Identifying the Responsible, Ethical Breeder

[legalbeagle]

Too many dog breeders claim to be “Ethical Responsible Breeders” that the term has confused the newcomer or the prospective puppy buyer. Here is a short list to identify the real responsible ethical breeder:

1. The goal of breeding is to IMPROVE THE BREED. Improving the breed means the breeder has taken all necessary steps to produce puppies that come as close to the breed standard as possible, and have the necessary traits that the breed was created for. Simply put, the breeder should be striving to improve the breed’s FORM AND FUNCTION.

2. The breeding stock and their offspring are evaluated, tested and certified to confirm that they are truly improving the breed or preserving the breed’s form and function. This is accomplished through dog sports – conformation shows, field trials, schutzhund, obedience, herding, etc. The breeder actively participates in these activities to constantly evaluate the form and function of his chosen breed; to gather more knowledge and information about the breed; and to find the right breeding stock for his next generation of better puppies.

3. The breeder ensures that his breeding stock is checked and certified by recognized registries (OFA, CERF, etc.) to be free of inheritable health problems, and is of the proper age for breeding. The original health certificates should be presented to prospective puppy buyers as proof of the health screens. The dam should be at least two years old and less than nine; the sire should be at least two years old and less than ten.

4. The breeder can explain why he made the breeding. He should know what his lines produce; including health and conformation faults, and take the necessary steps to weed out those faults. If asked why he bred a particular bitch to a stud dog, he should be able to explain and detail the traits of each dog and how his planned breeding may improve on it. A breeder who is “kennel blind” (one who thinks his dogs are perfect and does not realize the faults of his line) cannot hope to improve his line.

5. The breeder screens his prospective buyers thoroughly to find the qualified and the best homes for his puppies. Do not get offended by seemingly personal questions, i.e. type of dwelling, lifestyle, kids and ages, job and working hours, etc.; or even a home-check by the breeder. His puppies are his “babies” and he wants only the best homes for them.

6. The breeder willingly, openly, and honestly discusses his dogs, kennel, breeding program, etc. He should welcome these questions from prospective buyers and educate them about the breed at the same time.

7. The breeder’s dog-areas are well kept, clean, properly maintained and have no strong animal waste odors. The dogs are healthy, happy, well groomed and exercised. He should have just the right amount of dogs to properly care for each one.

8. The breeder should be able to back up his breeding program and provide fair guarantees for health, temperament, conformation and quality of his puppies.

9. The breeder evaluates the traits of each puppy in his litter and matches them with the right owners. A dominant puppy in a litter should not be placed in a home with small kids; a submissive puppy should not be placed with a domineering and intimidating owner.

10. The breeder pledges his commitment to the life and welfare of every puppy he produces. He should offer his guidance and support to the new owner on how to properly care for the dog… for the life of the dog. He should be ready to take back any puppy or dog he produced if the owner can no longer keep them.

[courtesy of FredAl, 1999]

[legalbeagle]

The reason why responsible breeders do health checks is because-- nobody, pet or show oriented, has a right to bring little lives into the world which will end in pain, and nobody has a right to sell a heartbreak to a family who buys a dog to love.

Then there is temperament testing and puppy placement. This is perhaps the hardest thing to evaluate on our own dogs, but it is a factor which the would-be breeder needs to give primary attention to. If you are breeding "great pets" they need to be absolutely great pets-- not shy, or soft, or overly active, or dog aggressive, or overly dominant. Any dog chosen for breeding should be happy, bold, friendly, outgoing, trainable, decent with other dogs. An older dog who has been exposed to several situations and to different environments will give the breeder a more sound and better evaluation of its temperament.

I think that anyone who adheres to high standards is a conscientious breeder, whether or not their bitch is show quality, and whether or not their goal is to produce show puppies. And I personally don't think much of any show breeders who breed lovely conformation dogs but bypass any of the health, temperament, and ethical considerations which seem so basic.

Becoming an ethical breeder is MORE than simply signing on to a code of ethics with a club. It means actually practicing what one preaches. This is where the rubber hits the road, so to speak. Not everyone who's talented in 'breeder speak' is necessarily someone to buy a good dog from, and that goes for some of the 'COE' breeders one reads so much about. Ethics is more than a piece of paper, it's a way of life and it's a life philosophy that one applies in ALL aspects of one's life. Not just when one sells a puppy.

Ethical breeders can supply references to the puppy buyers - not just those who've purchased from them before, but from other 'dog' people, other breeders. I'd expect a genuinely good breeder, who has something to contribute to the dog world, to have made enough contacts within their breed to be able to do this for the potential buyer. An unwillingness to provide this information to a prospective puppy buyer should be a red flag.

Becoming an ethical breeder requires, in my view [after 3 decades of learning, participation and observation in dogs and owning them], several key elements:

1. Experience in dogs - note that some clever people can manage to go out and buy a few dogs and without a lot of other experience, manage to breed dogs. This happens all the time. The ethical breeder has instead learned at the knee of someone who's been in the chosen breed a LONG time, decades. That implies a student/mentor relationship and yes, it's not easy to come by, but then, why should it? If someone is new to dogs and new to a breed, a potential puppy buyer needs to be aware of that fact and needs to evaluate why that person decided they could become a breeder without a lot of experience or mentoring behind them. I'd expect an ethical responsible breeder to have waited at least 2 yrs before re-breeding a bitch so that they can see and evaluate how the previous get from that bitch turned out. Which is why back to back litters on the same bitch is NOT an ethical practice, in my view. Let the pups mature a bit and then decide if the bitch can produce. Don't just assume it because her pedigree looks good. The arguably best race horse in history, Secretariat, threw the worst get and was a total dud at reproducing his type and abilities. Same thing holds true in dogs.

2. Ethical conduct as a lifestyle, not an optional or convenient pretense when the situation is in one's favor. This is the toughest part of being the good, responsible, ethical breeder. Lots of winning breeders don't come up to snuff on this part. Because it means taking responsibility for producing dogs that don't always turn out well, who become ill or diseased and one must put one's pocketbook out of one's mind and do the right thing. To me, the right thing includes refunds, perhaps paying all or a goodly portion of the reasonable medical costs of the care of the ill dog and a sincere communication to the buyer that it matters to the breeder that the puppy didn't turn out well. Excuses don't cut it with me, and they shouldn't with the truly ethical breeder. {On a side note: I'm not into recommending that a puppy buyer who's dog didn't turn out take another pup from the same breeder, unless the pup comes from completely different lines. No use in taking a new pup if the same lines were involved, that's a bit too much risk, if you ask me.}

Cathi M.

[legalbeagle]

The bottom line is INTEGRITY – a human quality that cannot be bought, sold or taken away by anyone. It’s up to the individual if she or he wants to sacrifice their integrity for fame, fortune or other superficial reasons. The funny thing about integrity is that once sacrificed, it can never be regained. That loss of integrity (oft times referred to as SHAME) stays on/within their conscience the rest of their lives.

To the breeders: LET YOUR CONSCIENCE BE THE GUIDE.

Cathi M.

[legalbeagle]

From http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/

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Good Breeders, Bad Breeders


Purebred puppies are not churned out of a plastic mold. In other words, the puppies from one breeder are NOT the same as those from another breeder. The knowledge and skill of the breeder can have a tremendous bearing on how your puppy turns out.

There are only two types of breeders:

responsible and knowledgeable
irresponsible and/or unknowledgeable


Responsible breeders...

Breed dogs together only if they have been cleared of genetic health problems.

Breed dogs together only if their temperaments are sound... i.e. they interact well with the rest of the world.

Are involved in canine activities such as obedience, agility, rescue, dog shows, kennel clubs, and so on.

Can give several other responsible breeders as references. (Not just satisfied puppy buyers.)

Breed dogs together only if their conformation and structure is close to the official Breed Standard.

The breed standard is a written description of a breed, a blueprint that defines what each breed should look like and act like.

"But I don't care what a dog looks like. I only want a pet, not a fancy show dog!"

Ah, but... purebred dogs are kept distinct only because responsible breeders have agreed to adhere to an official Breed Standard. The official Breed Standard describes the traits that keep each breed sharply distinct from other breeds.

Those who love purebred dogs try to preserve them as they were intended to be. So... standards are not about "show dogs." They are for all purebred dogs. They exist as quality control to keep one breed distinct from another.

A responsible breeder abides by the quality control of the Standard. And a responsible buyer only supports breeders who abide by it. You and I are responsible buyers!

Sell all pet puppies with Limited (non-breeding) Registration** Papers. And with a spay/neuter contract clause.

A "pet" puppy is one who has been produced by a responsible breeder, who has the temperament and health to be a great companion, but who deviates from the Breed Standard in some way that means his genes should not be passed on.

Typically these deviations are in size, color, coat, gait, shape of the head, carriage of the ears, positioning of the teeth, and so on.

Limited registration means the puppy himself is registered, but any offspring of the puppy cannot be registered. Breeders who use limited registration have their breed's best interests at heart.

Anyone with a single litter who fails to meet ANY ONE OF THE ABOVE CRITERIA is either irresponsible or unknowledgeable, or both. They do not deserve our support.

Please think about this. Your decision to buy from a particular person will affect future dogs and their owners. Because whoever you buy from will most likely breed again if he is rewarded with money. Don't encourage irresponsible or unknowledgeable people to keep doing what they're doing. Buy only from someone who has done all the right things. Someone who deserves to be rewarded and encouraged.

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For the typical first time or even somewhat experienced dog owner, the most difficult part of the acquisition process is resisting the urge to rush out and buy whatever pup is available at the moment. Another mistake is visiting a litter and quickly leaving with a puppy. Resist the urge! Visit, interact and then LEAVE. Sleep on it, and discuss with a spouse, a trusted family member or friend and hopefully, a dog savvy person.

Price is NOT an indication of quality!!! Repeat - Price is NOT an indication of quality.

Price can be higher for a top quality Rottweiler but many greedy BYBs and quasi-good breeders upcharge for puppies in the hopes that numbskulls who think/believe price equates to true quality will come along and pay far more than they should. A fair price is just that - FAIR. It's not fair to charge someone $2K for a puppy from an untitled bitch or a mediocre bitch without V1 ratings, and a so-so stud [who has a nice pedigree but hasn't been proven himself]. That's not ethical, that's looking at the bottom line instead. In order to weed out the poseur breeders from the true blue breeders, a potential buyer must interview, get references, use common sense, RESEARCH and double check everything before opening up the wallet.

[sophie's-mom]

Cathi, nice post. I hope people are actually taking the time to read this!

I have a friend at work looking to purchase a yorkshire terrier for her daughter and she was asking me about some things, I think I will print this and let her read it.

:D

Thanks

[legalbeagle]

A very good checklist with "Neutral", "Red Flag" and "Green Light" responses detailed, along with the questions to ask. Very helpful to anyone, even experienced dog owners.

<http://www.pageweb.com/graenit/breedfaq.htm#BreedCheck>

While written for the Weimaraner breed, this all applies to Rottweilers too, right down to the questions about Von Willebrands, something many newbie owners don't realize they need to ask about too.

Another good article, "Novices Interviewing Breeders" helps to identify who is the right breeder, because no one is going to admit to being the wrong breeder! Or unethical!

Much has been written about the relationship between breeders and those who purchase their puppies. However, precious little has appeared that assists the puppy buyer in knowing when he’s found the right breeder. I’d hate to tell you how many times I’ve been approached by newcomers to our breed who have sad stories to tell. People who have purchased puppies from breeders whom they thought could be trusted and ended up with a puppy with serious health or temperament problems. Now these things can and do occur in the best of breedings. But the main complaint is that the breeder who was so helpful before they purchased the puppy, has either become unavailable or is blaming the owner for the problem now that the check has cleared!

Find the rest at: <http://www.gdr.com/current/novcbrdr.html>

Cathi M.

[legalbeagle]

Finding a Responsible Breeder - Myths & Facts: <http://members.tripod.com/antique_fc...er.html#vested>

I highly recommend this link too, it's nicely laid out, well written and written by a guy who has no vested interests in dog breeding, as he's a dog owner, not breeder.

Cathi M.