogs. The hybrids have names like Cockapoo, and Labradoodle, and Golden Pyrenees. Some of these dogs are accepted by the AKC as separate breeds after generations of specific breeding. The one thing all designer dogs have in common is they will likely be less prone to genetic diseases than the two breeds from which they came.

In my opinion, breeders are sacrificing strength of breed in order to keep the supply limited and the prices up. In my life time I have had all pure breed dogs. I have raised only one litter of puppies. Those puppies were black and tan hounds. The daddy dog was my pet. He had a perfect temperament. He bonded with his family, and was wary of strangers but not aggressive. His shape and markings were perfect. As a hound he was also remarkable. He usually hunted about 30 minutes and came straight back when we blew the hunting horn for him. He was legend in half of Arkansas. Man, I loved that dog. The female was also an excellent specimen, but her ability to bond with family was not good. I had her spayed after one litter.

My other pets were all spayed at around two years of age.
The Chesapeake Bay Retriever was perfect in looks and ability, but she was just unstable. She would act fine for a month and then do something totally out of character. I didn’t want to pass that on.
My Cocker Spaniel probably should have been bred because she had none of the health issues common to Cocker Spaniels, and she was just perfect in how she looked. The vet almost cried when we decided to have her spayed. What happened was a friend casually mentioned that his children had had a Collie they loved growing up. They decided to have one litter of puppies. The mother dog got an infection and died. Then all the puppies died. At the end of that story, I backed out on raising a litter of Cocker Spaniels.
Then there were my Collies. That is a long story, but I could have bred them. They were good quality pets and would have been just fine to breed. I just chose not to.
So, I think you get the idea. Most people will opt NOT to breed puppies or kittens anyway. But to make that decision before the pet leaves the home of the breeder is not good for the breed.

The decision to spay or neuter most pets could be made between one to two years. It takes at least that long to determine if the temperament, conformation, and health of the dog are all breeding quality. (Cats are different – and the decision would probably be made at a younger age.) After the pet is old enough to breed - THEN it must be determined whether the pet owner has the time or the inclination to raise a litter of puppies or kittens.

It is not possible to stop the breeding of unwanted mongrels by limiting the breeding of purebred animals. All it does is limit the gene pool, and make for unhealthy purebreds. A ‘mongrel’ is still a living creature, and it deserves a good home where it will be loved and cared for. However, mixed breeds are just not as desirable to most people as pure bred dogs, and they ARE harder to place in homes.

By the way, while I only raised one litter of puppies, I have EXTENSIVE experience in raising kittens. No, I never bred a litter of kittens at all. I had about a million pregnant cats dumped at my home when we lived in the country. I had to capture them in live traps, tame them, and find indoor homes for them. I learned a lot about raising kittens, and I love cats. So do many other people. I found that invariably it was easier to place a kitten that looked like it was ‘something’. If it had a Siamese look, it would go first. If it had a fancy look like a Persian, or a bob tail like a Manx, or any feature that I could show a prospective owner in a Cat Fancy magazine or cat breed book, they were more likely to take that cat. The only exception was a yellow tabby, which seems to be universally loved and thought of as an all around good pet. My cat Dolly is approaching ten years old. She is a kitten of a stray. It took me TWO YEARS to catch Dolly in a live trap. She had FOUR litters of kittens before I finally captured her. I placed those kittens in good homes. Then it took me seven months to tame Dolly enough that I could pet her.
I do understand the problems that go with irresponsible breeding of dogs and cats. I understand the problems and stress that it causes to the animal and to the people who have to deal with them.

The bottom line is this: Purebred animals are just easier to place in homes should their owner become unable to keep them. They are easier to predict likely temperament qualities, and this makes them easier to match to the right home.

I would like to suggest that dog and cat breeders stop insisting on spaying or neutering unless they are paid additional money for the right to breed by the buyer. If an additional fee, which may even be double the ‘pet only’ price is charged, the new owner may feel almost required financially to breed the animal. The decision to have a litter of puppies or kittens should be based on the health, temperament, and look of the pet. I don’t believe that decision can be made rationally with a puppy or kitten. You need a grown animal to determine whether it is breeder quality or not.

Career breeders should charge a reasonable price, and let the new owner decide what is best for the pet, the family involved, and the breed itself.