Are you a Breeder?
If you have two dogs of different sexes and maybe the same breed and you allow them to have puppies then technically you are a breeder. Scary isn't it to think that anyone can start up breeding dogs with no knowledge at all. However anyone can.
The Animal Protection people do nothing to assist the ethical and professional breeder in defeating the amateur and careless ones. It is far easier to attack the tall poppies than to grub around stopping the weeds sprouting up.
However what makes an ETHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL breeder?
Honesty: Honesty in breeding is paramount, an ethical breeders knows their dogs bloodlines, virtues and faults. It is important to know who has mated whom and when.
Guessing about a pedigree isn't going to help breeders in the future who may inadvertently mate two very closely related dogs without knowing, just because of fraudulent pedigrees.
Cross breeding and then registering the litter as pure bred is also underhanded, unethical and in breach of the rules of any Canine Association in the world. Why do people partake in such misguided behaviour?
Usually it is a money issue, they have a litter that needs to be sold, and because they dont want wrong pedigrees and cross breeds in their kennels, instead of being honest and advertising the litter as pets, they try and recoup their expenses by attaching a pedigree.
Health Testing: In our opinion it is important to health test your sire and dam BEFORE you do the mating. It is possible to DNA test for many of the issues that affect our dogs, yet people still refuse to do so.
For some it is again a money issue, for other it is blind stubbornness and the idea that they do not want any new fangled tests for their dogs. Usually those who shout the loudest are those who test the least.
It is easy to cloud the waters and try and make people feel less than ethical by bullying tactics.
After all if your dusting out someone else's testing closet then no one will look in yours. We believe that we should test for everything we can with in reason. Obviously this costs money so it is prudent to do dogs in batches.
If you do not test at all and something goes awry then it is no use blaming others for your lack of a testing regime.
It is however only good manners to acknowledge the work that has gone on in the kennels that produced your healthy dogs.
Selling Puppies: Great, you have a litter, you have tested and all your pedigrees are correct, now you have to sell the puppies you are not keeping. If your not keeping a puppy, why did you do the mating?
Perhaps the mating didnt produce the show dog you wanted. That's a valid reason. However if you did the mating with every intent to sell all the puppies, again I suggest you re-evaluate why you did the mating.
Selling a litter, especailly if you are not a long time or well known breeder can be difficult. Most of us want our puppies in forever homes.
Some people however don't care where their pups end up and sell them to who ever knocks on their door.
Looking to the Past: All of us owe a great deal to those who have gone before us in developing the breed, we may not like the type they bred back then, but without them we would have no breed today.
We also need to be respectful of those who have let us use their dogs to improve ours.
Ignoring their hard work and dedication may make us look clever and smart today but think in 10 years what someone is going to say about our dogs or ethics.
Why do we Show
This artical below was posted on Hairless Dogs Yahoo Group. I find it moving and it says exactly what our show dogs mean to us
What Is A Title? by Sandy Mowery, Wisconsin USA
Not just a brag, not just a stepping stone to a higher title, not just an adjunct to competitive scores. A Title is a tribute to the dog that bears it, a way to honor that dog, an ultimate memorial.
It will remain in the record and in the memory for about as long as anything in this world can remain. Few humans will do as well or better in that regard, and though the dog himself doesn't know or care that his achievements have been noted,.
A Title says many things in the world of humans, where such things count.
A Title says your dog was intelligent, and adaptable, and good natured. It says that your dog loved you enough to do the things that please you, however crazy they may have sometimes seemed.
And a Title says that you loved your dog, that you loved to spend time with him because he was a good dog, and that you believed in him enough to give him yet another chance when he failed, and that in the end your faith was justified.
A Title proves that your dog inspired you to have the special relationship enjoyed by so few, that in the world of disposable creatures, this dog with a Title was greatly loved, and loved greatly in return.
And when that dear short life is over, the Title remains as a memorial of the finest kind, the best you can give to a deserving friend, volumes of praise in one small set of initials before or after the name.
A Title is nothing less than love and respect, given and received, permanently recorded.
The Breeder
I love my little puppy; she makes my house a home. She is my sweetest little friend; I never feel alone.
She makes me smile; She makes me laugh; She fills my heart with love. Did some person breed her, or did she just fall from above?
I've never been a breeder, never seen life through their eyes; I hold my little puppy and just sit and criticize.
I've never known their anguish; I've never felt their pain, the caring of their charges, through snow or wind or rain.
I've never waited the whole night through for babies to be born, The stress and trepidation when they're still not there by morn.
The weight of responsibility for this body in my hands, This darling little baby, who weighs but 60 grams.
Should you do that instead of this . . . or maybe that was wrong? Alone you fight and hope, one day, he'll grow up proud and strong.
You pray he'll live to bring great joy to someone else's home. You know it's all just up to you; you'll fight this fight alone.
Formula, bottles, heating pads, you've got to get this right, two-hour feedings for this tiny guy, throughout the day and night.
Within your heart you dread that you will surely lose this fight, To save this little baby, but God willing . . . you just MIGHT.
Day one; he's in there fighting; you say a silent prayer. Day two & three, he's doing well, with lots of love and care.
Day four & five . . . he's still alive; your hopes soar to the heavens.
Day six he slips away again, dies in your hands, day seven.
You take this little angel, and bury him alone. With aching heart and burning tears, and an exhausted groan,
You ask yourself, "Why do this? . . . Why suffer through this pain?" Yet watch the joy your puppies bring, and everything's explained.
So, when you think of breeders and label them with "Greed," Think of all that they endure to fill another's need.
For when you buy your puppy, with your precious dollars part, You only pay with money . . . while they pay with all their heart.
.... Author Unknown....
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