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Originally Posted by fbkeays If the bitch had been bred before and the puppies are old enough to be OFA'd and only a small percentage are in the OFA database- Ask WHY! |
I understand what you're saying and agree, but only to a certain degree.
The majority of reputable breeders do want to know the results, so they have a better understanding of what is in their lines.
But how can any breeder make each and every puppy buyer OFA there dogs, especially when they go to pet homes? Most times people never even contact their breeder again, until they have a problem. I've seen many reputable breeders plead for years with the owners just to have simple hip x-rays done, let alone send them into OFA.
Breeders can't seem to really force this issue, since after-all, the owner does have rights when purchasing a dog. Even if the breeders require this in their contracts... Do they really press this issue in court even if the dog is otherwise in a good home?
Not to get into another issue that the owners are bad owners because they don't do simple x-rays... we know there are still many people that don't understand the health risks involved. I'm just trying too say that many people simply don't see the need to x-ray and it tends to hurt breeders reputation along with them, not knowing what is hiding in those lines. What can we really do, as breeders, to help this problem? Maybe another thread could be started on this topic?
Furthermore, just because a sibling from a litter doesn't show up in the online databases, it doesn't mean it was actually x-rayed, that it didn't pass a test, and that it wasn't entered into OFA... which people call hiding evidence of health problems. There are gaps with health tests in the online databases that lead people into believing this to be true, but it isn't always the actual case. I've seen this with certain dogs that did have health clearance numbers, but weren't recorded properly or actually in the database... It does happen! However, they still are very useful tools if used in combinations with actual written documents.
On another note, I do know that reputable breeders do give puppies to other known breeders, or co-own together, to help each other out in the breed and know full well that the puppies are in great homes. Like others said, the money isn't as important! However, giving away a free pet in other circumstances makes you wonder why.